I call it ignorance—nothing less than ignorance—that in the world we live in today some still believe, based on the Bible, that women should not lead.
Many point to 1 Timothy 2:12, which says that women should learn in quietness and full submission and are not permitted to teach or have authority over men. Others refer to 1 Corinthians 14:34–35, which instructs women to remain silent in the churches.
But that was then, and this is now.
If we truly understand the New Testament and the significance of Mary, the mother of Jesus, along with the teachings and actions of Christ himself toward women, why are we still clinging to interpretations rooted in limitation rather than truth?
Galatians 3:28 declares that in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female. This powerful statement points toward equality in Christ — an equality that includes the ability to serve and to lead.
Jesus came into the world giving sight to the blind, making the lame walk, and healing the sick. He broke religious expectations and traditions openly for all to see. Yet while he worked outwardly in the world, he also worked inwardly through the woman who carried him — his mother Mary — even before his birth.
Just as sin entered the world through both Adam and Eve, who disobeyed God and ate from the forbidden tree, redemption came through the womb of a woman named Mary, with the support of her fiancé Joseph. This time the story was not about disobedience, but about submission and surrender to God’s will.
From the moment of Gabriel’s annunciation — “Hail Mary” — to her faithful “yes,” Mary became a living vessel of God’s Spirit. Through her willingness to accept God’s will, she opened a door for all women to stand with courage and faith.
Mary demonstrated leadership in her relationship with Joseph by standing firm in her conviction to obey God. She accepted the risk to her reputation, her safety, and even her future marriage. Though engaged and suddenly pregnant, she did not waver.
Through faith and boldness, she faced Joseph with the truth of her situation and trusted that God would make a way. She waited, prayed, and believed that the Lord would speak to him.
That is leadership.
Joseph, like Adam before him, might have walked away if it were not for God’s intervention and Mary’s unwavering faith. Unlike Eve, Mary did not turn away from God but trusted him completely.
Mary became a blessing and a model for all humanity. Her life teaches faith, surrender, resilience, courage, and obedience to God’s will.
Her conversation with the angel Gabriel reveals intelligence, wisdom, understanding, and deep spiritual awareness. Most of all, it reveals trust in God.
Mary understood her mission as the mother of Jesus, the Son of God. In a similar way, women who nurture life today — whether through birth, adoption, teaching, or caregiving — participate in God’s work.
Anyone who lovingly cares for a child reflects the spirit of motherhood, even if she is never called mother.
Mary carried out her mission with courage and grace. She faced the possibility of rejection, disgrace, and even death by stoning. Yet the world now calls her Blessed Mother.
We must recognize the divine design in God’s work. God formed man from the dust of the earth, and then planted life within the woman who came from man. Through that same design, God brought redemption into the world.
Through Eve came the poison of the forbidden fruit; through Mary came Jesus — the antidote for us all.
Without Mary, there could be no Jesus.
Consider this: God formed Adam from the ground, yet he chose not to bring Christ into the world in the same way. The God who can do all things chose instead to work through a woman.
Through Mary, God elevated the role of women in his divine plan. Women who accept God’s will — not only in bearing children but in nurturing and guiding them — participate in God’s creative work.
Pregnancy itself reflects God’s hands at work like a potter shaping clay (Isaiah 64:8; Jeremiah 18:1–6). During that time, the presence of God becomes deeply personal — spiritually, physically, and emotionally.
Men may plant the seed, but God shapes the life. God is the giver of life.
If women are entrusted, according to Proverbs 22:6, with teaching children the ways of the Lord so that they will not depart from them, then why should women not also be entrusted with leadership?
Men cannot bear children, and God has not changed the order of creation from the days of Adam and Eve until now. Yet through Mary, the position of women before God was elevated and honored in a profound way.
It is striking that in the days of Noah the world was judged when angels took women and bore children with them, yet later God himself chose a woman through whom his only begotten Son would enter the world.
The difference is simple: God asked Mary, and Mary said yes.
In Eden, Eve was deceived. But in Nazareth, Mary consented.
Even though he is God, he sought Mary’s agreement. That tells us something profound about the character of God.
What I admire most about Mary is that she chose God — whom she could not see or touch — over her fiancé Joseph. That is true faithfulness. That is putting God first.
Joseph, unlike Adam who stood ahead of Eve, stood beside Mary in fulfilling God’s will. He was not placed over her to rule, but alongside her to support and protect.
Through Mary, Joseph himself grew closer to God, especially after the dream in which he was told to take her as his wife despite her pregnancy (Matthew 1:18–25).
Joseph became not only a stepfather to Jesus but a faithful earthly husband to Mary, guided by God to protect them both.
He may have expected an ordinary marriage, but God gave him a greater calling — a test of faith that required obedience and trust.
Together Mary and Joseph fulfilled God’s will, succeeding where Adam and Eve had failed.
Both Adam and Joseph listened to their wives.
So who, then, is the true leader?
Perhaps leadership is not about domination but about faithfulness and obedience to God.
We should observe the relationships of pastors, preachers, bishops, and church leaders with their spouses. Strong leadership often comes from unity — like parents guiding a household together in love.
If a man can be Pope, I see no reason why a woman cannot lead.
Why should Peter, who denied Jesus three times, be elevated while the mother who bore him is excluded? Both were loved and blessed by Christ.
From the beginning of time, women have demonstrated leadership.
Eve stood before the serpent without fear and sought understanding. Adam failed to guide them both according to God’s command.
Genesis 3:12 records Adam saying to God:
“The woman you gave me gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.”
God commanded both Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree. Adam could have reminded Eve, yet he chose instead to follow.
They were both responsible, which is why both were cast out of Eden.
Neither could lead alone; they were like the blind leading the blind.
But through Jesus and his mother Mary, God restored balance.
True leadership requires both man and woman working together under God.
It takes both.
Amen.
The Oracle of Divinity 