Women and Jesus

Jesus’ Countercultural Interaction with Women in the Gospels

It is in recent years that I have come to feel fond of Jesus. I appreciate that as a Churchgoer raised in a Christian family, this is somewhat late. Despite annual calendar reminders of Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection (Christmas and Easter), and after reading the gospels, I still found myself estranged from this man named Jesus. I knew that He was a big deal, and accepted the benefits of Christian faith (welcome, forgiveness, salvation and biscuits at Church), but at the same time I found the stories of Jesus surprising. Jesus seemed to say things I didn’t expect Him to say, and do things I didn’t expect Him to do. His teachings appeared encased in distant illustrations that read more like religious riddles, or related to a world of leprosy and vineyards far from my reality. Up close, I felt unfamiliar with Jesus in the gospels.

It is in recent years, though, that I have come to feel fond of Jesus. Learning the unfolding story of the Old Testament has helped enliven Jesus to me, as has studying the historical background of the gospels. But perhaps what has endeared me most to Jesus is learning about how He related to women. Delving into the life of Jewish women at Jesus’ time is pure joy because once you understand these women, you understand much more about Jesus.

Women were drawn to Jesus, feeling safe to ask their questions and bring their concerns. Jesus defended women and took their spiritual lives seriously. His teachings used examples relatable to women as well as men, and He told stories where women represented the righteous role. It was women who first met the risen Jesus, and who were sent with the undeniable privilege of announcing His resurrection to the other followers. No wonder it was women who were last at the cross and first at the tomb.

Jewish Women in First Century Israel

The Jewish women of Israel in Jesus’ time (AD first century) lived limited lives that were largely hidden from public view. Today, these women’s lives still remain largely hidden from gospel study, but in order to better understand Jesus, we must be familiar with the full cast of the gospels, and that cast included women. What role did Jewish women play in public life? What traditions and boundaries surrounded them? Allow me to introduce these women, looking at their value in society, their religious lives and their presence in public.

Value

Jewish women of first century Israel were among the lowest end of the social spectrum, commonly referred alongside slaves and children in the Mishnah (an ancient record of Jewish oral traditions). The Mishnah also clarified that two men were worth one hundred women, and Josephus (a first century Jewish historian) said, “Woman is in all things an inferior human.” The recommended prayer of Rabbi Juda ben Elai (AD 150) was, “Praise God that He did not create me a heathen! Praise God that He did not create me a woman! Praise God that He did not create me an illiterate person!”

Public Lives

Unsurprisingly, public life for first century Jewish women was minimal. According to Philo (a Jewish philosopher), Jewish women of Alexandria “never even approached the outer door [of the home].” In Jerusalem, when a woman did leave her house, she kept her face covered by a double veil. One ancient account narrates that a chief priest once did not recognise his own mother in public. Women were excluded from all public discourse and from most public venues. A woman speaking to a man who was not her husband was considered grounds for divorce.

Religious Lives

The Rabbinic belief was that women and theology should have nothing to do with each other. In first century Israel, sons received education and not daughters. Sons studied the Torah (Jewish scriptures) and sons became disciples of rabbis. Women were not permitted to function as disciples of a rabbi, or to read or study the Torah. Rabbis regarded it as sin to teach a woman, encapsulated sharply in the Talmud (the ancient Jewish writings containing the Mishnah) which states, “Let the words of the Torah be burned up but let them not be delivered to a woman.”

Jesus’ Interaction with Women in the Gospels

Both as a Rabbi and as a Jewish man, Jesus paid little attention to the societal and religious norms regarding His relationships with women. Jesus interacted with women. He saw them, answered them and welcomed them. On several occasions, Jesus cleared space for women in arenas where their presence was criticised. Jesus allowed women to travel alongside Him on His ministry journeys, and some of His most profound identity revelations were spoken to women. It is my joy to share with you examples and evidence from the abundance of gospel stories which describe Jesus uplifting women in Jewish society.

Jesus Spoke to Women in Public

In a society where women couldn’t contribute to public discourse, Jesus spoke to and responded to women, often offering words of comfort. Jesus told the haemorrhaging woman, “Go in peace” (Luke 8:43-48) and took seriously the request of James and John’s Mother (Matthew 20:20-23). When women called out to Jesus from the crowd, He answered them (Luke 11:27-28; 23:26-31). Jesus defended the woman who covered Him with costly ointment against the scorn of His disciples (Mark 14:3-9), and He defended the adulterous woman from the accusations of local religious leaders (John 8:1-11).

Jesus’ Teachings Were Relatable to Women

Jesus taught using illustrations that were relatable to women as well as men. When explaining the kingdom of God, Jesus told two parables, one of a mustard seed and another of yeast (Luke 13:18-21) - men would relate to sowing seeds and women would relate to mixing yeast into flour. When Jesus taught about repentance, He described a shepherd losing his sheep and a woman losing her coin (Luke 15:1-10). When Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, He used a female figure of speech, claiming to feel like a protective hen longing to gather her brood (Luke 13:34).

Jesus’ Had Theological Discussions with Women

Rabbis believed that women and theology should strictly be kept separate, and even Jesus’ disciples were “astonished” to find Jesus talking to women (John 4:27). Yet Jesus taught women as freely as He taught men, taking their spiritual lives seriously. To Martha, Jesus revealed, “I am the resurrection and the life,” going on to ask if she believed Him (John 11:17-27). Martha declared her belief in His Messiahship, which is just as spectacular as Peter’s more famous confession in Mark chapter 8.

On another occasion, Jesus praised Mary’s decision to sit and listen at His feet - the indisputable posture of a student before a Rabbi (Luke 10:38-42). To the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus said another profound identity statement, claiming His messiahship (John 4:1-42). In doing so, Jesus triple-violated the cultural norms, talking to a Samaritan, a woman, and one who voiced her opinion on theology. When Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene after His resurrection, the first word she exclaimed was, “Rabbouni!” which means Teacher (John 20:16).

Jesus Had Women Among His Wider Group of Disciples

Jesus had women disciples, which was revolutionary in first century Jewish culture. Although Jesus’ inner circle of disciples were twelve males, He had a larger group of followers who joined in His ministry (consider Jesus sending the seventy in Luke chapter 10) - among whom were women. Women travelled with Jesus alongside the twelve (Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:40-41), and even financially provided for Jesus and His ministry (Luke 8:1-3).

Daniel J. Lewis explains this wonderfully. “Had Jesus not maintained an unyielding ethic with regard to sexual relationships between unmarried women and men, no doubt the common accusation would have been not merely impropriety, but promiscuity. Still, while Jesus was accused of gluttony, drunkenness and fraternising with the lower classes and not keeping the Sabbath, no one ever accused him of sexual impropriety! As a celibate for the sake of God’s kingdom, Jesus was free to interact with women as social equals.”

Jesus Sent Women to Announce His Resurrection

All four gospels reveal that women were the first to hear of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20). These women were sent to proclaim this miraculous news to the twelve disciples. It is important to note that Jewish women in first century Israel were not allowed to give evidence in court. Women were considered morally inferior and as such, their testimony counted for nothing in a court of law. Yet, on this first Easter Sunday, women were sent by Jesus as a witness to history’s greatest event, the resurrection. God evidently reckoned the witness of these women as credible and sufficient.

Throughout the gospels Jesus extends a broad invitation into the kingdom of God, including to women. In return, women responded enthusiastically, committing their trust, time and finances to Jesus’ work. I’ll end with the brilliant words of Dorothy L. Sayers, “Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man—there never has been such another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronised; who never made arch jokes about them, never treated them either as “The women, God help us!” or “The ladies, God bless them!”; who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them and was completely unself-conscious. There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows its pungency from female perversity; nobody could possibly guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything “funny” about woman’s nature.”