Women in the Kingdom

Introduction

Many times, on Mother’s Day, preachers break out the Proverbs 31 sermon. You know the one about the perfect wife or the perfect mother or the perfect .... Something that seems to creep into these sermons, at times, are human ideas of what is the perfect woman. Since the majority of preachers are men who, like myself, really don’t have much of an idea about women, these sermons can turn into one more mansplained debacle.

My studies this week have shown me that I am not the one to tell a woman how to be perfect or what is her role. (To my shame, I have tried and it turned out as well as you can imagine.) God is the source of perfection and His word should be our guide. Join me on an expansive journey through the Bible to see what God has to say about the “perfect” woman and her role in His kingdom.

In the Beginning

Man and woman were created in the image of God. They were to be one flesh that reflected the divine perfection of the Trinity on Earth. While they had different roles, they were co-equal in their perfection. They worked together in their individual roles and were unified. Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Then came the Fall and the entrance of sin and death into the world. Man and woman would no longer be unified nor even able to work together that well. However, we know God had a plan. A plan that included both men and women. But this plan had a special purpose for the woman - Genesis 3:14-15 “The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””

In the midst of suffering God promised a Savior that would come through the woman, not the man. Let’s think about this for a minute. This revelation is contained in the curse spoken to the serpent, Satan. So God is putting Satan on notice that his day is coming and the one to have victory over Satan is coming through the woman. Is there little wonder that Satan has had a special hatred for God’s people and even more for women? Can you see how the history of fallen man not only tried to keep the Savior from coming but did so through the way men have treated women throughout the centuries? The two that should be unified have been at battle ever since the Fall.

But in the economy of God that division does not exist. The Old Testament contains stories of women and their role in the calling of God’s people, the sustaining of God’s people, and the arrival of the Messiah through God’s people.

While their are many such stories I want to quickly highlight four women that are directly tied to the lineage of the Messiah. Matthew 1:1-16 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”

Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba....

Four women in the direct line of descent of Jesus the Savior. Four women that share some commonalities. The major one is they are all Gentile women. Tamar was a Canaanite, Rahab was a Canaanite, Ruth was a Moabite, and Bathsheba was a Hittite. They were not what you would call Proverbs 31 women. Tamar played a prostitute, Rahab was a prostitute, Ruth was widowed and single, and Bathsheba had to marry the man that killed her husband. Yet God loved them, and us, enough that he saw to it they were included in Jesus ancestry. Salvation was not just for men. God’s plan did not just include men.

In the Life of Christ

So we should not be surprised that women played a major role in the life of Jesus and his ministry. More so than Jewish culture at that time would allow. Women in Jewish society were part of a rigid patriarchal society where they were limited to home duties, offered limited education, and generally regarded as adjuncts to men. Other societies not only educated women but some (i.e. Egypt) allowed women to rule. In the world of the time it was a mixed bag on what women could and could not do. In Israel they could not do much.

Jesus had a different view. As the Son of God he knew that women were an integral part of creation and also created in God’s image. He was not on a quest to destroy the patriarchy but he part of his mission as Savior was to remind us of what God intended in Eden. Thus, women were treated differently in his ministry. Far differently than even in some places today.

I’m not going in chronological order but I want to look at some of the different women in Jesus life. The first we will see are the women disciples that followed Jesus. This, in and of itself, was unheard of in first century Judea. Rabbi’s did not allow women as disciples.

Luke tells us in Luke 8:1-3 “Soon 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, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.”

It was the women that supported the ministry of Jesus. Women that most people would not have given a second thought.

John 4 Tells us the story of a woman that was such an outcast she was forced to get water from a well in the middle of the noon day heat so she would not meet others from her town. There were five husbands in her past and she was living with a man that wasn’t her husband. She was a Samaritan - a half-breed that was not accepted by polite Jewish society. The type of woman others would look away from, cross the street not to meet, and speak of in hushed, derisive words.

Yet that woman had an encounter with Jesus that lead to the salvation of many in her town. What kind of change came over her when she ran back into town telling about Jesus? What did the townspeople see and hear that caused them to drop what they were doing and go out to meet Jesus? Why would they listen to a women, THAT kind of woman, when women were not counted on as reliable witnesses in that day? Jesus had come to restore what had been lost in Eden. That was the change.

After Paul’s conversion and the start of his missionary journeys the Book of Acts tells us about his interaction with women. Acts 16:11-15 “So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.”

In Philippi there did not appear to be enough men to form a quorum for a synagogue. Women were not allowed to form that quorum. The synagogue was always the first place Paul would go to spread the Gospel. But they heard about a place outside the city that was a place of prayer. When they get there what do they find? Women. These were devout women who believed in the God of Israel and met on the Sabbath for prayer.

Notice also, Paul and his fellow travelers did not ask them where they could find their husbands or who were the big shots in town. No, they sat down and proclaimed the Gospel to the women. One of them that accepted salvation and was baptized was a wealthy woman named Lydia.

According to Ben Witherington III, “Lydia (Person),” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 422–423.

“A devout Jew from Thyatira who was converted by Paul in the city of Philippi, as recorded in Acts 16:11–15. Lydia was a worshiper of (the one true) God, i.e., she was a practicing Jew. This may have been a lifelong commitment since there was a colony of Jews in Thyatira (Josephus Ant 12.119; Bruce 1951: 312–14). That she was meeting beside a stream on the Sabbath for prayer suggests that there were not enough Jewish men in Philippi to make up a quorum and establish a proper synagogue. Here we see a subtle but important point that Luke is trying to make—while Lydia could not be a founding member of a Jewish synagogue, she can be and is the first European convert to Christendom, and in fact is the founding member of the Christian community which begins to meet in her household (16:40). Jewish women in the Diaspora did participate in the Hellenistic renaissance and may have formed their own religious groups and held meetings for worship or prayer (as may be the case in this story). Nevertheless, there is no evidence of their being allowed to make up the quorum of a synagogue even in less restrictive environments like Macedonia. The evidence of women being financial patrons of Diaspora synagogues does not support another conclusion.

Note also that Lydia felt free, perhaps because of the liberating effect of the Gospel, to go against Jewish custom not only in speaking to Paul in public but also in inviting Paul and those with him, who were total strangers, to come and stay in her house (16:15). Herein we see a story of how the Gospel can free women from previous restraints, giving them new roles even as founding members of new Christian house churches.”

I know I am jumping around but the same theme runs throughout. When we consider the Crucifixion we find the same story in all four Gospels. It was the women who were constant through it all, even after some of the men had run off and hid.

In the Gospel of Mark, we read of the women that followed Jesus to Golgotha. Mark 15:40-41 “There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.”

Matthew has a similar account in Matthew 27:55-56 “There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.”

Luke tells us of the weeping women comforted by Jesus on his way to Golgotha. John relates the names of some of the women standing by the Cross in his story of Jesus committing Mary to John’s care.

After the resurrection it was the women who were first to the tomb and the ones tasked with telling the disciples of Jesus resurrection.

Luke 24:1-10 “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,” This same story is repeated in all four Gospels. The women were first to the tomb, first to know of the resurrection, and first to be commissioned to proclaim the resurrection.

Jesus restored women to their rightful place as equal to men when it came to God’s love, grace, and salvation.

In the Present

So, in light of a day when we are to honor mothers, what does this say to us? God created man AND woman in His own image. He created them both to work the garden and spread it over the Earth. That purpose has never wavered. In the face of sin and death, God still loves and cares for all His creation. One day it shall be restored to what it was intended to be.

God’s word is quite clear. Men AND women are called to repentance. Men AND women are called to do the Lord’s will. Men AND women are saved to eternal life. Perhaps, the best example of a “perfect” response by a woman to God is stated by Mary in the Magnificat.

Luke 1:46–55 ESV

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

In the light of some very disturbing news. Knowing that she would now be THAT woman. Not understanding a lot about what she was told. Mary chose faith and trust in God. That is the response of a “perfect” woman.

Conclusion

Women might be mothers, may not be able to be mothers, may be single, may be THAT woman, may be divorced, may be widowed, may be many things. They are not greater than, they are not less than, but they are equal to when it comes to sin and the need of salvation. To God they are still the pinnacle of His creation, loved and cherished.

The most “perfect” imperfect women are those that are here today and worshipping God around the world. Those that have been saved and live for Him.