In John 4, Jesus stopped just outside the village of Sychar at the Well of Jacob. The disciples had gone into town for food. When a Samaritan woman approached the well, He asked her for a drink. When Jesus saw the woman He asked her for a drink. Confused, she asked Him; You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? Samaritans were considered to be 'half breeds' by the Jews and, as social outcasts, were considered to be 'unclean'. Jews were not allowed to even drink from a vessel that a Samaritan had touched, nor were they allowed to eat with them.
Jesus began to teach her; If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water... Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
When the woman asked Jesus to give her a drink of His water, He told her to go and call her husband and then come back. She responded that she had no husband. Jesus told her; You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true. Jesus already knew that she didn't have a husband! He brought it up so He could tell her that He knew, and to let her know that, to Him, it simply didn't matter. Having been divorced five times and living in adultery only added moral guilt to the social stigma this woman already carried as a Samaritan.
As Jesus continued to teach her, the woman said, I know the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. Jesus then tells her; I, the one speaking to you—I am he. This is the first time Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah! It is the clearest He ever states it!
When the disciples rejoined Him they were surprised that He was talking to a woman! A prominent Rabbi of early Christian times, Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurcanis reflects the attitude of the Pharisees and teachers of the law when he stated that; Instructing a woman in the Law is like teaching her blasphemy, Let the Law be burned rather than entrusted to a woman, and A woman's wisdom is limited to the handling of the [spinning wheel].
The disciples urged Him to eat something but He told them; "I have food you don't know about. My food, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." He was gaining strength and joy from teaching the Samaritan woman! Jesus stayed for two days at the village and many were converted, first by the testimony of the woman and then by the teachings of Jesus.
In Matthew 12, as Jesus is teaching; someone tells Him that His mother and brothers are outside. He looked at those whom he was teaching and stated simply; "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Because He was teaching women, He used the gender inclusive word 'whoever' both to indicate that there were women in the crowd and that whoever does the will of His Father is His brother, sister, and mother. Jesus again went against tradition by including women in His teachings as equals to men.
The final act of Jesus was to provide care for His mother. In John 19, the text says that He looked at John from His horrible throne on the cross and told him; "This is your mother." Looking at His mother He told her; "This is your son." His message to his dear friend John was to not go out preaching, but to stay with His (now John's) mother, act as her son, and take care of her for as long as she lived.
Jesus sternly rebuked Simon the Pharisee when in Luke 7, while Jesus was a guest in Simon's house, a 'sinful' woman came in and, crying, anointed Jesus' feet with perfume and tears. Simon mutters that, were Jesus a prophet, He would know that the woman was a 'sinner' ('unclean' from a Pharisees point of view) and would not allow her to touch Him. Jesus spoke sharply to Simon, effectively telling him that 'she who is forgiven much, loves much, and this woman has loved me more than you'! He tells the woman gently "Your sins are forgiven... Your faith has saved you. Go in peace".
In Luke 8, we are told that a woman who had suffered from bleeding for 12 years approached from behind and touched the tassel of His robe. Instantly her bleeding stopped. When the woman saw that she was discovered, she came trembling and fell down before Him. Women who were menstruating were considered 'unclean' by Jewish law. By touching Him she had made Him also 'unclean'. A typical response to this by a Rabbi or Pharisee would have been outrage. In the presence of all the people, she declared the reason she had touched Him and how she was instantly cured. Jesus told her; "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace."
In John 8, a woman who is caught in adultery is brought to Him by the Rabbis and Pharisees. He is asked what should be done of her. As always, the establishment goons were trying to set Him up. Hebrew law said she must be stoned to death, but Roman law said that Hebrews could not execute the death penalty. Were this not the case, collaborators would have rapidly disappeared, and all occupations rely heavily on collaboration by the occupied peoples. If Jesus said she should be stoned, He was violating Roman law and the Pharisees could charge Him to Pilate. If Jesus said she should not be stoned, He was violating Hebrew law and they would use that to condemn him to the Sanhedrin (the ruling [collaborationist] council).
Jesus simply told them; "Let those among you who are without sin cast the first stone." The bible tells us that they all slowly began to leave until none were left. Imagine the scene here for a minute. The woman was having sex with someone, in the throes of passion, when, somehow, she was discovered and dragged off by an angry crowd of men. Ezekial 23, Danial 9, and Hosea 2 all speak of stripping an adulterous naked. It is likely that this woman was stripped naked by this abusive crowd while she was being dragged, screaming, crying, and begging to what she believed would be a death by stoning. It is likely that the men beat her while they were doing so, certainly they were not gentle with her.
I strange mystic, a holy man, has now said only a few words and all of these men have slowly left, but she is still standing there, trying to cover her body after a lifetime of having been told how shameful it is for a woman to even show the hair of her head in public. She is filthy with dust, sweat, and her face is streaked with tears. Her nose is running and she is probably still crying hysterically. Jesus then does something strange. Jesus asked the woman; "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" He could have simply sent her on her way, but He wanted her to take the time to understand and accept what had happened! He wanted her to accept and verbalize that all were sinners, and so there were none who could judge her!
The woman answers simply; "No one Sir". Jesus replies simply; "Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin." It would be a mistake to focus on the last sentence, where Jesus told her to "...leave your life of sin." The focus should be on the understanding and the compassion that went into Jesus' decision to ensure that she did not leave with overwhelming guilt and shame. None of the men were fit to judge her! Not a single one!
(If I am completely honest, I have often wondered; couldn't he have given her his coat? Perhaps He did and it just didn't make it into the final draft of the story!)
Women supported Jesus' financially
Luke 8 tells us that "Jesus traveled from one city and village to another. He spread the Good News about God’s kingdom. The twelve apostles were with him. Also, some women were with him. They had been cured from evil spirits and various illnesses. These women were Mary, also called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; Joanna, whose husband Chusa was Herod’s administrator; Susanna; and many other women. They provided financial support for Jesus and his disciples." If you understand His message you simply cannot belief that He would allow women that He would have allowed women to travel with and support Him and His mission financially were they not trusted and loved by Him.
Women were the last at the cross and the first at the tomb
The Gospels of Matthew and Mark include only women who stayed with Christ at the cross. Luke mentions women specifically but also others who had followed Him at the cross but at a distance. Only John includes someone other than women at the cross; John includes himself being there. All of the eleven remaining disciples, and all of His followers fled, except for John, speaking in his own account. Peter, whom he nicknamed the 'Rock', probably humorously due to Peter being a bit less than convicted on issues which he took up; Peter was not there. James and John, the sons of Zebedee's who had argued over who would sit on Jesus' right and left were conspicuously absent.
Women were the first to see Him resurrected, taking the news to the cowardly eleven. The were the first at the tomb, going to take care of His body while the men had hidden themselves behind locked doors to argue about how they would organize, if at all.
Jesus spoke of equality
In Matthew 20 Jesus forbade any hierarchy in Christian relationships, presumably including both women and men: "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you." His was not meant to be a Kingdom of master and servant, but of His love and of those who love Him.
In Luke 13 He speaks of a woman whom He healed as a "...daughter of Abraham..."! This phrase was unheard of when applied to men. In biblical times only men inherited the glory of the patriarchal line.
In Mark 12 Jesus praises the paltry offering saying that; "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on." He wanted to make it clear that this woman was at least the equal of the rich and powerful. He actually made it clear that she was more than equal!
Jesus treated all women with kindness and respect
Jesus always treated women with courtesy, respect, kindness, and compassion. He made it very clear that He was here for the poor and the weak. There were none more weak when He was on this earth than women; too often there are none weaker now. Jesus was here for women just as He was here for the sick and the poor.
If you read His message carefully, and ask God for understanding, He will show this to you. He said in Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8
"This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
He made no references to gender in His promise, stating simply that "...they will all know me..."
You really have two options here:
Option 1 - You can believe what Jesus said, understand what Jesus did, and accept what God spoke. You can accept His word, as the Trinity, before you accept any other.
Option 2 - You can disregard Jesus' message, words, and actions, and disregard God's promise, and you can instead choose to believe what a mortal man tells you regarding the bible. You can pick and choose verses in the bible and use them to negate the message, words, and actions of Jesus and to negate the promise of God.
Jesus told us that the most important commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and all our souls, and all our minds. Do you really think He just accidentally let 'minds' slip into what He said? He meant exactly what He said. God's covenant with us conveys the same message "No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me..."
"...they will all know me..."!
Jesus told you to use your head, to justify your love for God with an understanding of that love. God told us that He will speak directly to each of us and help us understand His will. Who are you going to trust? Jesus and God and the word of the Holy Spirit, or the writings of apostles who fled from him, bickered among themselves, condemned each other while beating their chests in righteous pride.
Choose wisely, but know that Jesus and God are on your side.
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