Today I looked up the Hebrew and the Greek words for “nourish.” There are only 3 Hebrew words for the word “nourish,” but many others in the Hebrew and the Greek for variations of the word including nourished, nourisher, nourisheth, nourishing, and nourishment. The word I am going to cover today is the word “ektrepho” in Greek
There are only two occurrences of this specific Greek word being used in the New Testament. They are both in the book of Ephesians. One is Ephesians 6:4 that talks about nurturing your children in the admonition of the Lord. The other is found in Ephesians 5:29, and is the subject of what I am going to discuss today.
Ephesians 5:29 reads:.
“Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. For we are members of His body.” (BSB)
That word “ektrepho” means to “bring up to maturity; to nourish.” There are quite a few variants of this word in Greek and they all have the connotation of nourishing.
When we look at Ephesians 5:29, we recognize that it’s about Jesus. It’s about Jesus taking care of the church in a specific way. He doesn’t hate us. In fact it is quite the opposite; He loves us. If you read the verses in Ephesians 5 before this one, it discusses a marriage relationship and how the husband ought to love his wife.
Because Jesus loves us, He takes care of us, nourishing and cherishing us. We are part of Him.
Do you ever slow down and meditate on Jesus this way? I want to make it personal for myself. I am part of the Body of Christ, so I can believe these thoughts that the Scripture shares.
Jesus loves me. He nourishes me. He cherishes me. He is bringing me to maturity in Him.
Earlier in Ephesians Paul prays,
“for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”-Ephesians 3:14-19 (BSB)
That’s my prayer for me today, and my prayer for you. I pray that we would allow Him to nourish us with His love, and that we would become mature in His love. I pray that we would swim in it daily, and feel safe, nourished, and comfortable in this love. Amen.
Beth Reavis 