Holy Orders
“…you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)
The Holy Priesthood - Continuing Christ’s Work on the Earth
During Jesus’ three-year earthly ministry, He called out various disciples to carry out His work of preaching the gospel and performing miracles. The first of these disciples were the original 12 apostles, from fisherman to tax collectors, to whom He entrusted leading His precious flock after His ascension to heaven. To these men He said: “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18) This binding and loosing reflects divine authority. He commissioned them to make more disciples of the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Holy Trinity, and teaching them to observe all things Christ had commanded them. (Matthew 28:19-20) They were empowered to heal, preach, and cast out demons. They were also authorized to forgive or retain sins in His name (John 20:23) Besides the original Twelve, there were The Seventy who were also commissioned by our Lord to preach the gospel and perform miracles (Luke 10:1-20). Jesus told His disciples that they would do great works, because Jesus would do whatever they asked in His name (John 14:12-14). Notice that it is Jesus who performs the works supernaturally by the participation of His human instruments.
In the New Testament epistles we see an emerging structure of the Church through holy ordination. The Book of Acts records the growth of the Church and the addition of other key leaders, such as the Apostle Paul and Barnabas, as well as the Deacon Stephen. The Apostle Paul’s letters identify bishops Timothy and Titus, and contain instructions for adding people to key roles. The New Testament uses Greek words to define these roles: “deacon” is “diakonos” in 1 Timothy 3:10; “elder” is “presbyteros” or its abbreviated English form “priest” in 1 Peter 5:1; "bishop” is “episcopos” in 1 Timothy 3:1. Ordained clergy in the Orthodox Church follow the biblical titles of ordination. The Scriptures lay out the qualifications for bishops (1 Timothy 3:2).
Today, the work of Jesus our High Priest continues being performed in His Name through His holy priesthood: preaching, miracles, casting out demons, baptizing, anointing with oil, offering the Holy Eucharist, marrying and forgiving/retaining sins. The Holy Priesthood under Christ is no longer under the temporal Levitical priesthood, but according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrew 6:20). As our High Priest, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father making intercessions for us (Hebrews 7:25). The Apostle Peter refers to the Church as “a Holy Priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5). The spiritual sacrifices offered to God through Jesus include intercessory prayers and the holy sacraments. The Church’s priesthood does not replace Christ as Mediator of the New Covenant, for there is only One Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). However, under the Great Commission, the holy priesthood of the Church continues the intercessory work of our High Priest until He returns.
The Priest: An Icon of Christ
Why are Orthodox priests male? Scripture and Holy Tradition form the basis of the Church’s theology concerning an all-male holy priesthood. Adam was made in the image and likeness of God - crowned with honor as God’s representative to name all of the creatures, and in the role of high priest to serve and guard the Garden of Eden, a type of temple where God manifested Himself. In the Old Testament, the great patriarchs appointed by God were male: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Noah, and David. The leaders of the 12 Tribes of Israel were male. In a similar pattern, the original 12 Disciples chosen by Christ were also male. All references by the Apostle Paul to bishops are in the masculine: “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence.” (1 Timothy 3:2-4) Earlier, he says: “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work” (verse 1). Angelic beings in Scripture also materialize in the form of males -the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
Although God Himself has no sex, since He is Spirit, He reveals Himself to us through Christ, the Only Begotten Son. Christ is fully God and fully man. He is the Second Adam, the sinless High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. The Apostle Paul expounds on the iconic roles of male and female in the mystery of the Church: “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, hat He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:23-27) There is deep theological significance in the man being an icon or representation of Christ the High Priest, while the woman is a beautiful representation of the Church - Christ’s holy bride. Although each has a distinct and significant role, together they become one. Just as in Genesis we read that God formed woman from the rib of man, through marriage they are re-united and become one flesh.
The plan of salvation involves a woman - the Second Eve. After the Fall of Man, God prophesies to the serpent: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis3:14). The great news of the gospel is that through Mary the Theotokos, God would become flesh, and save all who believe. Apart from the priesthood, woman have vital roles in the Church, giving themselves to service, teaching the children, caring for the needs of older and younger women, and encouraging and praying for all. The Church hails Mary the Mother of God as greatest among saints, while also honoring a multitude of women saints, many of whom were great martyrs. Indeed, several holy women boldly stood by Jesus at His crucifixion, when most of the male disciples hid in fear. It was the myrrh-bearing women who witnessed the risen Lord when they went to His tomb.
In the Old Testament, God instructs Moses: “Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron's sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.” (Exodus 28:1). The priests served in the temporary Tabernacle, and then in the Temple of Jerusalem. There was only one high priest at any time throughout a long succession of Levitical males. The pattern is repeated in the New Testament Church, which is the New Israel of God, with Christ serving as the ultimate and everlasting High Priest. When we are at worship, our priest or bishop becomes an icon of Christ, which necessitates he be a man for the icon to be an accurate representation of Christ our High Priest, the God-man, forever serving after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:17). In Genesis, we read that Melchizedek was king of Salem (i.e. Jerusalem) and priest of the most High God, who blessed Abram, serving bread and wine, a foretaste of Holy Communion (Genesis 14:18). The heavenly temple with New Jerusalem and its High Priest is wondrously revealed to the Apostle John (Revelation 21:1-26). By remaining faithful to the divinely revealed icon of Christ and His Temple, we’re able to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
