Ephesians 5:25-33 Part III
This week I conclude my mini-series, if I can call it that, on Ephesians 5:25-33. On week 1 I discussed the first three verses (25-27), week 2 I talked about the following three verses (28-30), and this week I will naturally conclude with the final three verses: 31-33.
I decided to break it up into three parts because I think that each section provides enough to be thought provoking and plenty practical to our current situation as men and/or husbands.
To recap, verses 31-33 say:
31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.” 32 This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church; 33 however, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”
Let us begin with verse 31. Where to begin on this one? It would appear that today in our day and age that these words are quite controversial, but when isn’t something that Christ said controversial? I personally quite like that it would come off as controversial, because Jesus Christ is a radical Person indeed. First and foremost and perhaps most obvious is the notion that a man becomes one with his wife. This particular comment can be taken into consideration in a couple of different ways.
Firstly, we have the physicality of becoming one with your wife. When the marriage is consummated, the couple physically becomes one through the marital act. In a similar way, this (to a mere fraction) would intend to mirror the union we encounter with the Lord in Mass when we come to Communion and receive Christ in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. We take Him in and become united with Him; we become one. The marital act is said to reflect this physical union. It speaks of the divine union that God longs for with His beloved children.
Secondly, we look at the spiritual dimension of the union we share with our wives. During our wedding vows, we hear the priest say the words: “…what God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Our marriages are a sacrament; a physical and tangible thing to make visible the invisible reality of God's grace. We become the sacrament by partaking in it with our wives. We come together to form the sacrament as one, and thus, we are tied and formed into one in the spiritual realm.
Verse 32 would seem a little bit more vague perhaps, but upon further contemplation, I would argue that it becomes clear when we’ve got the “two become one” mentality as our foundation. St. Paul mentions it is a mystery- more specifically in reference to Christ and the Church. I would make the case that what he is pointing to is that Christ and His Church are one and cannot be separated. Christ is indissoluble from His Church; namely the Catholic Church.
A video that went viral on YouTube some years ago comes to mind: “Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus.” The young man makes the case for following Jesus only, without religion or any particular leading him. This misguided and subjective standpoint leads to disarray and a spiritual anarchy which makes the self the ultimate judicial say-so, which is not and cannot ever be the case. We have the Church, the Magisterium, guided by God the Holy Spirit, to lead us infallibly to truth in Jesus Christ.
Christ and the Church are one, and they will always be. There have been attempts to separate the two, but when they are one to begin with, the separations attempted leave only parts that are intended to make up the whole. Christ and the Church are the archetype for unity of two parts. We are to follow this image as the guide for our marriages. Christ, the bridegroom ought to lead us men to mirror His role in the mystical marriage to His Church, our brides.
Alas, we come to the final verse which is the last command given to us by the great evangelist in this passage. In a way, it’s a summation of the entire concept of the verses that precede it. Paul wraps these verses up with a brief summary: “…love his wife as himself…” I intentionally put only that portion of the verse because I think it brings back into perspective how we ought to love our wives.
We discussed at length that the term “love” is to will the good of the other as other. Naturally, we do that of ourselves, or we should. It makes all the sense in the world, then, to love our wives in much the same way. Of course we do not purposefully will or desire badness or evil upon ourselves, so it only follows that we ought not behave in a way towards our wives that suggests we imply that.
Because we recognize that we are made in the image of God, we then ought to will our own good for God (not because He needs it), and by the very nature of Paul’s command to us, we ought to do the same for our wives, because we are one. If we love ourselves, then ipso facto, we love our wives due to the oneness of our sacramental bond; marriage.
Gentlemen, the point of these past three articles has been to draw attention to our own lives and the roles that we play in the sacramental union created by God and for God. We have certain duties to our wives, but it calls to mind that we must always try to perfect ourselves as Christ commanded. We are called to mirror the union that Christ established between Himself and His Church with our wives. We need to be the visible sign to our deteriorating culture that the bond between man and woman is a small but readable reflection of the desired union that God has for His children.
Pax Christi,
Cameron
