Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for[e] him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed[f] every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam[g] there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made[h] into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:18-25 ESV)
Thus man lost a rib and gained a thorn in his side!
Now that I've got your attention, I hope you realize that was said in jest. Going forward we're going to spend time talking about --
THOSE WOMEN!
Speficall, we are going to speak about women in the Gospels. There are a lot of amazing women in the Gospels, and perhaps they don't get th same spotlighting as the men. But women were very important to Jesus and we'll discover that Jesus was the first women's libber.
A few years ago I was in Home Depot waiting on line to pay for my purchases. It was
I felt badly for this lady so covered in all the that stuff on such a hot day, and I admit it made we feel a bit angry. The guy sure was suffering. If he'd had any less on he would have been arrested. How could anyone treat a woman this way? It seemed so unfair.
A similar unfairness was prevalent in the first century. Israel at the time of Jesus was one of the most male centric countries in the world. Women had very few right and little freedom. The were, in fact, treated with contempt. This even extended into the Temple. Women were restricted to the "Women's Gallery", a raised area on three sides of the Temple Court where they were mearly allowed to observe ceremonies; never allow to take part in any.
The Mishnah was the first codified book of the oral traditions of the rabbis. It was sort of a case book of the law and interpretations of the Talmud by various rabbis. The Mishnah said a woman was like a gentle slave, "Who could be obtained by intercourse, money or a writ". Furthermore, a woman was not to be a disciple of any rabbi and totally forbidden to travel with one. Women were not to be greeted or spoken to in the streets, nor were they to be instructed in the Law or allowed an inheritance. A wife was expected to walk six paces behind her husband and if she did not keep her hair covered while out and about, who was branded a whore. She was basically sold to her husband for a dowry and then simply went from the complete control of her father to that of her husband.
Women were just as restricted in the synagogue, not being allowed to read from the Torah, recite the daily prayer or required to attend the feasts or festivals, as the men were. They were allowed very little in the way of education or religious training, and what they got was taught by the man of the house. These things were not really God's Law, but how various rabbies in the early years of A.D. argued the law and made their judgments.
These opinions on a woman's place in society were about to be shattered as Christianity really became the first women's lib movement.
We probably don't think of Christianity that way. After all, besides Jesus himself, we mostly hear about the 12 male Apostles. We don't even consider how many women played a role in his ministry and how radical that was. Remember, women were not to be a disciple of or travel with any rabbi, no matter how renown he might be.
So let's consider these passages:
This first passage is found in Luke 8, after Jesus had dealt with a woman in Nair, who we will deal with ourselves later, and after being at a Pharisee's party where a sinful woman anointed his feet. We will also deal with her later. It is this party that Luke refers to as "after this and it occured somewhere in the middle of what is known as The Great Galilean Ministry.
After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. (Luke 8:2-3 NIV)
There are some women named in this passage. One is Mary Magdalene and much has been written about her, and we will touch upon her later. Another is Susanne, who only gets this one mention here and nowhere else, so we don't know much about her at all, other than she was one of the women supporting Jesus.
Joanna is almost as obscure. We know she was married to the manager of herod Antipas's household. As such, she probably had means available to travel and to support the ministry. She is mentioned again in Luke 24 as one of the women who took spices to Jesus' tomb and found it empty.
There is an archeological site with an ossuary (a container or room for the bones of the dead) bearing the inscription, "Joanna, granddaughter of Theophilus, the High Priest." If that name sounds familiar, it is because this is the name to whom Luke said he was wring his Gospel and the Book of Acts, but we can't say for certain this is the same Joanna.
To the Greek orthodox Church, Joanna is considered a saint as one of the "Myrrhbearers". and she is also listed on the Lutheran Missouri Synod Calendar of Saints with the other women considered "Myrrhbearers" and honored on August 3.
This raises the question, who were the Myrrhbearers?
They are two men and eight women recognized by the Orthodox Christian Church involved with the burial of Jesus or the discovery of the empty tomb. The men are Nicodemus and Hoseph of Arimathea. The women are Mary Magdalene. Mary the mother of James and Joseph and Mary, the wife of Cleopas (who quite possibly were one and the same person). Mary of Bethany along with her sister, Martha. The last being Salome, the mother of James and John; also Susanna. Although Susanna was named among the women cured by and following Jesus as a supporter, no mention is made of her by name as one of the women who went to the tomb.
It is stated some of these women had been cured of diseases or released from demons by Christ, most notably Mary Magdalene from whom seven demons had been cast out.
Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:49, Luke 23:27-30 and John 19:25.
Many women wre there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary magdalene, Mary the wife of Clopas or Alphaeus, and the other of James the younger and Joseph, and Salome, his mother's sister and mother of Zebedee's sons. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother.
A large number of people followed him, including women there who had come up with him from Jerusalem, who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
Several of these women brought spices to anoint Jesus' body and went to the tomb on resurrection Sunday only to find it empty. The risen Christ actually appeared before women than before anyone else.
Women were very important members of Jesus' followers. They donated funds and most likely tended to jesus and the Apostles' needs, such as making meals and mending their clothes.
Jesus also had a number of contacts with women during his ministries. We will deal with several of these over the next several posts. Let's start with one of the first spoken of in three os the Gospels,, albeit briefly. She is not mentioned in John.
Matthew 8 14-15, Mark 1:29-31 and Luke 4:36-41
And [Jesus] arose and forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue. they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever. When Jesus was come into Peter's house, and anon they told him of her and they besought him for her. He saw {Peter's] mother laid, and sick of a fever, and he stood over her. He touched her hand and rebuked the fever, and immediately the fever left her. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and she arose, and ministred unto them.
What? Wait. Am I saying Peter was a married man?
I'm not; Scripture is.
Let's peek at I Corrinthians 9:1-7:
Am I [Paul] not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
In this portion of Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, he is explaining that the Pastor has the right to be supported by the Congregation. I have heard a number of sermons on this passage in justification of the church members supporting their minister. Many, I say. There is something hidden in here, though, and usually passed over. Read verse 5 again:
"Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?"
Here is the Literal Translation: "Have we not authority a sister -- a wife -- to lead about, as also the other apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
Now, who is Cephus?
Simon Peter, of course.
Thia ahort little passage tells us a lot. For one, it tells us Peter had a house in Capernaum. He lived there with his wife and mother-in-law; possibly with Andrew as well.
I Corinthians backup that Peter was married. Perhaps even some of the other Apostles, too. I Corinthians also implies that Peter's wife traveled with them. She may have been with those other women who followed Jesus and helped support him and the Apostles.
NEXT: ACTS OF INTOLERANCE
No comments:
Post a Comment