Better Together Bible Study - Jesus and Women (Part 1)

Kevin Giles
2 days ago
6 min read

Before we look at what Jesus said and did in regard to women, three introductory points need to be made.

Jesus was a man of his age. He did not drive a car, watch TV or go to supermarkets and he certainly never imagined a time when more women than men were able to achieve higher education nor that women were able to support themselves. In his day, women were dependent on men for all their lifetime. Jesus took for granted the social realities of his day. Thus, he never questioned arranged marriages or even the law that a brother of a deceased man should take his wife as his own and have children by her Mk 12:18-23). We should therefore not think that Jesus advocates the kind of agenda a modern-day feminist might adopt.
How Jesus responded to the lowly view of women that prevailed in his day is similar to how he dealt with many other controversial and touchy matters. When seeking profound change, he did not usually attack what the Jews held dear but rather subtly subverted the status quo. So, we note that he did not directly attack the central institutions of Judaism. He did not tell people to keep away from the temple or denounce its worship, but what he taught on the temple undermined its centrality and it ceased to have significance for Christians. He never told his hearers not to observe the Sabbath but what he said about and did on the Sabbath led the early Christians to abandon Jewish Sabbath observance. He never abrogated the Law of Moses, but Paul summed up early Christian belief when he wrote, 'Christ is the end of the law' (Rom. 10:4). It was the same with women. Jesus never denounced the patriarchy of his day but what he said and did subverted the prevailing social norms, and opened up new possibilities.
Jesus said not one specific word about how the church was to be organised after his departure to heaven. Church leadership structures were worked out as the church gradually took form in the culture of the time.

Given this information it is clear that we cannot ask of the Gospels the many questions that form in our twenty-first century minds. What is reasonable to ask for the purposes of this study are questions such as, Did Jesus endorse patriarchy?" "Did he teach male "headship" / leadership as an unchanging and unchangeable creation ideal?" Does anything he said indicate that he thought women should not be leaders in the Christian community?" The basic principle Jesus laid down only one binding principle about church life: in the Christian community, those who would lead were to be servants not rulers. Seven times he states this rule (Matt. 20:26-28, 23:11, Mk 9:35, 10:43-45, Lk 9:48, 22:27 and by example, Jn 13:4-20). Read aloud Luke 22.24-27

Questions for discussion

Those who insist that women should not lead in the church and the home argue that God has not given them the ruling ‘role’: women should not hold authority. Put forward your views on how Jesus might have replied?
What is 'servant leadership' and why is it so hard to put into operation, even in the Christian community?
Does this teaching apply to men and women? If so, what are the implications?

Men’s and women’s roles

Many argue that God has given men and women ‘different roles'. At first thought this seems fine. Women have the role of bearing and feeding infants, tend to major on the nurturing side of life, often focus on home-making, while men tend to concentrate on now 1 am on dangerous ground watching TV, going to the footy, cutting the lawn... In the common usage of the word 'role', it is understood that roles can change. Men can care for children and women can mow the lawn. However, evangelicals, Pentecostals and charismatics who speak of the God-given role of men and women use this word in a different way. The man's role is headship/leadership, the woman's role is subordination - and these so-called roles can never change. In this usage, the word 'role' is used in a way not found in any dictionary. A very interesting passage to read in considering if gender roles can be redefined and changed is Luke 10:38-42.

Read this passage aloud in the group

Questions for discussion

Mary and Martha are living in a patriarchal world. In this context, what role does Mary take and what role does Martha take? And which woman does Jesus praise? How might this story translate into our time and culture?
Is it helpful to speak of the God-given difference between men and women in terms of fixed 'differing roles' or differing authority? Discuss (1 Cor. 11:4-5, 12:7).

Woman’s highest calling In Jesus' day, marriage and child-bearing were the highest calling for a woman - and some think it should be so today. Bearing and nurturing children is an important and noble responsibility that only a woman can fulfil. However, when a woman in the crowd once called out, 'Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nurtured you, Jesus replied, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it' (Lk 11:27-28). For Jesus, the highest calling for men and women is to hear the word of God and do it. There is nothing more important. Only women can bear children and breastfeed but Jesus here implies that a woman can be an exemplary disciple and not be a mother. By implication, a woman's role is not restricted to mothering. At another time, in very similar teaching, Jesus said, 'Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother' (Mk 3:34-35). Luke in his account of this incident has Jesus saying that his family are 'those who hear the word of God and do it' (Lk 8:21). Questions for discussion

It would seem from Luke 11:27-28 that Jesus expects the same of male and female disciples: that they obey and do what he teaches. If this is the case, should the emphasis fall on the difference between the sexes in the Christian community or on their equality? Is it more difficult for a woman to be both a mother and an active disciple?
For modern women, it is often said that balancing the responsibilities of being a mother and having a place in the workforce is the hardest challenge. What do you think was the hardest challenge for women in Jesus' day? How can mothers today, if they choose to work outside the home, balance work and family responsibilities? What part do husbands have to play?

Jesus on divorce

Read aloud Matthew 19:3-9 In this story, we read of how some Pharisees asked Jesus: 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?' This is a question put by men about their rights and privileges. A Jewish man could divorce his wife for any cause; these men want to know if the law endorses this right. Jesus replies that Moses allowed divorce because of the 'hardness of the human heart', but he appeals to the Genesis creation story for the ideal: in marriage a man and a woman become 'one'. "Therefore', Jesus says, 'let no one separate what God has joined together.' In these words, Jesus makes it crystal clear that men have no special rights or privileges that allow them to divorce their wife. The marriage bond is God-sanctioned and equally binding on the man and the woman. And specifically, he teaches that to divorce one's wife simply to marry another is the equivalent of adultery (v.9).

Questions for discussion

In this passage, the tendency for men to think of their own self-centred interests in relation to marriage is highlighted. In today's world, where women can initiate divorce, could they be tempted to fall into the same sin?
Which of the two following quotes do you think is the most true and why? 'It is up to the man to make the marriage work.' / 'It is up to the wife to make the marriage work.'

Rev Dr Kevin Giles (Th.D.) is a graduate of Moore Theological College, Sydney and has completed post graduate study in England and Germany. He was in parish ministry for forty years in various ways; associate minister, church Planter, university chaplain, rector of a large multi-staff parish, and in "rebirthing' an inner city church. He has published widely on what the Bible says on the church, ministry, women and the Trinity. He writes with a passion to see the renewal of the church.