The Ekklēsia
Ephesians 5:22-24
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
The given bible verse is well-known as a guideline for marriage life. But Paul’s understanding and sharing of wisdom in the Spirit to the church in Ephesus interestingly with a parallel focus on family and church. As the topic is Ekklesia I would not like to comment on martial guidelines in the given passage for wives and husbands.
As the words begin for submission of wives to their own husbands for the husband is head of the wife as the Christ is of the church. This shares with us a very crucial understanding how the relationship between the Church and Christ. The demanding commitment required by the church and the identity of the church in Christ.
The Greek word Ekklesia means Assembly, congregation, or meeting which directly in biblical context means “the community of believers in Jesus Christ. The Old Testament idea of the congregation was visible in the form of the synagogues, but the central point of the Jewish faith as the symbol was the Jewish temple. But the New Testament idea of the temple is uniquely different as Jesus referred to our body as the temple of God. But the idea Ekklesia is much more supreme in its own way compared to the Old Testament temple. Here Jesus the Son of God Himself is Ekklesia and those who believe in Him are the portion of this body. In our current context, we need to understand two aspects of the church. One is the local church which is located in our nearby geographical setting and is accessible and has a fellowship. Another aspect of the church is the universal church is the collective community that will respond to the sound of the trumpet of the Lord regardless of racial, linguistic and denominational differences according to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever.”
The Ekklesia is the idea that originated in the heart of God. As Jesus said “I will build my church” in Mathew 16:18. Employing himself to the divine task and continuing the task through the saved ones. The Ekklesia can identify itself with the supremacy of Christ described in Colossians 1:15-18.
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”
The realization of the supremacy of the Son of God will help Ekklesia define itself in the image of Christ and in times of trials to thrive because there is much more to the church than the world can define it. As a person who believes in Jesus Christ the most valuable revelation is that the work of the Ekklesia completes through them.
Pr. Abel Mathai Samuel