Please explain Eph. 5:24 to me

[aball1035]

“Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things”

I believe husbands should be the leaders in the family, but what is “all things” defined as? Seems to me that being subject in “all things” could range from a minor thing like when the wife could watch TV to big things like buying a car. Could someone explain how I as a male should interpret this verse in the Church’s eyes?

 

[NotWorthy]

“Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things”

I believe husbands should be the leaders in the family, but what is “all things” defined as? Seems to me that being subject in “all things” could range from a minor thing like when the wife could watch TV to big things like buying a car. Could someone explain how I as a male should interpret this verse in the Church’s eyes?

A male should examine the whole quote to see what standard should be attained before he worries about his wife’s acquiescence. Look at the next verse:
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her…

If you, as head of your wife, are willing to give up all (even your life) for her, then she would gladly be subject to you… for she knows that you are doing what’s best for the both of you.

 

[StCsDavid]

To understand 5:24…you need to understand 5:25. Ponder these words by our Church Father St. John Chrysostom on this very line of scripture:

“Husbands,” saith he, “love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church.”

Thou hast seen the measure of obedience, hear also the measure of love. Wouldest thou have thy wife obedient unto thee, as the Church is to Christ? Take then thyself the same provident care for her, as Christ takes for the Church. Yea, even if it shall be needful for thee to give thy life for her, yea, and to be cut into pieces ten thousand times, yea, and to endure and undergo any suffering whatever,—refuse it not. Though thou shouldest undergo all this, yet wilt thou not, no, not even then, have done anything like Christ. For thou indeed art doing it for one to whom thou art already knit; but He for one who turned her back on Him and hated Him. In the same way then as He laid at His feet her who turned her back on Him, who hated, and spurned, and disdained Him, not by menaces, nor by violence, nor by terror, nor by anything else of the kind, but by his unwearied affection; so also do thou behave thyself toward thy wife. Yea, though thou see her looking down upon thee, and disdaining, and scorning thee, yet by thy great thoughtfulness for her, by affection, by kindness, thou wilt be able to lay her at thy feet. For there is nothing more powerful to sway than these bonds, and especially for husband and wife. A servant, indeed, one will be able, perhaps, to bind down by fear; nay not even him, for he will soon start away and be gone. But the partner of one’s life, the mother of one’s children, the foundation of one’s every joy, one ought never to chain down by fear and menaces, but with love and good temper. For what sort of union is that, where the wife trembles at her husband? And what sort of pleasure will the husband himself enjoy, if he dwells with his wife as with a slave, and not as with a free-woman? Yea, though thou shouldest suffer anything on her account, do not upbraid her; for neither did Christ do this.

+++

So the wife is to submissive to the mission of the husband, that mission being to love her as Christ loved the Church. You can’t have 5:24 gentlemen unless you’re willing to do 5:25.

 

[NotWorthy]

To understand 5:24…you need to understand 5:25. Ponder these words by our Church Father St. John Chrysostom on this very line of scripture:

“Husbands,” saith he, “love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church.”

Thou hast seen the measure of obedience, hear also the measure of love. Wouldest thou have thy wife obedient unto thee, as the Church is to Christ? Take then thyself the same provident care for her, as Christ takes for the Church. Yea, even if it shall be needful for thee to give thy life for her, yea, and to be cut into pieces ten thousand times, yea, and to endure and undergo any suffering whatever,—refuse it not. Though thou shouldest undergo all this, yet wilt thou not, no, not even then, have done anything like Christ. For thou indeed art doing it for one to whom thou art already knit; but He for one who turned her back on Him and hated Him. In the same way then as He laid at His feet her who turned her back on Him, who hated, and spurned, and disdained Him, not by menaces, nor by violence, nor by terror, nor by anything else of the kind, but by his unwearied affection; so also do thou behave thyself toward thy wife. Yea, though thou see her looking down upon thee, and disdaining, and scorning thee, yet by thy great thoughtfulness for her, by affection, by kindness, thou wilt be able to lay her at thy feet. For there is nothing more powerful to sway than these bonds, and especially for husband and wife. A servant, indeed, one will be able, perhaps, to bind down by fear; nay not even him, for he will soon start away and be gone. But the partner of one’s life, the mother of one’s children, the foundation of one’s every joy, one ought never to chain down by fear and menaces, but with love and good temper. For what sort of union is that, where the wife trembles at her husband? And what sort of pleasure will the husband himself enjoy, if he dwells with his wife as with a slave, and not as with a free-woman? Yea, though thou shouldest suffer anything on her account, do not upbraid her; for neither did Christ do this.

+++

So the wife is to submissive to the mission of the husband, that mission being to love her as Christ loved the Church. You can’t have 5:24 gentlemen unless you’re willing to do 5:25.

Man, I couldn’t have said that any better!!!

 

[aball1035]

Thank you both!

One more question tho. This might seem wierd, but bear with me.

If we only had verse 24, then the husband could make his wife do just about anything, and it would be ok. But verse 25 tells the husband to love His wife as Christ loves the Church. So that evens out the playing field. That rules out crazy things like the wife having to ask the husband to use the bathroom at dinner, because if the husband really loved her, that wouldn’t be an issue. Maybe I’m rambling, but am I on the right track?

And if you don’t mind, where was that quote from?

 

[bpbasilphx]

And would you rather be simply submitted to, or loved?

Wives are NOWHERE commanded to love their husbands, but merely submit.

Something else:

“Husbands, love your wives” seems self-evident today.

But remember at the time this was written, marriages were arranged by the FAMILIES involved. As Tina Turner sang, “What’s love got to do with it?”

You didn’t marry for love of your spouse (whom you may not have met before the wedding day) but for love of your FAMILY, because it was your duty.

Mutual love was not considered to be the root and cause of marriage, but rather its fruit and result.

 

[NotWorthy]

Thank you both!

One more question tho. This might seem wierd, but bear with me.

If we only had verse 24, then the husband could make his wife do just about anything, and it would be ok. But verse 25 tells the husband to love His wife as Christ loves the Church. So that evens out the playing field. That rules out crazy things like the wife having to ask the husband to use the bathroom at dinner, because if the husband really loved her, that wouldn’t be an issue. Maybe I’m rambling, but am I on the right track?

And if you don’t mind, where was that quote from?

No, you are on the right track. I love to see this passage read in the Mass. Husbands give their wives the “Who’s the man, NOW, woman?” look, and then the priests continues talking about the 2nd verse. BTW, that quote is from Ephesians 5:25, the very next verse, if that’s what you are asking.

I think our priest purposely sets up the husbands when he does this homily… you know, propping them up and then knocking them down.

 

[StCsDavid]

Thank you both!

One more question tho. This might seem wierd, but bear with me.

If we only had verse 24, then the husband could make his wife do just about anything, and it would be ok. But verse 25 tells the husband to love His wife as Christ loves the Church. So that evens out the playing field. That rules out crazy things like the wife having to ask the husband to use the bathroom at dinner, because if the husband really loved her, that wouldn’t be an issue. Maybe I’m rambling, but am I on the right track?

And if you don’t mind, where was that quote from?

I think you have the idea. The quote was from the homilies of St. John Chrysostom that I found on Biblia Clerus.

 

[peary]

“Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things”

I believe husbands should be the leaders in the family, but what is “all things” defined as? Seems to me that being subject in “all things” could range from a minor thing like when the wife could watch TV to big things like buying a car. Could someone explain how I as a male should interpret this verse in the Church’s eyes?

**Why don’t you quote ALL the verses pertaining to this? You have to look farther than your nose.

Ephesians 5: 25-28:

“Husbands, love your wives,*** even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her ***to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.So (also) husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.”

Paul tells the husband to love his wife AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH AND DIED FOR THE CHURCH.**

**Not only is a husband to love his wife, he must love her to such an extent that he even sacrifice his own life for her, as Christ loved His Church by dying for her.

And Paul ALSO writes, in Ephesians 5:21 - “Be subordinate to *one another *out of reverence for Christ.” **