Women play key parts in Biblical history. They include good and bad queens, righteous maids, praying mothers, powerful leaders, influential wives, generous givers, protitutes, prophets, deaconesses, gracious hosts, and faithful supporters and friends of Jesus.
IN such stories as Esther and Deborah, women take centre stage. Throughtout the Bible’s broad canvas, we can see how women with a mission have helped advance the kingdom of heaven in many ways.
IN the New Testament we see examples of how Jesus dealt with women. At the same time, many women followed Jesus and supported Him financially (Luke 8:1-3) and helped care for His needs (Mark 15:41).
Jesus specifically ministered to women on several occasions. When many of His disciples deserted Jesus at His death, women remained true and stayed with Him to the cross. Women were the first witnesses of His resurrection.
Let me just share with you some of the main points in order for us in todays world to understand the role of women in our mission as Christians.
1. BREAKING THE RULES
In the society in which Jesus lived and worked, women were largely kept out of public life. At Sabbath worship, they were mere onlookers, not participants. Like the Gentiles, women had a specially designated outer court at the synagogue, from which they could not stray. Significantly, it was located beneath the court for the men.
In public, men were restricted in how much they could talk to a woman, even their wives. Women were not allow to study the Torah; in fact they were not even allowed to touch the Scriptures, lest they contaminated them.
Jesus took a different approach. Women were His beloved children, just as much as men. His death covered them just as much as any male.
Although rabbis of the time were not permitted to teach women, Jesus happily did. On one occasion, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, sat at His feet like a pupil (Luke 10:38-42).
Prejudice against women entered every aspect of life. Men were allowed to divorce women, even for the most trivial offenses, but women weren’t allowed to divorce men, even for the most serious of offenses. Jesus had strong words to say about the current practice of divorce, which treated women as if they were objects owned by men (Matt 19:3-8).
In the space of two chapters in Luke, Jesus breaks the laws regarding contact with ceremonially unclean women. He touches a dead girl and restores her life (Luke 8:41, 42, 49-55); allows a hemorrhaging woman to touch Him (Luke 8:43-48); and lets a woman of ill repute wash His feet (Luke 7:37-39).
This to show to you and me how God feels about the way in which every individuals should treat their fellow human being, whether male or female.
While He was on earth, Jesus broke down earthly, human barriers. As the apostle Paul said, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male or female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28).
The question we need to answer is; What kind of prejudices are you still harbouring against any group?
2. THE WOMAN AT THE WELL 1
The division between Jews and Samaritans was long and bitter. If you would like to learn more about it just read their background and historical roots in (2 Kings 17:24-41) When the exiles returned from Babylon and attempted to rebuild Jerusalem’s temple and walls, the Samaritans tried to stop their work (Ezra 4:7-22 and Nehemiah 4:1-5). Incidents such as this, as well as the dispute over the true site for the temple, fueled hatred between both groups. On one occasion a group of people tried to insult Jesus by calling Him demon-possessed and a Samaritan (John 8:48).
The most direct and quickest route between Jerusalem in the south and Galilee in the north was through Samaria. However, when making this trip, people would often take a detour around Samaria dispite the inconvenient longer distance in order to avoid their long and bitter enemies.
In Luke 9:51-56, 10:30-37, 17:11-19; in these text you will find Christ attitudes towards Samaritans. It also tells us about what our attitudes toward those traditionally dispised by our own culture must be.
On more than one occasion the Gospel writers show Jesus traveling directly through Samaria. One time on His way from Judea to Galilee, He stopped at the Samaritan town of Sychar, the site of Jacob’s well and near Mt Gerizim, the holy place for Samaritans, the site of their temple. It was here that He had His famous exchange, not just with a Samaritan but a Samaritan woman (John 4).
Much to the woman’s surprise, He ask her if she could draw water for Him to drink. The request shocks her, because Jesus was a Jew and she was a Samaritan and a woman!
As Jesus speaks to this woman, He breaks several cultural taboos. The apostle John says that when He and the other disciples returned, they were surprised to find Him talking with a woman (John 4:27). It is not considered appropriate for a man, even a religious teacher, to be talking to a woman in public; especially of all people, a Samaritan woman. Jesus did not let social custom interfere with His mission.
Christ encounter with the Samaritan woman gives us an idea of how we should relate to others in our daily life and circumstances, in order to share Christ with them. Christ met her in her own turf, own situation, and her level. Its the same as we should be with others, we should meet them in their own situation and level.
3. THE WOMAN AT THE WELL 2
The woman is so excited by what she has seen and heard that she rushes back to town, not even bothering to take her water jar (John 4:28). She has met the Messiah, and she just has to share the news with others.
The first part of her testimony is an invitation for them to meet for themselves the Man who knew her life story (vs 29). Here is a simple but classic truth about witnessing. Our mission is not to convert people. Our task is to sow the seed and bring people to Jesus. From there, the Holy Spirit cares for conversion. As the people later testify after meeting Jesus; "now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world" (John 4:42)
The second part of her testimony is a question; "Is not this Christ?" (vs 29). The way this question is structured in the Greek suggests that she is assuming that the answer to her question is negative. Thus, her question is literally: "He could not be the Messiah, could He?" or "This is not the Christ, is it?"
Either the woman was still not 100 percent certain about Jesus being the Messiah or, more likely, she was breaking the news gently to people who could be hostile to her for making such a claim.
Though many lessons could be taken from this account, one important thing is that by doing what He did, Jesus clearly broke with traditions of His time, witnessing to not only a woman but a Samaritan woman, but then using this woman to be a messenger and evangelist for the Gospel. Jesus uses a Samaritan woman, and one of hardly the best moral background, too, to be a witness for Him. It is as if He purposely went against every taboo and prejudice of His time.
the question for you and me today is; What lessons should we draw from this for ourselves about who is or is not qualified to work for the Lord?
The woman at the well isn’t that much different from you and from me no matter how good we may view ourselves to be. Her sins, not her race or religion, had seperated her from God. And, in the person of Jesus, God was right there offering reconciliation.
The Lord has a work for women as well as for men to do. They can accomplish a good work for God, if they will learn first in the school of Christ the precious, all-important lesson of meekness. They must not only bear the name of Christ, but possess His spirit.
Throughout the New Testament, women appear more in background roles. However, Jesus and the apostle Paul often commended women for their acts of love and mercy for the advancing the mission of the church.
God Bless
Robert F Collins
