“In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul not only describes the sacrificial death of Christ for the Church in terms of a husband’s love for his wife; he also explicitly describes the love between Christ and the Church as a “great mystery,” echoing the text about the wedding of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis” (112).
The “great mystery” (Greek mysterion mega) to which Paul refers is the mystery of Christ’s spousal love for the Church, which was manifested above all when he “loved her” (Greek agapao) and “gave himself for her” on the cross. Thus the day of Jesus’ crucifixion is his wedding day, when he, the new Adam, is “joined (Greek proskollao) to his wife,” the Church, in an everlasting marriage covenant. 113
In other words, Jesus is united with his bride through the sacrifice of his own flesh and blood, poured out literally on Calvary and then miraculously in the sacrament.
Pope Benedict XVI: In this double outpouring of blood and water, the Fathers saw an image of two fundamental sacraments—Eucharist and Baptism—which spring forth from the Lord’s pierced side, from his heart. This is the new outpouring that creates the Church and renews mankind. Moreover, the opened side of the Lord asleep on the Cross prompted the Fathers to point to the creation of Eve from the side of the sleeping Adam, and so in this outpouring of the sacraments they also recognized the birth of the Church: the creation of the new woman from the side of the new Adam.
From the very beginning the “great mystery” (Greek mysterion mega) of Christ’s spousal love for the Church has stood not at the periphery of the Christian gospel but at the very center (Ephesians 5:32). 136
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