Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, (26) that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, (27) that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (28) So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.  (29) For no one ever hated his own flesh,  but nourishes it and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.  (30) For we are members of His body, of His flesh and if His bones.  (31) “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”  (32) This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.  

The letter to the Ephesians was written by the apostle Paul.  In our verses today Paul is addressing the various conditions of life based on the basic principle of relationships which is that the faithful are to serve each other but some are more closely bound to each other – such as husbands and wives, parents and children – and in these relationships exist peculiar duties of mutual obligation.

This radical departure from the culture of Paul’s day ran counter to the world’s wisdom, especially concerning the husband’s role in marriage.  In Ephesus the role of the wife was mostly to produce legitimate children and to care for the home.  Now, Christian husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the church, setting aside selfish and worldly desires and instead practicing love, sacrifice, honor and lifelong devotion. . Paul is not talking about just emotional love here but love as an act of will – love here is deliberate, purposeful and a continuous effort.  But while Paul is writing of the obligation for regard of the sanctity of marriage he makes clear that the most important relationship is the believer’s relationship to the Lord. Christ is our standard and our model in living.

The great mystery in our verses refers to the spiritual union between Christ and the church as whatever is supernatural is beyond our comprehension.  The mystery is Christ’s loving and breathing His own life into the church to which all faithful belong.