“That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,”
To make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word — the purpose: hina hagiazo ('that he might sanctify her'), kathrizō ('cleanse') through loutron hydatos ('the washing of water') en rhēmati ('through the word'), sacramental and verbal purification.
Church Fathers on Ephesians 5:26
“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 you shall take, yet shall you never take such a bride as the Church, when Christ took her, nor one so far removed from you as the Church was from Christ. And yet for all that, He did not abhor her, nor loathe her for her surpassing deformity. Would you hear her…
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