What does Ephesians 5:30 mean? We may not want to resist that feeling. Paul says that we are to “be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.” This is not the cringing fear of judgment, but rather the reverential fear that acknowledges Christ’s supremacy as Lord of the universe. But we don’t typically use the word “piety” to characterize the way we treat other people; we use the word “piety” for things like prayer, Bible study, and going to church. Ephesians 5:23 Parallel Verses [⇓ See commentary ⇓] Ephesians 5:23, NIV: "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior." Christianity runs against the grain of the culture of the ancient Greco-Roman world, a world obsessed with power, status, and privilege, organized along relentlessly hierarchical principles. That is: Paul himself is a model of the kind of relationship that characterizes the unified Christian community. For this reason, we will undertake our study of Ephesians 5:21-33 in three segments. You are cordially invited to follow Matters of Interpretation, along with a few others. Change ). It would not have seemed out of place to the ancient audience. Those closest to me know that I like how certain words roll off my tongue. ( Log Out / Because if the family/household is the smallest unit of the community, which would be a commonplace idea in the ancient world, then the way of life of the whole community will have to be taking place, cellularly, there. They didn’t have shelves of books on “teamwork” and “collaborative leadership” and “servant leadership” and “quality circles” and all that palaver about listening to everyone from the guy on the line to the CEO. The second lesson will be a consideration of the responsibilities of the Christian wife. 1:22), so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord (Phil. Marriage could even be a sacrament for us (if we weren’t Protestants), and there is that commandment to honor our mothers and fathers. Our identity is found in Him. One who is spirit-filled is one who is humble of heart; considers others more important than themselves and is willing to be subject to their fellow Christians, to the glory of God and for the sake of Jesus Christ . (21) Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. 22 Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. In this verse, the unity mentioned is between Jesus and the church, again using the metaphor of a body made of individual members. The way Christ loves the church as his own body. When we study and speak about this passage, phrases are usually dissected and closely examined, and certain words and phrases are highlighted, especially those that relate to the wife’s obligation. As if that ancient Greco-Roman world is so different from ours. Underpinning our attitude, our actions, our mind and our motive towards one another.. should be a deep reverence for the Lord Jesus, Who is the Head of the body and Master of all. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:21-25. Everyone seems to want to capitalize that Lord there, and it probably makes sense, but then again pious wives in those days probably did call their husbands kyrios, fairly habitually, so there is a little ambiguity about that. Rather than, perhaps, submitting themselves to other people’s husbands, which would be one possible misreading, and also, perhaps, rather than getting so radical that husbands would have to be submitting themselves to their wives. Based on evidence from the letter itself, the people in this church seem to be having power issues: where does power come from, who has it, how do we tap into it, and how do we use it properly. What with all this submitting ourselves to one another, it may have felt like it needed to be made clear that wives would still be submitting themselves to their individual husbands. (For which: see that undisputed Pauline letter to the Philippians. And here is Carolyn Osiek, at Bible Odyssey, on the very idea of “household codes.”]. One particular difference between then and now is that most of us don’t normally think of family relationships as “religious obligations.” Yes, we probably think of “how we treat other people,” including the people in our families, as an exercise of our religion. It does seem to have been written to a church or churches in Asia Minor. Is it “submission,” for instance, when after 30 or so years of married life, you have learned not to try to tell the driver of the family car which route to take, even though you yourself hate taking the one the driver always takes and would never do it if you were driving the car yourself? Paul (or perhaps “Paul”) gives an example of what that looks like in a person’s life by noting that he, himself, is a servant of the gospel (3:7 ff), so that what he does and says proceeds from that relationship. Let us seek to be filled.. and continue to be filled day by day by the Holy Spirit of God.. in all we say and do.. and in every area of our lives - so that our life may be a demonstration of the life of Christ living in us.. flowing through us and streaming out to others - for their benefit and to the glory of God. 21 subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ. It is the awe of knowing that God has put all things in subjection under Christ’s feet (Eph. Heavenly Father, I long to walk the godly path in Christ Jesus and be filled with the Spirit moment by moment.. for the right reasons - so that my life may praise and glorify You, for You alone are worthy. That is: we could, I think, be forgiven for reading v22 as a clarifying aside in the context of the longer instruction about how to walk carefully as beloved children (5:1) of light rather than darkness (5:8), wisdom rather than unwisdom (5:15). I think I “learned in Seminary” that someone else wrote this letter, and that it is from 80-85 CE, and that the scholarly consensus is fairly strong on the matter, but by no means 100%. and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. We also might honestly want to ask ourselves whether we should be reading “the lord” or “the Lord” in v22. Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Ephesians 5 21-33, here is Carolyn Osiek, at Bible Odyssey, on the very idea of “household codes.”, Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), Follow Matters of Interpretation on WordPress.com, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Not only does the spirit-filled Christian demonstrate an outward delight in God.. but they show forth the inner joy of the Lord, when they sing and makes melody in the silent secrecy of their own heart - singing with thanksgiving and praise, in the privacy of their own inner being.. to the glory of God. Ephesians 5:23, ESV: "For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior." 2:9-11). That may help us understand why this household code shows up in Ephesians in the first place. Verses 25-27 focus on Christ’s relationship to the church; Christ loved, and literally handed himself over for the church; the goal was to make the church holy, cleanse the church, and then something like stand the church beside himself (a kind of public display, it seems) – so, “in glory” being a kind of sharing in Christ’s glory – with as spotless a perfection as Christ’s sacrificial lamb-like perfection. Or is that just, you know … keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? We are studying Ephesians 5:21-33 for Sunday, August 25. Along with all the other Hebrew Biblical texts that depict Israel as the bride of YHWH. Nor does 5:22. This may mean we’ll have a lively discussion, or it may mean we’ll have no discussion at all, because no one will want to step on anyone else’s toes. It’s a disputed Pauline letter, and it is not that difficult to see why, even for someone who doesn’t read Greek. This is perhaps an aspect of being filled with the Spirit of God which is often neglected and one that we might prefer to avoid - but the list of evidences that Paul gives of being a Spirit-filled believer, ends with this admonition to be subject to one another.. in the fear of Christ. [Study notes on this text are here.] Ephesians 5:21-22 New International Version (NIV) Instructions for Christian Households.
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