Jesus Called Women to Ministry
I recently wrote about all of the ways Paul lifted up the ministries of women, but what about Jesus? There is a lot to say!
I am not going to talk about *every* interaction Jesus had with women (you can read my book, The Women's Lectionary, for that), but here are some fun highlights!
But first, a note of caution: It can be easy to fall into the trap of making the Jews in the Gospels look bad so that Jesus appears to be a feminist in the way he treats women. This is anti-Semitic. Don't do this.
Let's start with the women who followed Jesus and supported him financially. Luke 8:2-3 explicitly states that there are women in the group following Jesus. Luke names three women in particular—Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna—and states that there are “many others.”
Luke says that these women provide for Jesus and his disciples “out of their resources” (Luke 8:3), suggesting that they are wealthy. The Greek verb translated as “provided” indicates service as well as financial support.
Although these women are not explicitly called disciples (though Tabitha is in fact called a disciple in Acts 9:36), they are a central part of the community of faith surrounding Jesus.
This word translated as "provided" comes up again in the story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38–42), and Jesus uses it to describe his own ministry (Luke 22:27).
Since we're here, let's talk about Martha and Mary! They appear in multiple places as important people in Jesus' life and ministry.
Mary sits at Jesus’ feet and listens to what he says (Luke 10:39). The language of sitting at Jesus’ feet means that Mary is a disciple.
(The definition of a disciple: A person attached to a teacher or movement who follows the instruction and commitments of that teacher.)
(This is a place where Christians make the mistake of arguing that Jesus was ahead of his time in having women as disciples, unlike the Jews. Jewish women had many roles, including receiving and giving instruction in synagogues and devoting their lives to studying the Torah.)
Martha is the head of the household. She wants Jesus to be there, but then she is “distracted by her many tasks” (Luke 10:40). So Martha goes to Jesus; she wants him to tell her sister, Mary, to help.
Perhaps Martha wants Jesus in her home to learn from him, but then she gets stuck with the “women’s work” of preparing the food. Jesus encourages her to focus on one thing, listening to his teaching, instead of being consumed by so many tasks (Luke 41-42).
Jesus is calling Martha to be a disciple like Mary! He wants both of them to be present and learn, instead of getting caught up in day-to-day distractions.
A few more women, quickly: The story of the woman with hemorrhages appears in all the Synoptic Gospels (Matt. 9:20–22; Mark 5:25–34; Luke 8:43–48).
When the woman with hemorrhages hears about Jesus, she says to herself, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well” (Mark 5:28). Then she reaches out and touches his cloak, and she feels in her body that she is healed of her disease (Mark 5:29).
Jesus feels this as well; he is immediately aware that power has gone forth from him and that it has happened because someone touched his clothes (Mark 5:30).
When she comes to him in fear and trembling, he calls her daughter and confirms that she is healed of her disease: her faith has made her well (Mark 5:33–34).
The Syrophoenician woman wins an argument against Jesus! Jesus says, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter” (Mark 7:29). Then when she gets home, her daughter is well (Mark 7:30), saved because of the words the woman said to Jesus.
Jesus convinced the Woman at the Well that he was the Messiah, so much so that she went back and told the people in her city (John 4:28-29)! This is an early example of a woman preaching the Gospel Jesus taught her.
And then there is Mary Magdalene. Luke describes her as “Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out” (Luke 8:2).
(NB: The idea that Mary Magdalene was a sex worker began in the 6th century CE, when Pope Gregory conflated her with several other biblical women.)
All four Gospels place Mary Magdalene at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified. She followed him to the end and beyond: in every Gospel, she goes to the tomb.
Jesus chooses to speak to Mary Magdalene, not the other two disciples at the tomb, who leave wondering and confused (John 20:15).
Then Jesus commissions Mary to tell the others (John 20:17).
Jesus chose Mary to be the first preacher, the one to share the good news of his resurrection and return.
Jesus said to her, "Go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:17-18)
Jesus taught women and worked with women, and women financially supported his ministry. In a number of cases, he could have chosen men to share the Gospel, but he instead chose women.
Be like Jesus. Support women in ministry.