LIFE GROUP OR PERSONAL STUDY | EPHESIANS 5:22-33
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Start with Context:
The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians while imprisoned in Rome around AD 60-62. Ephesians emphasizes the church's unity as the body of Christ and provides practical instructions for living out the Christian faith. In Ephesians 5:22–33, Paul addresses the relationship between husbands and wives, using the relationship between Christ and the church as a model.
Read Ephesians 5:22-33 aloud.
“Wives, submit to your husbands.” It feels uncomfortable to say and read. Though this passage has been used to enforce a certain inequality among genders, that’s not what Paul intended. He’s not some misogynist pig who hates women. To understand what he’s saying, we need a bit of Greek. The Greek word for “submit” is hupotasso. The word implies a voluntary, respectful yielding, not forced subjugation.
Additionally, note how Paul in verse 21 encourages us to “submit to one another…” This submission is rooted in a relationship with Christ, reflecting the church's submission to Christ. As the head, the husband mirrors Christ’s headship over the church, emphasizing responsibility and care rather than dominance. How does this explanation change perhaps your understanding of submission? How does the concept of submission in this passage differ from societal views of submission?
Reflect on how Paul instructs husbands to love their wives, specifically in verse 25, where Paul writes, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” What does this reveal about Christ’s love for the church?
Paul uses the image of “one flesh,” quoting Genesis 2:24. There is a profound unity in marriage, which is why marriage should not be entered into lightly but reverently. How does this “one flesh” unity correspond to the relationship between Christ and the Church?
What role does sacrificial love play in marriages (and, to be more broad, other relationships)? What role does it play in the Church?
Close with a prayer, thanking God for His Word, asking for the strength to submit and unite with Christ and one another.