The model is Christ and the church (v. 32), which is then applied to marriage. Yet Christian marriage helps us to understand the mystery of the Church.
(1) For wives, concerning headship (vv. 22–24): In both the Church and marriage, there is one who acts as head, who leads. As Man, Christ is first among equals, not superior to us in nature; yet He alone is the head of the church (v. 23). Likewise, wives are called to submit to their husbands as equals.
(2) For husbands, concerning sacrificial love (vv. 25–31): Paul writes three sentences to wives, but writes at greater length to impress on husbands that they should love their wives. Just as the wife’s submission is to accept the headship of the husband, the husband’s submission to his wife is to sacrifice himself for her. In ancient Israel, the bride would bathe and dress and be escorted to the bridegroom by his friends. In the Church, baptism is that bathing and dressing in which we put on Christ (v. 26), and the groom Himself, Christ, escorts us (v. 27). In the Church, the baptized are one humanity, one flesh with Christ; in marriage, husband and wife are one flesh with each other.
Taken from The Orthodox Study Bible
“Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.”
Ephesians 5:22-23
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