The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 240

,ve have to thank God even for our afflictions, which nre blessings in disguise; for though, in so far as they are evil, we are to be reconciled to them, yet we hnve to thank God 1·0r that which is good in them, viz. the merciful design, the accompanying com- t1.,rt, the resulting benefit, And as we receive all ouly through Christ, so we are to !=in· thanks to the Father in the Name of Christ, (c) S11,b,jection. "Subjecting your- ~l'ln:>s one to another in the fe.<1.r of Christ/' It- seems strange thnt this should be men- ri,,ul',l l\S one of the manifestations of spiritual elevation. We can only think of it in this m,'.'·· As men under the excitement. of wine are apt to he self-assertive, heady, so under the escitcment of the Spirit we hn,e such a fund of joy in ourselves that ,ve are ,'Clntent to fall into every position of subjection in which God would place us. 'l'he particulars of this subjection follow; it here only concerns us to note the peculiar feel- i11g which is a.s...-sociated with it, viz. the fear of Christ. We know that from all the joy ot his first ,isit as a youth to the temple, the joy of his being there about his ]'ather's business, he could go down and be subject to his parents. And we know that, amid all the rapture of the transfiguration, he could yet think of subjection to the Father'11 will in his decease. As, then, we reverence Christ and fear to offend him, let us (with all tlw.t we experience of the higher excitement) be subject one to another.-R. F. Vers. 22-23.-Relative duties. I. DUTY OF WIVES. "Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands." 1. Gr011,nd of subjection. (1) The husband represents Ohrist to the W1.je. "As unto the Lord." The original of the position of husband is to be found in Christ. It is )n this character tha~ he appears in the forty-fifth psalm, i11 the Song of Songs, and tn other parts of Scripture. He is the absolute impersonation of the idea (the Hnsband by pre-eminence); and what we find in the human family on earrh is only a faint copy of the original. It is true, too, that the husband is not in ~e family in his own name. He deri,es his authority from Christ. He is there as represen.:i!lg Christ. He is there as thoagh Christ were there. What, then, the wifd is in .inty bound to render to her hasband., she is not to render to him simply, but to him as representing ChrisL (2) It has its foundation in flature. The natural, relati<mship . .. For the husband is the head of the wife." It is not implied in this that the husband is superior to the wife in all qualities, but only that be is her superior in those qualities which fit him for being head. Especially his superior strength and self-reliance mark him out for taking the leading part. He is husband, or band of the house-what keeps it undivided and keeps it up. He has to come between his wife and the world, to shield her from its glare ~nd its harm. While she is a keeper at home, he has to go out and work for her, that he may provide for her maintenance and comfort, It is therefore fitting that she should lean upon him and be guided by him. The Ohristian unalogy. "As Christ also is the Head of the Church." The headship is a great doctrine for the Church, already taught in this Epistle. As the wife in her weakness and dis- trustfulness of self leans upon her husband, so the Church in her weakness and felt insufficiency is to lean upon Christ. Worldly powers may be hostile, but she can never be deprived of the protection of her Head. Protected by him, she must be die- t at.ed to by none, but must take the law, pure and simple, from his lips. In the analogy t!,ere is an important difference. "Being himself the Saviour of the body." It must very seldom have happened that one bas made a wife of her whom he has rescued from a watery grave or other form of death. But it is true of Christ that he h'ls made a epow,e of her whom he Juu deliveredfr,pn, everlasting destruction. He is Saviour of the body, u. the Church. That makes his headship peculiar (without analogy in the earthly type}, and gives him a peculiar hold on the obedience of the Church. 2. .Manner artd extent of 3Vhjecticn,. (1) Manner. "But" (that is, though Christ is r:..c,re than Protector, is also Saviour of the Chnrch) "as the Church is ~ubjcct to Christ, w, let the ""fres also be to their hu.sbanda." The ideal set before her is that, as thll Church deports herself toward Christ, so she is to deport herself toward her husband. It has this advantage (high as it iB) that, by entering into the spirit of her relationship to Ler husband, sLe i;hould be greatly assisted in subjecting herself (as her husband un<ler home disadvantage must also subject himHclf) to Christ. (2) Extent. "In everything." The necessary limitation here is-in everything that he, acting in the Name of Christ, Las a right to expect of her. If he were laying anything sinful or purely arbitrary and tyrannical upon her, she would be justified in resisting him (appealing from him ClI, V, 1-33.) '!'HE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 241