Feminist



Luke 8:1-3
1Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.

There are those who might be insulted by the label of “feminist” in reference to Jesus, but I’m going to dare use it here. Our brief text for today is illustrative of Jesus attitude toward women throughout His time here on earth. He was as embracing of female followers as He was of male. Jesus doesn’t play favorites, even when a culture does.

Throughout the Gospel, we find women in places of prominence. John reports on the Samaritan Woman at the well of Jacob with whom Jesus had an extended conversation and who became instrumental in the Gospel being shared with the entire city of Sychar. That woman had three strikes against her; she was female, a likely prostitute, and a Samaritan. Jesus cared not about any of those designations. For Him, she was a person in need of salvation and He brought that to her and she boldly shared with everyone else. We also find that Jesus appears first to women upon His resurrection and places into their hands the very first steps in the spreading of the Gospel. And of course the women were the ones who stayed near to Jesus throughout His Passion and death while the disciples basically ran away.

In this text we find that the ministry of Jesus was supported to a large extent by women. Without their support, Jesus and the Disciples might have been in need of daily food and a place to stay.

The women supported and financed Jesus and the Twelve out of their own possessions over a long time. “Serve” does not mean only “wait on table,” but “help” or “assist” in more general ways. The mention and listing of the women in Jesus’ company is unique to Luke. Jesus included women in his ministry and honored them by making them witnesses of his death and resurrection. In fact, Luke reports here the news that some women put their possessions at the disposal of Jesus and the Twelve. Thus they helped make it possible, both financially and logistically, for Jesus to travel about with his disciples, teaching and performing miracles. Those named here in Luke 8 appear again prominently as witnesses of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Just, A. A., Jr. (1996). Luke 1:1–9:50 (p. 334). St. Louis, MO: CPH.

For centuries women have held a second place in the culture, but this is not a practice we find in the ministry of Jesus. There should never be a Christian woman who feels like a second class citizen because of her sex. That attitude is never played out by Jesus and with Him as our role model we too should simply see every person as someone in need of Savior who came willingly and graciously for all.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more