In Jesus’ time, women were considered the legal property of their fathers or husbands. They lacked education and typically couldn’t read. They lacked legal rights and were not considered valid witnesses in a court of law.
On top of all this, women were held in suspicion by religious men fussing and preening over their own personal moral reputations
It was not a great time to be a woman—but Jesus changed everything.
He consistently broke social barriers for women, restored their God-given human dignity, and radically included them in his kingdom.
A Brave, Desperate, Faith-filled Woman (Mark 5, Matthew 9, Luke 8)
Consider the hemorrhaging woman who crept up on Jesus in a crowd to touch his clothes, hoping her small act of faith would bring healing.
This woman, who had spent everything she had on doctors only to grow worse, was considered unclean and untouchable according to the law.
When Jesus notices power going out of him and asks who touched him, she trembles with fear, but falls down in front of him and tells the truth. Instead of taking offense or rebuking her, Jesus calls her “daughter,” says her faith has healed her, and bids her go in peace.
Turns out, he didn’t mind at all that she touched his clothes.
He just wanted to make sure she didn’t leave without knowing her value and receiving the blessing of peace in addition to her physical healing.
A Courageous, Generous, Devoted “Sinner” (Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 7)
When Jesus attends dinner at a Pharisee’s home, a woman from the city brings perfumed oil in an alabaster vase and anoints his head and feet, weeping and wiping his feet with her hair.
Some of the men in the room grow angry, stating that such an extravagant gift could have been given to the poor.
The host, Simon, thinks to himself a real prophet would know the woman is a sinner and would not allow her touch. But Jesus uses a metaphor to contrast Simon’s stinginess with this woman’s wholehearted gratitude.
He tells the men,
“Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a noble thing for me. You always have the poor with you, and you can do what is good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body in advance for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her (Mark 14:6-9).”
Jesus defends this woman against a roomful of self-righteous men, commends her prophetic acts rooted in devotion, forgives her sins, and promises her courageous compassion will always be remembered.
A Determined Gentile Mama Bear (Matthew 15)
In the region of Tyre and Sidon, a Canaanite woman cries out for Jesus to have mercy on her demon-possessed daughter.
At first, he doesn’t respond to this Gentile woman, telling his disciples he has only been sent to the lost sheep of Israel.
But this determined mother doesn’t give up. She kneels before Jesus to ask for help.
He replies, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
She insists, “Yes, Lord. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall off their master’s table.”
Jesus praises her and heals her daughter.
To our modern Western ears, Jesus seems rude and uncaring at first.
But he’s interacting with this Gentile woman in the nuanced way a rabbi encouraged learning (and this despite her ethnicity!).
He’s testing her faith so he can reward her for it.
I suspect the twinkle in Jesus’ eye kept this mom going until she got what she was after—healing for her daughter.
***
Jesus was a most unusual rabbi.
Other rabbis kept themselves scrupulously pure according to the law. They prioritized their religious reputations above the people in their spiritual care.
They certainly didn’t include women in their circles; in fact, they avoided talking to them at all in public, let alone praising them or permitting their touch.
But Rabbi Jesus was comfortable around women. He purposefully included them.
In next week’s post we’ll explore this further and find out how it relates to Resurrection Sunday.
Photo by Ray Shrewsberry on Unsplash
