Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. – Ephesians 5:25

Today's Scripture Reading (May 24, 2024):  Ephesians 5

As a kid, I loved to watch a show called "All in the Family" about a man named Archie and his family and friends. Archie was a bigot. A lot of what "All in the Family" did was try to shock us. It wasn't just trying to shock us for shocking sake, but to shock us so we could see some of our societal problems, possibly for the first time. Even the language that the show used was rough for the day. The various races were called by offensive names. Characters were called names like Dingbat and Meathead, and Archie consistently used the phrase "Yous people" to address the minorities he met and those with whom he disagreed in his daily life. The show screamed I need you to hear this because this is so wrong.

The Bible often does the same thing; we miss it because we live in a very different culture. So, let me take you back to the day Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesian Church. It is a very male day. We aren't required to agree with that; we need to understand it. We need to be aware of this reality when we read stories within the Bible's pages. One such story is about the day Jesus taught on a hillside. It was a common place to teach because the sound would have been amplified, and a hillside provided excellent sight lines for the people to see the Rabbi. Jesus and his disciples (all male) began to teach, and the people kept on coming. It comes to the end of the day, and the people are hungry. You know the story. A young boy comes up with his lunch, but what good is that? Jesus takes and blesses it, and then the disciples begin to hand out the food. The Bible estimates that about five thousand men were present to hear Jesus. Scholars say the actual number of people was probably between ten and fifteen thousand because the women and children were not counted. Here is the shock value that we sometimes miss in the story; imagine this: the original lunch that Jesus blessed was made by a woman and possessed and donated by a child in a culture where neither would have even been counted as part of the crowd.

Paul tells the Ephesian church to submit to each other. And this is what this looks like. Women should submit to their husbands because they are the head of the house. The original readers would have read this and understood this was a fundamental life practice in a male-dominated society. It is the way things have always been. We read these words with a Western mindset and are offended, but they were written to a Near Eastern audience who lived almost two thousand years ago when Paul's statement would have been accepted as a typical feature of life. It is still that way in some places, and in the West, we struggle with their beliefs and actions.

But Paul didn't stop there because we are to submit to each other in the Christian community. So, he goes on. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church; remember that he gave his life and died for the church. Love your wife as you love your own body.

Now, this was new and more than a little shocking. Women were property. What do you mean love her as I love my own body? Do you mean to imply that she is as important as I am?

And Paul would probably say, I'm not implying it; I am telling you straight out. Being willing to die for her sounds an awful lot like submission. Paul's response? I told you, submit to each other.

By the way, "All in the Family" taught the same principle. It was in Edith every time she would rather take from Archie than hurt him. If it were important enough, she would stand against him, but she didn't want to cause him injury. Nobody can deny that, through the gruff exterior, Archie loved Edith. However, like so many men, he had a hard time expressing that love.

Submit to each other. Love each other. Make it more than words, more than a card and some flowers once in a while. Love her, make her more important than yourself. Maybe there is something that Edith can teach us. Want more for her or him than you do for yourself, even if that isn't returned. That is what submission looks like.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6