144 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY XX. subjection "as unto the Lord," how saith He that they must depart from them for the Lord s sake ? Yet their duty indeed it is, theirbounden duty. But the word " as " is not necessarily and universally expressive of exact equality. He either means this, " as knowing that ye are servants to the Lord " ; (which, by the way, is what he says elsewhere, that, even though they do it not for the husband s sake, yet must they primarily for the Lord s sake ;) or else he means, " when thou obeyest thy husband, do so as serving the Lord." 1 For if he who resisteth these external authorities, those of governments, I mean, " withstandeth the ordinance of God " (Rom. xiii. 2), much more does she who submits not herself to her husband. Such was God s will from the beginning. Let us take as our fundamental position then, that the husband occupies the place of the " head," and the wife the place of the " body." Ver. 23, 24. Then, he proceeds with argu ments and says that " the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the Church, being Himself the Saviour of the body. But 2 as the Church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their husbands in everything." Then after saying, " The husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is of the Church," he further adds, "and He is the Saviour of the body." For indeed the head is the saving health of the body. He had already laid down beforehand for man and wife, the ground and provision of their love, assigning to each their proper place, to the one that of authority and forethought, to the other that of submission. As then " the Church," that is, both husbands and wives, " is subject unto Christ, so also ye wives submit yourselves to your husbands, as unto God." Ver. 25. " Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church." Thou hast heard how great the submission ; thou hast extolled and marvelled at Paul, how, like an admirable and spiritual man, he welds together our whole life. Thou didst well. But now hear what he also requires at thy hands ; for again he employs the same example. "Husbands," saith he, "love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church." Thou hast seen the measure of obedience, hear also the measure of love. 3 Wouldest thou 1 [" ius expresses the mode of view in which the wives are to re gard their obedience towards their husbands, namely, as rendered to the Lord. " Meyer. In Luke xiv. 26 the absolute is put for the relative, as elsewhere often, and this explains our author s difficulty. G. A.] 2 [This " but" is by no means easy of explanation, but probably is to be understood thus: He is the saviour of the body that man certainly is not, "but, nevertheless," as the Church is subject to Christ, so let wives be to their husbands, etc. Ellicott, Meyer, Bengel, Calvin, and Alford. G. A.] a [" Ifyou put all the arguments of orators together, you will not persuade husband and wife to mutual affection as Paul does in this place." Bugenhagen, quoted by Meyer. G. A.] have thy wife obedient unto thee, as the Church is to Christ ? Take then thyself the same provi dent care for her, as Christ takes for the Church. Yea, even if it shall be needful for thee to give thy life for her, yea, and to be cut into pieces ten thousand times, yea, and to endure and un dergo any suffering whatever, refuse it not. Though thou shouldest undergo all this, yet wilt thou not, no, not even then, have done anything like Christ. For thou indeed art doing it for one to whom thou art already knit ; but He for one who turned her back on Him and hated Him. In the same way then as He laid at His feet her who turned her back on Him, who hated, and spurned, and disdained Him, not by menaces, nor by violence, nor by terror, nor by anything else of the kind, but by his unwearied affection ; so also do thou behave thyself toward thy wife. Yea, though thou see her looking down upon thee, and disdaining, and scorning thee, yet by thy great thoughtfulness for her, by affection, by kindness, thou wilt be able to lay her at thy feet. For there is nothing more powerful to sway than these bonds, and especially for husband and wife. A servant, indeed, one will be able, perhaps, to bind down by fear ; nay not even him, for he will soon start away and be gone. But the partner of one s life, the mother of one s children, the foundation of one s every joy, one ought never to chain down by fear and menaces, but with love and good temper. For what sort of union is that, where the wife trem bles at her husband ? And what sort of pleas ure will the husband himself enjoy, if he dwells with his wife as with a slave, and not as with a free-woman? Yea, though thou shouldest suffer anything on her account, do not upbraid her ; for neither did Christ do this. Ver. 26. " And gave Himself up," he says, " for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it." So then she was unclean ! So then she had blemishes, so then she was unsightly, so then she was worthless ! Whatsoever kind of wife thou shalt take, yet shalt thou never take such a bride as the Church, when Christ took her, nor one so far removed from thee as the Church was from Christ. And yet for all that, He did not abhor her, nor loathe her for her surpassing deformity. Wouldest thou hear her deformity described ? Hear what Paul saith, " For ye were once dark ness." (Eph. v. 8.) Didst thou see the black ness of her hue ? What blacker than darkness ? But look again at her boldness, " living," saith he, "in malice and envy." (Tit. iii. 3.) Look again at her impurity ; " disobedient, foolish." But what am I saying? She was both foolish, and of an evil tongue ; and yet notwithstanding, though so many were her blemishes, yet did He give Himself up for her in her deformity, as for one in the bloom of youth, as for one dearly be-