Christ and his people. They also are one flesh because they have a common life, and because his people de- rive their life from his flesh .as Eve derived hers from the flesh of Adam.
The principal difficulty here relates to the connec- tion. The passage stands thus: ‘We are members of Christ’s body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.’ There is an apparent incongruity between the premises and the conclusion. How does our being members of Christ’s body, prove that a man should leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife ? There are three methods of getting over this difficulty. First, some assume that there is no connection between the two verses, but that the 31st refers back to the 28th. The sense would then be, ‘A man should love his wife, because she is his body. or this cause, a man should leave his father and cleave to his wife,’ ἄς. This method of solution is inconsistent both with what pre- cedes and with what follows. It does not agree with what precedes, because the words, of his flesh, &c., in ver. 30, referring to Christ, form part of the passage in Genesis, the continuation of which is given in ver. 31. If the one refers to Christ, the other must. It contra- dicts what follows; for in ver. 32, the main idea con- tained in ver. 31 (they shall be one flesh), is expressly said to be affirmed in reference to Christ and the church.
The second method of explanation assumes an im-