Jesus came to free women to be everything he created them to be

(This is the fourth in a series began on Sept. 13)

Jesus changed everything for women. He turned the whole old system upside down.

 

Mat 20:25 -28 But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Jesus brought in a new kingdom, one in which the strong would no longer dominate the weak, but would serve. There would be no striving to be the first, but each person would care for the other, would uplift the downtrodden, and reach out to the outcast. That is the picture Jesus brings of His new kingdom. He set that example in His relationship with women.

When Jesus came to the earth, women were at the bottom of society. They had almost no rights, were the property of their husbands. They were generally not educated, were not taught the Scripture, could not recite the evening prayers. Men did not have conversations with women in public.

In John 4, Jesus had a conversation with a woman about theology; it is the longest recorded conversation Jesus had with an individual, in which He revealed that He was the Messiah for the first time. She told her village and they listened. She was the first evangelist.

We are so used to the story of Mary and Martha found in Luke 10:38-42, we miss some crucial facts. We use the story to speak to the issue of busyness verse sitting still. Mary was sitting at Jesus feet, which was a place of a disciple to a Rabbi. This was not a place for a woman. Women were not taught, mostly not allowed to be taught. A rabbi would not waste the time to teach a woman. Jesus not only allowed this, but defended her, said that she was right to sit at his feet to learn.

Women ministered with Jesus, traveled with Jesus and the disciples, and provided for them. (Mark 15:40-41, Luke 8:1-3)

 Women stood by Jesus at the crucifixion when all the men ran away but John.

Women were the first witnesses to the resurrection.  In John 20:1-18, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and spoke with her.  Peter and John had been there, seen the tomb, but Jesus did not appear to them.

Christ commissioning Mary to announce his resurrection was a sign of what he had just accomplished through His death and resurrection.  Jesus removed the curse, took away the power of sin and shame, and ended the patriarchal paradigm once and for all.

Jesus buried the old nature and created a new man in Him. We don’t have to live according to the fallen human nature any longer, or the fallen social system. With the new nature, we are free to love and serve as Jesus does. It is no longer right for the strong to dominate the weak. It is not part of the new nature to strive to be on top.

The church, the new kingdom that Jesus established, should be the safest place for the weak, the disenfranchised, the subjugated and marginalized. The church should be the one place that every single person is free to become everything that God created her to be.