For the Love of WomenNäide

Jesus Empowers and Releases Women:

Though religions and governments were largely controlled by men during Jesus’ earthly reign, he routinely invited women to learn and released them to lead.

The passage from Luke tends to be leveraged to remind women not to be anxious. But the more important message here is that Jesus allows Mary to sit as his feet—a position typically reserved for male students—and listen to his teaching. When Martha tries to get Jesus to shoo Mary into the kitchen to prep the casseroles, he replies, “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” This simply statement affirms women’s desire and right to learn.

Similarly, when Jesus interacts with the Samaritan woman at the well, he is not treating her as an ignorant subordinate. They have a robust theological conversation (one of Jesus’ longest recorded conversations in the New Testament) that grows increasingly deeper with each exchange. By the time the disciples return and the woman leaves, she has come to faith. She instinctively tells everyone in her village about this remarkable man and in so doing, becomes one of, if not the first, Christian evangelist.

If Jesus had not trusted and valued women, he would not have asked them to communicate his resurrection. He could have told Mary to go find Peter and bring him to the Garden so he could spread the news. Instead, he trusted her with the miracle of the resurrection.

The trust and respect that Jesus showed women during his life countered the prevailing social and religious norms and invited women to participate in the gospel message. This was—and continues to be—liberating.

Prayer: Lord, remind me of these examples when others try to tell me that I am not worthy or good enough to sit at your feet. Give me the confidence that I need to take my rightful place in your kingdom.

©Dorothy Littell Greco, For the Love of Women: Uprooting and Healing Misogyny in America