Dubbed the “Gospel for Women”(1) by some, Luke’s gospel stands out from the other gospels because he frequently represents and highlights women. About one-third of the material that is unique to Luke’s account involves and highlights women and their roles(2). The variations between his account and Mark’s, which most scholars believe Luke drew upon to write his gospel, seem to reveal that Luke intended to show that Jesus valued, honored and elevated women, viewing them as much a part of His kingdom as men.
Throughout his gospel, Luke seems to have a penchant for male-female parallelism. He includes twenty-seven male/female couplets, beginning with story of Jesus’ birth and ending with the presentation of men and women in the passion narratives. Luke’s use of these pairings reveal that in Jesus’ eyes, and also in Luke’s, men and women were equal recipients of God’s grace and equal participants in the community of believers. Lucan gender-pairs of one type or another can be found in almost every chapter of his gospel.
Luke gender-pairs the stories of people. In chapter one, the angel appears to Zechariah and Mary, and both sing a song to the glory of God. When the infant Jesus was presented in the Temple, he is greeted by Simeon and Anna, both of whom were looking forward to the Messiah and could now be at peace.
Luke gender-pairs Jesus’ parables. In teaching about the Kingdom of God, Jesus uses a parable of a man with a mustard seed and a woman with leaven. In the infamous chapter about the prodigal son, we first read of the parable of the man lost a sheep, and the woman who lost a coin. To stress the importance of persistence in prayer, Jesus tells of a man asking his friend for bread(Luke 11:5-8) and a widow asking a judge for justice against an adversary(Luke 18:1-8).
Luke gender-pairs the miracles of Jesus. In chapter seven, Jesus heals a centurion’s servant and a widow’s son from the clutches of death. Chapters thirteen and fourteen pair the Sabbath healing of the bent-over woman and the man with dropsy.
Luke gender-pairs the teachings of Jesus. Luke 4, when Jesus is facing rejection in his hometown, Jesus refers to Elijah’s relationship with the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian. When questioned about the lack of fasting among Jesus and His disciples, He replied with an example from both women’s work of mending garments and men’s work of making wine(Luke 5:33-39). When speaking of the suddenness of the coming of the Kingdom, we read of two men on a couch and two women grinding grain (Luke 17:34-35). Two Gentiles will arise to accuse Israel because they demanded a greater sign of Jesus: the queen of Sheba and the men of Nineveh.
Luke gender-pairs contrasts. In chapter seven, Luke contrasts the stinginess of Simon with the extravagance of sinful woman. Two contrasting demonstrations of discipleship in chapter ten include the reluctance of a male disciple and the devoted posture of Mary. The insincere worship of the scribes is contrasted with the sincere worship of the widow (Luke 20:45-21:4).
Luke has no qualms challenging or reversing traditional gender roles. In Luke 11:27-28, when a woman ascribes blessedness to the one who born and nursed Jesus, He replies that blessedness is for those who hear the word of God and keep it. We see this again in the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42). There was one thing necessary, and it was not the traditional woman’s place.
In the resurrection account of Luke 24, there is a notable example of a role reversal and strong validation of a woman’s word in a culture that placed no value on the testimony of a woman. Although women were disqualified as witnesses in Greek, Roman, and Hebrew tradition, Jesus chose women to be witnesses of the greatest, most incredulous event in all of human history: the resurrection. Ben Witherington III, professor of NT Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary, writes that
“When the women visit the tomb on Easter morning, Luke highlights the angel’s words to the women to remember what Jesus said to them while He was in Galilee…the women are treated not as emissaries to the disciples, but as true disciples in their own right, worthy of receiving special revelation about Jesus” (3).
The women are commissioned to announce the good news to the male apostles. “At this critical stage in the unfolding of the Universe’s greatest story, the entire validity of the Christian faith rests in the hands of a few women” (4). Jesus trusted these women and viewed them as qualified witnesses to His resurrection.
Some scholars see this plethora of male-female parallelisms as evidence of Luke’s agenda to elevate women. Witherington suggests, “When Luke wrote his Gospel, it is likely that the very reason he felt a need to stress male-female parallelism and Jesus’ positive statements about women was that his own audience had strong reservations about some of Jesus’ views on the subject” (5). Some question whether this massive inclusion of women supplies the keystone of the changed status of women which Luke reflects.
Other scholars acknowledge that Luke includes a much higher representation of women in his account, but that we must be cautious to not equate that with a Lucan belief in the equality of women because he continues to portray them “as models of subordinate service, excluded from the power center of the movement and from significant responsibilities”(6). However, it could be argued that Luke’s presentation of women as “models of subordinate service” could simply be due to the necessity that early Christian literature be sensitive and responsive to the societal ideals in a culture that believed the world of men was only safe when there was proper control of the world of women.
It is incumbent upon us to understand the tension experienced by early Christians to present the Gospel and its liberating truths in a way that would not be viewed as an overthrow of all societal rules of conduct. Luke’s gospel unquestionably highlights and elevates women, and does so in a way that does not compromise the message of the gospel. This “gospel for women” is an revelation that “man and woman stand together and side-by-side before God. They are equal in honor and grace; they are endowed with the same gifts and have the same responsibilities (7).”
Resources:
- Gupta, N. K. (2023). Tell her story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church. InterVarsity Press, p. 56.
- Witherington, B. (1988). Women in the earliest churches. Cambridge University Press, p. 134.
- Witherington, B. (1988). Women in the earliest churches. Cambridge University Press, p. 131.
- Williams, Terran. (2023). How god sees women. The Spiritual Bakery Publications, p. 219.
- https://margmowczko.com/mary-the-magdalene/
- Newsom, C. A., Ringe, S. H., & Lapsley, J. E. (2012). Women’s Bible commentary. Westminster John Knox Press, p. 493.
- Witherington, B. (1988). Women in the earliest churches. Cambridge University Press, p. 129.