Christ our Head
1 Corinthians verse-by-verse | Session 32 | 1 Corinthians 11:2-4
Summary so far…
The letter to the church of Corinth mirrors the church of Christ today. The letter begins with a note that this letter was not just to the Corinthians but to all the saints in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not an isolated letter to an isolated group of people written in a distant part of history. This is a living Word, written by the Spirit of God, for the church of today.
For the last several sessions, we have walked through the understanding of sexual immorality and food offered to idols. Though it seems to be a simple, straightforward issue at the outset, as we walked through the Scripture, we began to understand—to some extent—the depth of what Scripture is teaching us.
Do you think the church would have understood this warning? The book of Revelation teaches us that the answer is no. There is a part of the church that, unfortunately, will not heed to this warning, and the church will walk into sin.
Revelation 2:20 | Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
If I could summarize what sexual immorality is, and what eating food offered to idols is, the simplest understanding is this: Christ and Christ crucified. The understanding in which Scripture has pressed us is that we must understand the cost of our salvation. Christ shed His own blood as an atoning sacrifice and laid down His own liberty on the cross to save us. And when He saved us, scripture taught us that we have become the Church of God- the body of Christ.
Along with that, when our Savior died and rose again, He not only gave us eternal life, He not only made us part of His body, He also made us righteous, He also made us holy. And the more we studied the more we understood that there is no way we can keep our position in Christ unless and until we completely depend on Him, and His grace to do the work He had started in us.
And when a believer does not understand his position in Christ, and does not live in complete dependence of the Lord, and if a believer is not striving at all times to seek the Lord, he risks falling into the sin of sexual immorality and eating food offered to idols.
In Revelation 2, we read that the church has allowed the teaching which is no longer centered on Christ and Christ alone. The church is now tolerating false authority and corrupt doctrines. And that is the warning the Holy Spirit is calling out to us in the pages of 1 Corinthians.
Who is the author of our salvation? Christ is. Who retains our salvation? Christ does. And therefore, our focus also must remain Christ-centered. The Apostle proclaimed in 1 Corinthians 1:23 that all he and the apostles preached was Christ and Christ crucified.
With that understanding, the Apostle now moves into the teaching on communion. But before he does that, he takes a pause and speaks about authority in the body of Christ.
This passage that we are about to read is one of the most contended passages in Scripture. We will walk through the understanding that has typically been shared over the course of hundreds of years, and what is commonly taught in sound, Bible-teaching evangelical churches, before we return to study this passage verse-by-verse.
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 11:2 | Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.
1 Corinthians 11:3 | But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
1 Corinthians 11:4 | Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head.
1 Corinthians 11:6 | For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered.
1 Corinthians 11:5 | But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved.
1 Corinthians 11:7 | For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.
1 Corinthians 11:8 | For man is not from woman, but woman is from man.
1 Corinthians 11:9 | Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man.
1 Corinthians 11:10 | For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
1 Corinthians 11:11 | Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:12 | For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God.
1 Corinthians 11:13 | Judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
1 Corinthians 11:14 | Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?
1 Corinthians 11:15 | But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering.
1 Corinthians 11:16 | But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
1 Corinthians 11:17 | Now in giving these instructions I do not praise do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.
The Passage
In 1 Corinthians 11:2-17, the Apostle speaks about a tradition which he delivered to them. He commends them for keeping that tradition. What is the tradition? That the woman should have their heads covered during worship, and men should not have their heads covered during worship.
The Apostle then gives a reason why he asked them to keep this tradition. He points to creation—man was created first, and then the woman. The woman was created for man, the Apostle is pointing to the order of creation in Genesis.
He also points to the Spiritual order. Christ is the head, then man, and then woman. And God is the head of Christ.
So he explains that the woman should have her head covered, while the man should not have his head covered. Then there are two verses within this passage that make this entire saying particularly significant.
In verse 10, the Apostle says that that a woman should have a covering in the church because of the angels.
And in verse 16, after giving this custom, the Apostle makes a statement that there is no other custom and if anyone does not want to keep this custom, then he does not have to keep it.
The Commentary over time…
Before we continue in this study, let us see how the church has interpreted this passage throughout history, beginning from the early period after the time of the apostles. From the earliest centuries, the church took this statement literally. They believed the words commanded by the apostle and considered them to be the Word of the Holy Spirit Himself.
Therefore, they ensured that women covered their heads and did not teach in the church. Men were also expected to remove their head coverings when they entered the church.
However, around the early to mid-20th century, this practice slowly started to decline. By the late 20th century, the majority of churches no longer required head coverings. The reason for this change was the way this specific passage began to be interpreted along with womens rights and various enlightened movements across the world.
The authority of the passage itself was not questioned in general. Most churches still continued the understanding that women should not teach. But this too started varying depending on the denomination background.
However, the understanding of head covering was no longer maintained in most of the churches irrespective of the denomination. Because it was interpreted as a cultural practice during the time of the Corinthian church and hence it was no more applicable for the churches of today.
That is why today most churches uphold the principle of authority but do not practice head coverings. We rarely see women veiled, and we also see men wearing caps and hats inside the church.
Questions to ask
But let us ask ourselves a few questions before we move into a verse-by-verse study of this passage.
- The Apostle introduces the matter of head covering before he leads us into the understanding of communion. Why does he address this subject at this point of time in the letter? We know the Corinthian church had problems, Paul talked about how the church is not united in Christ. But, why the hair, why the covering?
- The Apostle states that it is a shame for a woman to cut her hair, and that if she does not have a covering, her head should be shaved. What is the meaning of this statement? Historians and scholars teach us that in those days a shaved head was a symbol of shame- was Paul just talking about cultural nuances which is applicable only for that point of time in history?
- Why would the Apostle, after repeatedly instructing that women should be veiled and men should not be veiled, conclude by saying that if there are contentions, there is no such custom in the churches of God? What do we do with what was just stated?
- Finally, we believe that this passage is written by the Holy Spirit and not merely thoughts of the apostle. If that is the case, then according to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, it is given so that we may be instructed in righteousness. How does the matter of long hair, and being covered or uncovered, instruct us and shape us in righteousness?
When you read this passage, how did you process it? What thoughts came to your mind as you considered it? Did you reflect on what it might mean for you personally?
If you concluded that wearing a covering is not necessary today, how did you arrive at that understanding? What theological reasoning guided your conclusion?
The Head – Verse 3
Before we jump into the understanding of covering, the understanding of tradition as called out in verse 2, I believe we need to understand the important verse of all. Verse 3.
1 Corinthians 11:3 | But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
The Head of All
Now there are two key things we need to identify:
One is the “Head,” and other is the “Covering of the Head”.
Without understanding the “Head,” it will be difficult to understand “Covering of the Head.”
In the Old Testament, we will eventually go down there to study the covering. We will understand that there is a difference when a man covers his head and when a woman covers her head.
So, the Holy Spirit first gives us the understanding of the Head. Once we understand the Head, we will then move into the understanding of the covering of the Head.
In verse 3, Scripture gives us the understanding of the Head. This is important, because without understanding the Head, we cannot properly understand the covering of the Head.
Verse 3 proclaims that the Head is Christ.
Remember the call out we had in 2 Timothy 3:16-17; all Scripture is given so that we may be instructed us in His righteousness. We cannot be instructed in His Righteousness we are studying Christ.
If the Holy Spirit is teaching us, He is not merely teaching us morality or culture; He is teaching us Christ and Christ crucified.
So, without any surprise, the good Lord points us back to Christ.
He is the Head.
Scripture proclaims – Christ is the Head of man, and man is the head of the woman.
This is an important understanding provided within this framework of Headship.
Christ is the Head of man; man is the Head of Woman.
This is not a new concept. Let us step back and consider the flow of the book of Corinthians. Remember, this is a single letter, and this understanding of Headship has been progressively taught to us by the Holy Spirit.
Through the Book of Corinthians
1 Corinthians 6:15 – Scripture reminds us that we are members of the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:15 | Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Scripture reminds us that since the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we are the temple of the living God. We became the body of Christ because we are purchased by the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And if we are the body of Christ, then Christ is the Head of the body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 | Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 – Scripture teaches us that we are one body, the body of Christ, because we partake of the one Bread—our Lord Jesus Christ. The church is united in Christ, and our Headship is the Lord Himself.
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 | The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that One Bread.
Through the New Testament
This understanding is not limited to this letter. Let us step back and look at the broader teaching of the New Testament.
Ephesians 1:22-23 – Christ is the Head over the church, which is His body. In 1 Corinthians, we learned that we were purchased by His blood to become His body. We are no longer our own, but belong to Christ. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us, for He is the Head of the Church.
Ephesians 1:22-23 | And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 5:23 – Christ is the Head of the church, and there is an image of Christ and His church visible through the life of a believing husband and wife. The husband represents Christ, and the wife represents the church. As the church is subject to Christ, so the wife is subject to her husband. This visible symbolism is meant not only for believers, but also for the unbelieving world, that they may see the order and testimony of the body of Christ.
Ephesians 5:23 | For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and he is the Savior of the body.
Colossians 2:9-10 – We are complete in Him. Without the Head, there is no body. If Christ is not taught and glorified in the church, that is not His body. He is the Head of all principality and power.
Colossians 2:9-10 | For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Christ is the Head, and the Authority.
So, in the New Testament we learn that Christ is the Head. He is the Authority.
We must understand that this is not a segregated New Testament theology, but a mystery the Lord has been unfolding through the ages and has now been revealed to us.
We are still examining the understanding of the Head. As we continue further, we will also move into the understanding of the covering.
The Head Covering
Even before the Apostle walks into the understanding of head covering, he sets the entire understanding of who the Head is. If we do not understand that the Head In this context Is Christ, then the “covering” referred to In these verses will be taken out of context as equating to culture or just plain tradition.
So, with the understanding that Christ Is the Head of the Church, let us move further into the understanding of this passage.
1 Corinthians 11:4 | Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head.
Verse 4, if a man covers his head while prophesying or praying then he dishonors his head. The head in this context is understandable, it is Christ.
The word dishonor Is to put to shame, we cannot put Christ to shame. The understanding will be Is that we bring shame to His name because we have covered the Head – Christ.
The Physical and the Spiritual.
Though the verse is provided as a physical manifestation of a man covering head, let us understand a few things through Scripture–something we have discussed in the past.
What does It matter If a man covers his head or not In a church? Let us assume, you are gathering In open church and It Is 100 degrees outside. Would you not cover your head? What happens If you are In a open church and It Is freezing, would you not cover your head?
It Is because of these questions, the understanding became – It has to be cultural because we could find some historical reasons related to head covering on greeco-roman culture. But, we need to understand that this Is the Word of God, It Is eternal, It Is written so that we may be Instructed In righteousness.
To give you an example, let me take you back to the Old Testament. The good Lord gave Levitical food laws in the Old Testament. The law was very explicit, on what the Jews can eat, and what they cannot eat. And they kept the law, they still keep the law.
We even see later on In the book of Acts when the good Lord asks Peter to raise up and kill, Peter says–Lord, I have not eaten anything unclean. So that gives us an understanding that when Christ was In this world, He kept the law. He did not eat anything unclean.
But, when the Pharisees asked the Lord on why the disciples are eating without washing, the Lord gave a very interesting response. The Lord said, what you eat will come out of your body. And that will not defile you. But, what comes out of your heart will defile you.
What the good Lord did was give us an understanding of the entire Levitical law, that the understanding should be that we through the Spirit of God should be able to divide what Is good, what Is evil, and ensure what Is good Is retained In our heart. That Is a different study, but we need to understand the simple question of the Lord.
What you eat, does It make you holy, or does It make you unholy? neither. We just spent a few sessions on eating food offered to Idols. The understanding was nothing to do with food, but the understanding was the testimony of Christ In our life.
The good Lord continues to teach us In the physical, so that the through the Spirit of God we will be able to understand the spiritual.
The Head Covering of Man
The spiritual things are for eternity and they edify us, while the physical things are for today and do not give us much edification.
Let us go back to verse 4.
This Is a church setting. A man Is praying or prophesying.
What Is prayer – It Is a man communicating with God. This Is a corporate prayer setting.
What Is prophesying? In a few chapters we will walk into this understanding, but to give you a quick note – prophesying is speaking forth divine things, things which are only revealed by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. The clearest understanding is in Revelation 19:10, where Scripture teaches us that Prophesy is a testimony of Jesus Christ.
And In this context when a man prophesies, according to this verse Christ Is hidden or veiled.
The reason the man should not be covered Is because he already has a covering In Christ. If you put a covering on top then what you have done Is to veil, hide Christ.
On In the church If there Is a prophesy, or the word proclaimed, or a prayer prayed, but It Is not Christ centered — then Christ Is hidden and this brings dishonor to the Lord.
Christ our Covering.
Let us understand what It means to be covered by Christ. Then we can understand how we can bring dishonor to Christ.
The Consistency of the Corinthian Letter.
Now understand that this has been the central theme of the book of Corinth. Let me give you a quick summary.
Chapter 1 – We were taught through the Spirit that Christ Is the Wisdom and Power of God.
Chapter 3-4 – we were taught that there cannot be any divisions In the Church because, we all belong to One body In Christ.
Chapter 5-7 – Immorality and corruption in the body dishonors Christ, because we are part of His body.
Chapter 8-10 – food offered to Idols, false testimony dishonors Christ, because we are part of His body.
And now In Chapter 11, before going into communion. The good Lord teaches us that when Christ Is veiled or hidden then we are dishonoring Christ.
The Covering of Christ
So what Is this covering which Christ provides which we should not veil or hide or cover. Let us turn to the Old Testament.
Psalm 91 talks about a believer who Is covered by the Lord God Almighty.
Psalm 91:4 | He shall cover you with His feathers
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
The picture of Psalm 91 Is of the Most Holy Place. The Most Holy Place contains the Ark of the Lord and two Cherub at the top of the Ark. The wings of the Cherub Is massive and one of the wings touch each other, and the other wing touches the end of the most holy place. So the entire Most holy place Is covered by the Cherub’s wings.
If you have access to the Most Holy Place, when you enter Into It- you are completely covered by the presence of God.
There are multiple places In the Old Testament where the Lord’s covering Is called out. The word covering In this context Is SAKAK which means to be completely shut In–again the picture of a believer Inside the most holy place.
In Exodus 33:22, when the Lord passes over Moses He covers Moses with His hand by placing him In the cleft of the Rock.
In Psalm 140:7, we are covered by the Lord In our mother’s womb.
Now the Important understanding we are trying to get Is, how do we ensure that we remain In the covering and do not veil our head In such a way that Christ Is covered. We do not want to dishonor God.
How do one keeps himself In the covering of God?
Again, let us turn to the Old Testament.
Remain in the Covering.
Back to Psalm 91:4. We see that when we are under His wings, He Is our shield and buckler.
The same understanding Is given In several other passages – Psalm 5:11-12. Psalm 140:7 with the Imagery of the battle He Is our shield.
In Psalm 91:4, Scripture teaches us how we remain under His covering – through His truth, which Is His Word.
So our trust In the Word of God will keep us under His wings, and under His shield.
Look at another verse from Proverbs 30:5 – again, the understanding Is the same.
Proverbs 30:5| Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
The Lord God Is our shield, and our covering when we put our trust In Him – through the Word of God.
In the New Testament, this understanding was made even more clearer through the Spirit of God and His Word.
Who is the Word of God.
Let us read John 1:1 a very familiar passage. But we read this In the context of 1 Corinthians 11 where Jesus Christ Is the head of Man.
John 1:1-2| In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were created by the Word, through the Word, and this word existed from the beginning, and this word Is God.
Let us go down to John 1:14
John 1:14| And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word of God, Is Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ Is the Glory of God. And He Is our Head. We need not have any other covering for we are already covered by our Savior Jesus Christ.
Look at Revelation 19:11-13.
Revelation 19:13| Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
But though we know that He Is the Word, though we know that this Is the Word of God. But still scripture proclaims that this will remain a mystery to us.
The reason Is because we end up veiling the glory of the Lord.
The church Is the visible testimony of Christ, but– we
For now, the understanding of this verse Is watered down to cultural etiquette. Why read these verses If It Is not applicable to us?
What does It mean then? Do we need to ensure men do not cover their heads? Is that what our summary Is? We are yet to walk into the woman’s covering. No- the understanding Is to ensure we under through the Spirit of God on what It means to be covered by Christ.
Scripture continues to teach us. Turn to the book of Romans.
Put On Christ
When Christ saved us, Scripture teaches us that we are covered by our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:27 proclaims that anyone who Is baptized Into the Lord has put on Christ.
Galatians 3:26-27| For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There Is no work required from us to put on Christ. It Is not we who decide that Christ should be our covering, It Is a free gift of God which He gave us through His blood when He purchased us.
If we have put on Christ, and He Is our covering- then what should be visible? Christ should be visible.
The only reason Christ cannot be visible Is because we have veiled Christ In our life, and we have not walked deeper into the understanding of the finished work of our Lord on the cross.
Look at Romans 13.
Romans 13:12-14 | The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts
The reason Christ Is not visible Is not because we are unable to mature by doing more work at the feet of the Lord. The reason we veil Christ Is because we do not seek Christ but rather seek to fulfill the lust of our flesh.
The Scripture points to the Armor of Light, the Armor of God, which Is our Lord Himself. Can the world see Christ in us? Or have we veiled the good Lord.
Understand the context of the book of Corinthians, the central theme Is always Christ and Christ alone.
He Is our Head. Whatever we do, we speak, we pray, should be Christ centered so that we may know Him.
We cannot be like the Israelites who asked Moses to put a veil over his face. Scripture teaches us that this veil Is uncovered In Christ. For where there Is spirit, there Is liberty.
It Is through His Word, through His Spirit.
The body should be Christ honoring for we are the visible presence and testimony of Christ in this fallen world.
We did only 3 verses, before we moved into the understanding of the covering of woman, and the covering of hair.
We cannot walk into that without this foundational understanding.
Before we enter into communion, we need to understand this.
Christ Is the Head, and nothing in the body of Christ can conceal His glory.
His mercy, His longsuffering, His goodness, His love should be visible in us.
Amen.
In Christ — Noel Kingsley
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