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Happy Women's History Month! If you didn't know, March is Women's History Month. As we approached March, I've been wrestling with what to write about to connect progressive faith to a month dedicated to women's history.
Before anyone emails me, I know last month was Black History Month. However, with the news of Aaron Ivey's misconduct with four males, my focus for the month became sharing my thoughts on that story. If you're interested, here are three links to my February articles discussing different aspects of Aaron Ivey's firing for predatory behavior and the culture of Austin Stone that enables that type of behavior.
For the month of March, I plan on writing about the role of women in the ministries of Jesus and Paul. We'll 'defang' a few clobber verses used to disempower women in the church, and hopefully, I'll have something special for the last post of the month. 😉 That being said, today's article is about the role women played in the ministry of Jesus. Next week, we'll look at the ministry of Paul.
What is Complementarianism?
For the less theologically nerdy among us, let's start by defining complementarianism. Complementarianism is a viewpoint (emphasis on a viewpoint) that believes God has ordained men and women to have different but 'complementary' roles and responsibilities within family, marital, and religious structures. Some extreme complementarians even believe these role distinctions should be applied at the cultural and societal levels. One example that shows the lingering effects of complementarian ideology on American society is how it's 2024, and we've never had a woman president.
Within a Christian context, complementarian churches believe these gender distinctions are God's will, prescribed in the Bible. Though women are excluded from specific roles in a church, they are equal to men in value and status. What ends up happening in complementarian circles is a bunch of theological and mental gymnastics to justify women serving in specific roles within a church and not serving in others. These are things like giving women staff titles that make it clear they are in a position of authority (uh-oh...🙄) but not a leadership position. They aren't leading men (this is why most women are limited to 'women's' and 'children's' ministry roles) and definitely without calling them 'pastors.'
While reading this, if you feel like this has some eerie Handmaid’s Tale vibes, it's because it does. As I mentioned above, complementarians justify their view of women as 'separate but equal' in God's church by arguing this gender hierarchy is God's will, as evidenced in the Bible. So, let's look at women's roles in the ministries of Jesus and Paul and determine if their roles align with what complementarians believe is God's will.
Women in the Ministry of Jesus
Let's examine three texts from Jesus' ministry that demonstrate the consistent role women played from the beginning of his ministry until his resurrection. For each point, I'll quote the text where women are mentioned and then unpack the context and implications.
Luke 8:1-3 (NRSVUE) Jesus's Ministry was funded by Women
Some Women Accompany Jesus
8 Soon afterward he went on through one town and village after another, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2 as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to them[a] out of their own resources.
There are three details worth highlighting in these 3 verses:
- Jesus was traveling, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God, which is another way of saying Jesus's ministry was in full effect. Bringing the good news entailed healing, teaching, and calling people into a relationship with God as experienced through Jesus.
- The twelve were with him. I love how Luke makes only a passing mention of the male disciples who traveled with Jesus. The 12 disciples, Peter, James, John, etc., are essentially a quick aside mentioned only in passing.
- Three women are mentioned by name, and 'many others' who are unnamed who 'ministered to them' out of their own resources. What Luke is saying here is that many women also traveled with Jesus and the twelve. These women had not only been healed by Jesus but also walked away from everything (like the male disciples) to follow Jesus. Not only did they forsake everything to follow Jesus, but they were the ones funding his ministry. This means a group of women paid for Jesus's meals, lodging, basic necessities, etc.
Not only did these women pay for Jesus's needs, but it's worth saying again that they also traveled with him. Traveling with Jesus is important because they would have been sitting at Jesus's feet, learning directly under the master, just like the 12 disciples. At the beginning of Jesus's ministry, we see women treated not 'complimentary' but 'equally' with men. In a first-century Jewish society, a Rabbi would exclusively teach male disciples, and that Rabbi's needs would not be paid for by a group of women.
Luke 10:38-42 (NRSVUE) Mary and Martha Sitting at Jesus's Feet
Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him.[k] 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at Jesus's [l] feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her, then, to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, 42 but few things are needed—indeed only one.[m] Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."
For those of us who have been in church long enough to hear this passage preached on a Sunday the sermon usually goes something like this; Martha was so busy doing work and focusing on tasks that she missed the most important thing right in front of her, Jesus. Meanwhile, Mary was wiser than Martha because she didn't let the distractions and things that needed to get done around her get in the way of her being with Jesus.
Let me say this application is definitely in the text. However, this preaching of the text is arguably the shallowest way to teach it. If we're being sincere, most of us relate much more to Martha than to Mary. I've had my share of moments reading this passage and empathizing with Martha. I've often thought to myself;
"Well, if Mary got up and helped Martha with these tasks, they could've knocked out everything so both of them could sit at Jesus's feet distraction-free..." But maybe I'm the only one who thinks that way.
Alright, back to women's roles in Jesus's ministry. What is never, and I mean NEVER, preached from this text is how scandalous it would be to a first-century Jew to hear about women sitting at the feet of a Rabbi. When we think of scandalous parts of Jesus's ministry, we often think of something like the Woman who cleans Jesus's feet with her tears and hair. To a first-century Jewish person, Mary and Martha sitting at Jesus's feet, learning directly from a Rabbi like they're equal to men, would've been just as scandalous.
Like the women we read about in Luke 8, these sisters are not being subjugated to a second-class "complementary" role by Jesus. They get to sit and listen, learn, interact, and ask questions of Jesus the exact same way the 12 disciples did.
Are you ready for me to blow your mind? Taking Luke 8 and 10 at face value, it's possible and probable that more than a dozen women sat at Jesus's feet like his male disciples. As we look at Jesus's ministry through his crucifixion and resurrection, the ones who stay most loyal to him throughout the entire passion story are...drumroll please...the women disciples.
John 20:11-18 (NRSVUE) Mary Magdalene the Apostle to the Apostles
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look[a] into the tomb, 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir,[b] if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew,[c] "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" 18 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.
Finally, in John 20, we see something that I honestly overlooked for years until someone pointed this out to me. From local church Bible studies to Bible college through Seminary, John 20 was taught through a male-dominated lens.
What I mean by this is that the essential parts of this passage are that Jesus has resurrected, and poor Mary confuses Jesus for a gardener. She then gets kind of clingy with Jesus when she realizes it's him and goes to get the male disciples so the story can move forward.
Here's what I was never taught. The pinnacle of the story isn't Jesus resurrected and needed Mary to go get his boys so the work of God's Kingdom can continue. Those pieces are there, but it's not the pinnacle. The pinnacle of the story is Jesus, who, for the first time post-resurrection, is experienced by one of his disciples, and that disciple is Mary. Not Peter, James, John, or any of the 12 men. The first flesh and blood who experienced Jesus after his crucifixion is Mary.
Not only was Mary the first to experience Jesus after the crucifixion, but she was also directly given the responsibility of Jesus as the first person in human history to preach the gospel. And who is she told to preach the gospel to? Jesus's male disciples.
This is why church history calls Mary Magdalene the Apostle to the Apostles. Looking at these 3 texts from Jesus's ministry, we can confirm that Jesus had female disciples on equal footing as his male disciples. So Jesus modeled equality, not complementarity. Furthermore, Jesus made no distinction between who could serve alongside him, sit under his teaching, fund his ministry, or who could announce the inauguration of God's Kingdom. Based on Jesus's life and ministry, it seems complementarianism has very little to stand on in arguing their view is God's design and even less support by the Bible...Next, let's see if we find complementarianism in the New Testament after Jesus. Maybe what was meant is in Paul's ministry.
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Thanks for stopping by and reading this article! If my work has served you or you want to contribute to creating authentic faith connections, consider becoming an Authentic Faith Advocate.
Thanks for stopping by and reading this article! If my work has served you or you want to contribute to creating authentic faith connections, consider becoming an Authentic Faith Advocate.