Jesus and Women

By Anthony Wilson

Easter is my favorite holiday and always brings me joy to be reminded of His resurrection. Even during the celebration of Easter, I am reminded that we live in a world that is constantly bombarding us with information via social media. Unfortunately, this information is not always accurate or valuable. This past weekend, I saw many posts about how women were the only ones who didn’t abandon Jesus during His crucifixion, the first to see the resurrected Lord, and the first to tell others about it. These are true statements that we find in Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16, Luke 24:10-12, and John 20:11-18. All four of the Gospels tell this story, and these texts are a part of the inspired Word of God. However, what is the true meaning of these texts? Let’s examine what they do not mean and what they do mean.

What they DO NOT mean

I read a few social media posts saying that since Jesus first appeared to Mary and she was the first to announce His resurrection, this is evidence that women should be pastors. It can be easy and tempting to come to this conclusion from these passages alone, but we must examine all of Scripture. I suggest that we start with an understanding of a timeline. Jesus died, was buried, and arose from the grave around 33 A.D. Mary’s witness and proclamation of the risen Christ would have happened that same day. We jump forward about one year to see Saul converted to Paul in 34 A.D. (Acts 9). Paul’s writing to the churches explaining the roles of men and women within the local church and the household occurs between 54-67 A.D., almost 30 years after Jesus’ resurrection. These writings are found in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, Ephesians 5:22-33, Colossians 3:18-25, 1 Timothy 2:8-3:13, and Titus 1:5- 9. Here is my question, is Paul going against Jesus by giving specific roles for men and women, or have we twisted the story of Jesus appearing to women to fit our current culture’s desires? The answer is clearly that he is not saying something contrary to Jesus. He was taught by Jesus himself and is considered an apostle. His instruction to the church and the household is important. The argument that women should be pastors because of the testimony of Mary is not logical because Paul says the exact opposite years after Mary’s proclamation.

Another post I read, in regards to women and Jesus’ crucifixion, is that the women never left Jesus while all of His male disciples did. While this sounds good and aligns with God’s design for women to be more compassionate and caring, there is evidence to say this is not true. Some people will point to Mark 15:40-41 to say that only women were at the cross with Jesus but if we read John’s account of the crucifixion we read more information, “But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” (John 19:25-27, italics added by me). Here is scriptural evidence that there was at least one of Jesus’ 12 disciples present at the cross with him. My purpose for pointing this out is to encourage us to not just pick out a section of scripture and form our theology out of it, rather use the totality of scripture to understand God and His design. I will address why women are mentioned in these passages later on in this article.

The last thing that scripture is not saying about women at the resurrection of Jesus is that they are special or superior to men. A third post I saw this week was trying to argue that women are better than men because of their presence at the crucifixion and resurrection. In our world of critical theory and trying to divide into groups this is tempting for some people to believe. Simply put, trying to say that one group of people are better or more valuable than others is disgusting and sinful. The people that argue for this would be outraged if someone said that men or white people or rich people were better. Let’s not do it to anyone just because we are part of a specific group or feel that a group has been mistreated in the past. Doing wrong does not correct a past wrong. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28). This verse has been misused as well but let us see the beauty of what it is saying, no one is better or worse in God’s kingdom. This does not mean there aren’t different roles, and that is glorious!

What this DOES mean

I have pointed out the mistreatments of the fact that women were present at the resurrection and proclaimed Jesus to others first, so why does every gospel share this story? The first reason is piggy backing off of the previous paragraph. There is no division in who the work of Christ is for. The death and atoning work of Christ is not limited to a specific group of people, neither is His victory over sin and death. The Spirit does not limit His work for a specific group of people based on gender, ethnicity, social status or any other type of category we try to make. The Spirit penetrates hearts with the gospel and gives the gift of faith to all types of people. Jesus appearing to Mary and the other women was just a slight glimpse into the glory of the overarching work of Christ. Jesus appearing to Mary was counter cultural at that time and was demonstrating that things have changed in the new covenant.

Another reason that we see women present at the death and resurrection of Jesus is to demonstrate the glorious differences in God’s creation. God created women to be life givers, caring, and more merciful. This is a glorious fact! There should be no surprise that women are present with Jesus while he is suffering on the cross. This is how God designed women! Our culture wants to say that there is no difference between men and women, God says different. This is the reason Paul writes confidently the order of the household and the church. He is relying on the created order that God has made. 1 Timothy 2:8-15. Paul’s instructions are not because he hates women or values them less than men. His instructions are because he recognizes the glory of women that God designed them with. He wants men and women to work within their roles to thrive within the design God has given both. Different roles do not mean different value. Jesus’ 12 disciples, being men, were not designed to care and have mercy like the women in Matthew 27:55-56 were. This section of scripture demonstrates that women are able to work and care for others in ways men cannot. Matthew is not saying women are better or stronger than men, rather women fulfilled their role in a specific time, just like men will and should fulfill their role.

The last reason for Mary witnessing and proclaiming the resurrection of Christ is so important is because it is an example for all people today. Yes, women are still called to proclaim the gospel! They do not have to be pastors/elders to do this. Culture has abused the role of the pastor to say that they are the only ones responsible for the proclamation of the gospel. This is wildly incorrect! The pastor/elder is to care for God’s people within the local church. All believers are to proclaim the kingship of Jesus to all people. Take a look at John 4 and the story of Jesus and the Samaritan women. Anyone that has come into contact with God and has experienced the transformational work of the Holy Spirit cannot help but go tell others about it. We see many people believe in Jesus from the testimony of the women. (John 4:39). Mary did exactly as all followers of Jesus are called to do, go proclaim the resurrected Lord to others.

My encouragement

This article may sound harsh or appear as though I am trying to start a fight with a group of people. I assure you that being harsh or arguing is not my goal, while disagreements may/will happen. The goal of this is to encourage all of us to examine scripture and not select one or two verses to form our theology. I want us to see the glory of Mary seeing the resurrected Christ and proclaiming it to others as amazing as the story really is rather than trying to twist it to fit an idea that we like. My conclusion is this: women have great value and are made by God in His image. God has created them with specific traits and gifts to be used within the household, church, and government to bring glory to God. Their value is no greater nor less than men. Yet, men and women have different roles and when both live within those roles they care for one another and glorify God. God’s kingdom grows when all people worship the triune God in their given roles and responsibilities rather than trying to fulfill a different role because it appears superior.