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In today's episode, we delve into what is oftentimes a problematic statement in Ephesians 5 where it says wives are to be subordinate to their husbands. However, that line, that word, if we step back, is easily taken out of context.
A woman who heard a homily on this reading was quick to instruct the Priest to "...get that out of the Bible". So, she knows better, right? We know better than God. And the question for us is, Do we do the same? Do we hear parts of the Bible and cringe and think, "Surely that doesn't apply to me!"
Now, as people get agitated about women being subordinate, we need to read what precedes this statement as well as what follows. We don't watch a single scene in a movie and stop just as we don't read a single chapter in a book. We keep reading and we keep watching because we want the whole story. The whole "story" from Paul, what he is extolling us to do is to offer ourselves to each other. This is not about men demeaning women. Far from it. Man and woman, creatures of the same loving God are loved the same. What precedes the "subordinate" comment from Paul is that we are to be subordinate to one another. It continues that husbands are to love their wives. Love, in its truest form, is giving one's life. Total giving. This explains or supports the equality that God designed!
The entirety of the Bible does apply to us and we have a responsibility as God's creatures to study, to learn more about those parts of the Bible that cause us to squirm. It's these parts where God is trying to wake us up.
Peace to you,
John
