Ephesians 5:22-25 "Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord..."

"Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands" (Eph. 5:22-25 NRSV).

Comment:

It's important to realize that the eternal spiritual energy of the Bible does not always lie on the surface, but has to be found at a deeper level. In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul is reflecting the culture in which he lived – a culture in which women were regarded as property whose only rights came, not from God, but from the dominant men in their lives – first their fathers, then their husbands.    This was never the teaching or example of Jesus Christ. He treated women with respect, fully equal to men in their innate, empowering Oneness with God. Many of his most important teachings were shared first with women, as in his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. And we're told that it was to women he first appeared after the Resurrection.   Jesus' message has significantly changed human consciousness in the two centuries since he lived and taught. It would be tragic indeed if we had not grown in spiritual awareness from then to now. We've realized, for example, that the idea of slavery is not remotely consistent with our spiritual principles, and we've dissolved that idea throughout the world – even though Paul, in the same letter, writes "Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters" (Ephesians 6:5). That was then – a world in which slavery was taken for granted as the natural order of things. This is now – and we have grown in spiritual awareness.   The same is true in regard to the respective roles of men and women. We understand that every person is an eternal spiritual being, uniquely expressive of the Light and Love of God – the indwelling spiritual energy that is the Christ. No one has an innate authority over anyone else. We come together – in relationships, in families, in communities – to support each other in our shared spiritual purpose of creating the new consciousness that is the kingdom of heaven. From this perspective, Paul's message becomes clearer. "Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Eph. 5:21). By reverencing the Christ in each other we allow our relationships to become fluid and flexible. We honor the unique spiritual identity of each individual. Sometimes I will support the Christ in you. Sometimes I will need you to support the Christ in me. No one is inherently in charge, and no one is innately subservient.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed