Commentary: One Flesh Cannot Be Hierarchy

Ardavanis says:

"This beautiful picture of men and women, a groom and a bride... this is the central metaphor in all of the Bible... complementary yet different sexes that come together in union paint a picture of Christ and his bride, which is the church."

Yet he never quotes Ge 2:24 ("one flesh") — the text's own description of the union. One flesh cannot be a hierarchy of authority. Even though Jesus as God is clearly ruler over all His creation, the marriage metaphor is stated as a one-flesh union, not a master-slave relationship.

Key exegetical evidence from Eph 5: - Verse 22 has no verb of its own in the Greek — it borrows from v.21's "submitting to one another" (hypotassomenoi allelois). You cannot have wifely submission without mutual submission; they are the same sentence. - The husband is never told to lead, command, or exercise authority. He is told to love as Christ loved the church — which Paul defines as self-sacrifice unto death (v.25), nourishing and cherishing (v.29). This is kenosis, not command. - The "bridegroom test": How did Jesus exercise headship? He washed feet, served food, touched the untouchable, wept, asked what people wanted rather than telling them, and said "not My will but Yours." A husband who demands obedience rather than washing feet has failed the Jesus test.

Ardavanis's closing prayer is revealing: "Lord, I pray that we would all mutually submit to the authority of the groom as your bride, the church." He uses "mutual submission" language but directs it vertically (church to Christ), not horizontally (spouses to each other). The word "mutual" does the emotional work of sounding egalitarian while the structure remains one-directional.

Thank God that other scripture limits men from thinking they are god-like over others. Unfortunately, some have drawn this conclusion and acted so.