The words of protopriest Gregory Dyachenko are based on the Epistle of St. Paul to Ephesians: “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Eph. 5:23-25).
Indeed, marriage is sanctified in Orthodoxy. If we compare the attitude towards marriage in the Old Testament, we can find a significant difference. For example, the aim of the marriage was considered to be childbearing as everybody looked forward to the Messiah. Thus, husbands were allowed to have two or more wives, they could marry other wives under certain circumstances.
In contrast, Christ says that marriage is hallowed, it is a Sacrament when two people become one flesh (of course, it was firstly said in the Old Testament but people stepped away from these words). The aim of the marriage now is not to give birth to children but the union itself, as a joint journey to the Kingdom of God. The souls of the two people are now united, and that’s why the sacrament of marriage is sanctified.
