The Tree of Jesse. A modern orthodox icon (by Nicholas Pappas) at St. Philip's Antiochian Orthodox Church, Souderton, PA. This icon depicts the many prophecies of the Virgin birth of Christ. There are twelve Old Testament prophets, shown holding things that reveal their identity and the prophecy they foretold of the Theotokos and the virgin birth of Christ.
IV. The Implications for the Liturgical Priesthood of Gender Roles as Prophecy
We specify the “liturgical priesthood” because all baptised Orthodox believers are part of the “royal priesthood” (1Pet.2:9). All are members of the “royal priesthood” because only the priesthood can partake of the things of the altar, and all are called to receive the mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ — the “things of the altar” — in Holy Communion. Nevertheless, only men are called to the liturgical or “ordained” priesthood.
To understand the reason why women are not enrolled in the priesthood, we must first of all put away one treacherous presupposition: that it has to do with relative value. It does have to do with roles, but here again, there is a destructive presupposition. Many people have, for centuries, equated roles with value, and they have extended the roles of men and women in the liturgical life of the Church (which deals with prophecy and revelation) to society, politics and industry __ which have nothing to do with the faith or the salvation of humanity.
The roles we are speaking of have nothing to do with caste, personal value or human worthiness. The roles of men and women in the Church are prophetic and deal with prophecy and revelation. Thus, throughout Scriptural history, women have held the prophetic role of revealing the Church: the nature and mission of the Church on earth (which is why in heaven, there is neither male nor female: because the Church on earth will have fulfilled her mission, and the revelation and prophecy about her will no longer be needed; likewise, the visible presence of Christ will bring to an end the prophetic role of the male). The prophecy about Christ has been proclaimed through the male prophets, with one exception: Eve. The promise to Eve that her offspring would wound Satan’s head was a clear prophecy, not about the Church but about Christ. That offspring was Christ, Who came forth from the Virgin as a fulfilment of this prophecy given through Eve. This is why we call Mary “the second Eve.”
The role of priest in the Church belongs only to Christ. He is the priesthood of the Church. He is also the spouse and husband of the Church. Christ’s visible priesthood in the Church is fulfilled through the ordained priests, more precisely, through the bishops of the Church (who delegate this to parish presbyters since the bishop cannot be everywhere).
Thus, the prophetic role of men is in revelation about Christ, and the prophetic role of women is in revelation about the Church. There is no relative value in these roles, since the mystery of redemption is the mystery of Christ and the Church. It should be clear, however, that while women fulfil a ministry in the Church (first of all, the prophetic ministry) they do not enter into the priesthood, which is a revelation about Christ, not about the Church. A woman in the priesthood would have to be presenting a revelation about the husband of the Church, the spouse of the “spotless, pure bride of Christ.” Do you not see how perverted and corrupt such a “revelation and prophecy” would be?
This same prophetic role extends, incidentally, to the family, quite naturally, as the very intent of marriage is to be, as Scripture clearly declares, a revelation about the relationship between Christ and the Church (Eph. Ch. 5).
For those who have lost their faith or who have usurped the authority of God, it may seem logical to change the nature of His revelation and even of the Gospel of salvation itself. It may seem reasonable to unbelievers to corrupt and pervert society, and so also reasonable to corrupt and pervert the nature of divine revelation and the order of prophecy so that the Gospel itself is devoured in human self-worship and conceit. For believing Orthodox Christians, however, the revelation of God and His prophecy stand immutable, unchangeable and without challenge. The respective roles of men and women, both in the Church and in the family, are not roles of relative value or worth, but roles of prophecy and revelation. Let everything remain in the order and grace which God has ordained for it, that the Gospel might be proclaimed, not in empty words, but in life itself, in the very experience of living life according to the plan of God.
Men are worth no more than women, women no more than men. But if we allowed the prophetic role of either or both to be corrupted, then we destroy the ultimate worth of both, and pervert the Gospel of Christ, corrupting our families and yielding to the wiles of Satan.
Source: http://www.manastir-lepavina.org/vijest_en.php?id=2846
His Eminence, the Most Reverend Lazar (Puhalo) of Ottawa, is a retired hierarch of the Orthodox Church in America, and is the founding abbot of the Monastery of All Saints of North America, Canada.
