“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word…” Ephesians 5:25-26
In contrast to the culture of the time, the husband is told not to rule his wife, but to love her self-sacrificially. Husbands are to emulate Christ’s love, the kind of love that is willing to lay down one’s life for another person and serve that person even if it means suffering.
“As Christ loved the church” is a metaphor for husbands. Paul’s words to the husband are far longer than to the wife, for it is an opportunity to rejoice in the Gospel as well. If the husband’s love for his wife is Christlike, he is willing to give up his very life for her. Christ’s marriage to the Church is a major Gospel image in the New Testament.
“Washing with water through the word” is a reference to Baptism, by which Christ sanctified (or made holy) His Bride, the Church (invisible and visible believers). The idea is the church must be cleansed in order to be holy, since Jesus wanted to develop the church into what it should be, the holy temple of God.
God’s blessings on your day…