cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the twain shall become one flesh. 32 This revelation ( mystery ) is great; but I speak looking to Christ and to the Church. 33 However, do ye also severally each so love his own wife as himself; and let the wife see that she fear her husband.
22.
aiJ gunai'ke"
...] We must supply
uJpotavssesqe
from the previous verse.
ijdivoi" ajndr
.] etiamsi alibi viderentur meliora habere consilia (Beng.). Comp. 1 Cor. 7:2; 14:35; Tit. 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:1.
wJ" tw'/ kurivw/
] All natural authority comes from Him.
23. The relation of husband to wife, like that of Christ to the Church, points to a unity included in the idea of creation (Eph. 5:31 f.).
ajnhvr...kef. t. g.
]
a husband is head of the wife.
Compare 1 Cor. 11:3, where the relations are differently expressed.
The marriage relation of the Lord to Israel runs through the O.T. The application of this relation to Christ and the Churchthe spiritual Israelimplies His Divinity.
The Church offers to Christ the devotion of subjection, as the wife to the husband. Christ offers to the Church the devotion of love, as the husband to the wife. Both are equal in self-surrender.
aujto;" s. tou' s.
]
being Himself
not only head but
saviour of the body.
This cannot be said of the husband except in a far inferior sense.
24.
ajlla; wJ"
...]
But
, though the parallel is not complete, and the husband does not hold towards the wife the unapproachable preeminence which Christ holds towards the Church as its Saviour, still
as the Church is subject to Christ, so let
....
ejn pantiv
] The connexion is supposed to fulfil the ideal.
25. As the duty of the wife is subjection, so the duty of the husband is love, answering to the love of Christ crowned by His sacrifice of Himself.
hjgavphsen th;n ejkkl
.] Comp. Acts 20:28. So Christ spoke to the representatives of the Church on the eve of the Passion: John 13:34; 15:9, 12. Christ loved the Church not because it was perfectly lovable, but in order to make it such.
For eJ. parevdwken see vs. 2; Gal. 2:20. The word is used of the Father in relation to the Son: Rom. 8:32 uJpe;r hJmw'n pavntwn parevdwken aujtovn .
26-7. The purpose of the self-sacrifice of Christ for the Church is described as threefold, (1) to hallow it (
i{na aJgiavsh/
), (2) to present it to Himself a glorious Church
(
i{na parasthvsh/...e[ndoxon
), (3) that it may continue to be holy and without blemish
(
i{na h\/ aJg. kai; a[m
.). Under the imagery which is chosen, the bride is first prepared for her Husband (Apoc. 21:2, 9): she is then presented to Him: and afterwards in fellowship with Him she fulfils her work.
26.
i{na...aJg. kaqar
....] The initiatory sacrament of Baptism is the hallowing of
the bride. In this she is, as by a bridal bath, at once cleansed and hallowed. The actions are coincident (
aJgiavsh/ kaqarivsa"
comp. Eph. 1:8, 9).
tw'/ l. tou' u{d
.]
by the bath of water.
Comp. Tit. 3:5
dia; loutrou' palingenesiva"
, and 1 Cor. 6:11
ajlla; ajpelouvsasqe, ajlla; hJgiavsqhte, ajlla; ejdikaiwvqhte ejn tw'/ ojnovmati tou' kurivou hJmw'n jIhsou' Cristou' kai; ejn tw'/ pneuvmati tou' qeou' hJmw'n
. For
tou' u{dato"
see Acts 10:47.
ejn rJhvmati
] accompanied by a confession of the Christian Faith. For
rJh'ma
compare Rom. 10:9
eja;n oJmologhvsh/" to; rJh'ma ejn tw'/ stovmativ sou o{ti kuvrio"
jIhsou'"
.... There can be little doubt that this simple creed
kuvrio" jIhsou'"
(comp. 1
Cor. 12:3) was the Baptismal Confession. This Confession is involved in the baptismal formula
eij" to; o[noma tou' patro;" kai; tou' uiJou' kai; tou' aJgivou pneuvmato"