 |
 |
 |
|
|
|---|
|
The Call of the Apostles
“He went up into the hills and called to him those
whom he desired. And they came to him. (verse 13)
And he appointed twelve
to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out
demons.” (verse 14)
Parallel in Luke 6,12-13b: “In those days he went out into
the hills to pray, and at night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was
day, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named
apostles.”
“They were: Simon whom he surnamed Peter; James the
son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, whom he surnamed Boanerges, that
is ‘sons of thunder’; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,
James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaean; and Judas Iscariot,
who betrayed him” (verses 16-19).
No one can seriously doubt the symbolism of the number twelve. Like
elsewhere in Scipture it points to the twelve tribes of Israel, and therefore
to the whole Jewish people . Compare the symbolism of the 12 pillars of
the altar (Exodus 24,4), the 12 precious stones on the Highpriest's
breast piece inscribed with the names of the tribes (Exodus 28,15-21),
the 12 gates of the new temple (Ezekiel 48,30-34; see Revelation
21,12), and so on.
The Early Church understood the power of this symbolism. They elected a
new member to replace Judas, so that the number be complete (Acts
1,15-26).
The question is: May the omission of women be interpreted as a
deliberate decision by Jesus to exclude women from the priesthood for all
times?
The answer is: No! For the following reasons:
- Jesus normally left such decisions to the later
Church.
- The simple explanation for his omission of women is
social male dominance in Jesus' time which was a fact
Jesus had to live with.
- The revolutionary new priesthood
established by Jesus would eventually require the full integration of women
into the ordained ministry.
- Women were present at the Last Supper when Jesus spoke the words:
“Do this in commemoration of me!”. ‘Meals of
the Community’, by Suzanne Tunc, from Des Femmes aussi Suivant
Jésus, Paris 1998, pp 69-77.
Objection 1:
Jesus chose the twelve with great care. He spent the whole night in
prayer before finalising his choice. We are told that he chose “those he
himself wanted” (Mark 3,13). Surely, the exclusion of women was also
carefully considered by Christ.
Answer:
- Jesus' careful preparation concerned the right choice of the
individuals selected, as the text itself shows by naming them.
- Nowhere is it indicated that women were excluded by Jesus for special
theological or liturgical reasons. The omission of women is simply a non-fact.
- Choosing men was the normal, socially understood, thing to do, since
men held all leadership positions. Jesus Christ could not bring about all
changes at once!
Objection 2:
“Jesus Christ did not call any woman to become part of
the twelve. If he acted in this way, it was not in order to conform to the
customs of his time, for his attitude towards women was quite different from
that of his milieu, and he deliberately and courageously broke with it.”
(Inter Insigniores, no 9.
Answer:
The facts show differently. Jesus did adapt and
had to adapt to the Jewish social customs of male dominance.
Read also: “The
twelve apostles were men - -” by Ida Raming, Orientierung 56
(1992) pp. 143-146.
John Wijngaards
Join our Women Priests' Mailing List
for occasional newsletters:
An email will be immediately sent to you
requesting your confirmation.
Please, credit this document
as published by www.womenpriests.org!