God’s design for gender equality is woven throughout the Bible, hidden beneath the veneer of a male-dominated, patriarchal culture. When we read the creation narrative without any presuppositions, we read of equality in Eden not hierarchy. When God decided to make woman, His purpose for her as an “ezer” reveals He did not create the female to be a subordinate helper to the male but a powerful aid equal and corresponding to him. In His interactions with women, like Sarah and Hagar, we see a God who viewed women as valuable covenant partners. In Judges, we realize that God doesn’t have the same reservations about raising up female leaders that we have.
When God becomes Incarnate in the person of Christ, His heart for women is even more fully revealed. It has been said that “Jesus is perfect theology.” If this is true, then Jesus’ treatment of women teaches us the perfect theology of women. The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. When we know this to be true, then we can trust that His treatment of women reveals the Father’s view of women. The trajectory toward gender equality picks up considerable speed as Jesus models a treatment of women that was revolutionary and counter-cultural. When we read Jesus’ interactions with women, there’s nothing remarkable because our culture is so different than it was in Jesus’ day. But when we look deeper at Jesus’ interactions with women, his teachings regarding them, and his teachings in general were revolutionary in His culture.
The conversations Jesus had with women reveal His esteem for them. Jesus openly conversed with women despite societal scorn for such practice. According to rabbinic teaching, if a woman talking to a man in public, she could be divorced without having her dowry repaid.(1) In John 4, Jesus has an entire conversation with a woman…a Samaritan woman! This was the longest conversation with Jesus recorded in the gospels. Also, we read that the disciples “were surprised to find him talking with a woman.”(v. 27) She is the first person to whom He discloses His true identity as the Messiah. She is also the first evangelist. While traveling with a crowd entering the city of Nain, He stopped to comfort a mother whose only son had died. “His heart went out to her and He said, ‘Don’t cry.'”(Luke 7:12-13) In Luke 8, he stops everyone and waited to ascertain who had touched him. The woman, who was accustomed to invisibility, had hoped to be unnoticed. But Jesus noticed her. And He spoke to her. “Daughter, your faith has heard you. Go in peace.”(Lk. 8:48) He also encouraged women to come closer to Him. Women didn’t need to stay at a distance from Him as they did in the Temple. When teaching in the synagogue, He noticed a woman who had been crippled for 18 years. He saw her, called her forward and said, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”(Lk 13:12b) And He touched her!!!
Jesus encouraged women to come close to Him. Women didn’t need to stay at a distance from Him as they did in the Temple. When teaching in the synagogue, He noticed a woman who had been crippled for 18 years. He saw her, called her forward and said, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” (Lk 13:12b) Jesus then says something that shattered the traditional views of women. After healing her, the synagogue leaders were indignant and in his rebuke to them, Jesus refers to the woman as a “daughter of Abraham.” There were no “daughters of Abraham, only “sons of Abraham. Sarah Bessey reminds us that “ at the sound of Jesus’ words ‘daughter of Abraham,’ He gave her a place to stand alongside the sons, especially the ones snarling with their sense of ownership and exclusivity over it all” (2).
Jesus’ teachings were favorable to women. He didn’t refrain from addressing women’s issues of His day…they weren’t a liberal agenda to undermine tradition in His eyes. In Matthew 19, his teaching on divorce meant that women could no longer be discarded when a newer, younger interest came along, or if she didn’t bear sons. Divorce was so easy, that Jesus’ admonition that it was always meant to be permanent came as hard news for His disciples. But, it protected women…and Jesus cared about protecting women, and was willing to address those issues that failed to protect them. We see this concern again in His interaction with the woman caught in adultery, we see His tender concern for the woman, and a willingness to confront the hypocrisy of the men who brought her to Him.(John 8:2-11)
Jesus’ teachings considered a woman’s perspective. He recognized that women were following Him and used their experiences in His teaching almost as often as the experiences of men. Jesus chose images and created parables with a deliberate concern to communicate his message to his women listeners on as deep a level as to his male followers, revealing that His countercultural view that women were fully capable of learning and understanding deep spiritual truths. Luke in particular, records His frequent use of complementary discourse, the repeating of statements to make application to each gender. For example, when speaking to them about worry, He applied it to men’s work of reaping and sowing, as well as women’s work, that of making clothes and spinning.(Matt. 6:26,28) When replying to the accusation about His disciples failure to fast, He told them a parable with the task of a woman[mending a garment], and the task of a man[making wine](Lk 5:36-39). When revealing the manner in which sinners were rejected, He spoke of the sinful woman who poured oil on Jesus(Luke 7:36-50) and the male publican(Luke 18:9-14)
Luke often records Jesus using nouns of address that included women, like “men and women,” “sons and daughters,” “mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law,” “father against son and son against father,” as well as “mother against daughter and daughter against mother.” We don’t think of this as having an significance on the issue of gender equality because we regularly address a crowd with, “Ladies and gentlemen.” But, in an ancient Middle Eastern culture, women did not count toward a quorum for worship or assembly.
Jesus challenged conventional roles of women. When a woman in the crowd calls out to Him saying, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you(Luke 11:27),” Jesus replies, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it(Luke 11:28).” Jesus upended the long-held conviction that a woman’s most important duty was to provide sons for her husband, and implied a criticism to any who would believe that a woman’s chief blessing comes from traditional roles.
Jesus not only recognized the women listening to Him, He acknowledge women as His disciples. In both Greek and Hebrew society, women were not considered able students. Though he entertained no notions of gender quality, Socrates believed in educating women but admitted such an idea was a radical departure from Athenian culture and not likely to be accepted.(3) Jewish rabbis believed that teaching women was akin to teaching them obscenity.(4) A female disciple in Jesus day was not something a reputable teacher would allow. Except Jesus. In Matthew 12, Jesus points “to His disciples, saying, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.'”(v. 49-50) In a Middle Eastern culture, a speaker who gestures to a crowd might refer to them as his brothers and fathers and uncles, but he would not refer to them as his mother or sister.(5) Luke speaks of women disciples traveling with them, and providing for the Twelve out of their own resources.(Luke 8:1-3)
A discussion of Jesus’ affirmation of female disciples would not be complete without including Mary. In Luke 10, we read that Jesus entered the house of Martha, and “she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.” To “sit at the feet” of a rabbi meant that one was a disciple of that rabbi. Mary was neglecting to fulfill the role of a woman and taken the role of a man! And Jesus said that place would not be denied her! Jesus defends Mary’s choice to be His disciple, sit at His feet and learn. He affirms her decision to go against culture, step outside her expected role as a woman, and do that which was culturally viewed as a “man’s place.”
So, why didn’t Jesus choose any women among “the Twelve?”
The question is often asked as to why Jesus didn’t have female disciples. Jesus was routinely controversial and counter-cultural. So why didn’t He confront the misogyny and patriarchy of His day when He chose His disciples? It was a perfect opportunity. I’ve addressed this more thoroughly here. In a nutshell, confronting everything amiss in the culture was not what Jesus was on earth to do. His purpose was to establish a New Covenant and a New Kingdom, one which fulfilled the type and shadow of the Old Covenant and Old Kingdom. That kingdom was founded upon the 12 tribes of Israel. The 12 named disciples corresponded to the 12 tribes. Jesus was making a prophetic statement to the Jewish people, and specifically the religious leaders. To the Jews, the number 12 represented the government of God’s kingdom. Jesus was establishing a new government…a new kingdom. This new government, new kingdom, was to be a fulfillment of the types and shadows found in old one. Down to the very last detail.
“By selecting these men, whom the Bible refers to as ‘the Twelve,’ He was saying to the rabbis and Pharisess that He was creating a ‘new Israel.’ Even as the twelve tribes crossed the Jordan River from the wilderness and conquered Canaan, settling in the land and establishing the ancient kingdom of Israel, so would these Twelve–representing the new message of salvation in Jesus Christ–establish a new and enduring kingdom that would endure forever.”(6)
While Jesus did not choose a woman as one of the Twelve apostles for reasons other than a preclusion to leadership, He broke convention by choosing women to be witnesses of the greatest, most incredulous event in all of human history: the resurrection. Women were disqualified as witnesses in Greek, Roman, and Hebrew tradition. Josephus declares “Let not the testimony of women be admitted, on account of the levity and boldness of their sex.”(7)
Jesus’ views and treatment of women had profound impact on the writers of the gospels and what they included in their accounts of Jesus’ life. Matthew’s genealogy includes four women, even though Middle Eastern genealogies are expected to be lists of men. These just weren’t any women, but women who took bold initiative, and demonstrated intelligence and courage. Tamar was a bold Gentile woman determined to acquire her rights and her deceased husband’s God-given rights, even if she is obliged to use an irregular, even questionable, method. Rahab was not only a Gentile, but a prostitute! Ruth is considered a saint, but was Moabite, who took initiative and basically proposed to Boaz. Bathsheba was a married woman who was raped by David. Matthew’s view of her was not positive, for she is only referred to as “Uriah’s wife.” In the mind of a loyal Jew, she ruined King David’s reputation. But complicit or forced, she was soiled goods in an ancient Middle Eastern culture. Matthew’s inclusion of these 4 women demonstrated to his readers that Jesus was coming as Savior to men and women, Jew and Gentile, saints, and sinners. It also demonstrates that women who demonstrate bold initiative, intelligence and courage are valuable to the coming of the Kingdom. Luke’s gospel highlights the lives of women so much that it has been called the “Gospel for Women” (8).
In a culture that was strongly patriarchal, Jesus treated women as equals. In a culture that viewed women as a total loss and constant potential source of shame (9), Jesus saw women as valuable important participants in His Kingdom. We question why Jesus didn’t send a strong, clear message as to the role of women and why He didn’t take opportunity to confront the issue, but we miss the myriad of ways in which He did. Jesus consistently revealed through His words and deeds that women had value and He placed them alongside men in this New Kingdom He inaugurated. Influenced by Jesus, the Gospel authors selected and presented stories from and about Jesus that revealed an elevation of women to a place of equality with men in the community.
Older posts in this series:
Biblical Support for Christian Egalitarianism: A Slave Woman and 5 Fatherless Daughters
Biblical Support for Christian Egalitarianism: Sarah, A Model of Submission
Biblical Support for Christian Egalitarianism: Sarah, An Equal Covenant Partner
Biblical Support for Christian Egalitarianism: Ezer Kenegdo
Biblical Support for Christian Egalitarianism: Equality in Eden
Endnotes: 1. Spencer, Aida B. "Jesus' Treatment of Women the Gospels," in Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy, ed. Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothus, contributing editor, Gordon D. Fee(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press), p. 128. 2.Williams, Terran. (2023). How god sees women. The Spiritual Bakery Publications. 3. Bristow, John Temple. 1988. What Paul Really Said About Women. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers), p. 7. 4. Mishnah Sotah 3:4 5. Bailey, Kenneth E. 2008. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press), p. 192. 6. Grady, J.Lee. 2006. 10 Lies the Church Tells Women. (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House), p. 50 7 Josephus Antiquities of the Jews, 4.8.15 8.Gupta, N. K. (2023). Tell her story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church. InterVarsity Press. 9. Bailey, Kenneth E. 2008. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press), p. 190.