Influential Women of the New Testament

On Easter morning women were the first to see the risen Lord. Wherever the guys over the men in the upper room, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews and then the ladies come, they get up in the middle the night they get all of their precious ours and ointments and fragrances. Together they come into the garden to anoint the body and there's nobody because of their commitment to the Lord. The women brave the potential dangers directly to the tomb were given the overwhelming privilege of seeing Jesus is just one example of the honor.

Jesus showed the women followed there's doctors in this series will look also at the roles of men and of women in biblical history and we have found models from both sexes that have so much to say to us it's obvious business that there were a significant number of significant women who had significant roles in the life and the ministry of Jesus that says something to us. In fact about Jesus, but Jesus is a man as the Son of Man, and is the son of God obviously enjoyed female companionship.

He was not married, but he spent a great deal of time with women and we can's dismissed and say well he just did that out of ministry. But if we look closely again at the life of Jesus will see that yes Jesus ministered to women in a minister to men but not only that his friends some of his closest friend most trusted confidant. Those who helped him humanly bear the burdens of ministry a burden of ministry that none of us could ever understand. Obviously, everyone also a cursory reading of the New Testament would show us how Jesus treated women.

One of the things that I've noticed every time Jesus speaks with women is how he talks to Winterson he doesn't patronize them, but he doesn't play games with them, but in every single instance where we see women encountering Jesus in dialogue in the New Testament, Jesus treats them with respect, there's a little key that I want you to notice there's a word in Greek called gourmet, which is the Greek word for woman and it comes over into our language. How gynecology right is derived from the Greek word for woman Dunay not goon goon is the Greek word for the Medicaid wrote an earlybird split.

In any case, the term Dunay is translated into the English language by the word woman, and that creates sometimes an unfortunate impression with some of the translations that we pick up of the New Testament where you will hear Jesus talking to women and he says them Roman. For example, when his mother comes to them at the wedding feast of Canaan � and tries to get them to do something about the shortfall of wine and the embarrassment of the house. Jesus says to her Roman rot. Are you to me that that sounds like the greatest putdown of the sun has ever expressed to his mother in human history is like Roman Kumar because in our language to call a woman by the direct form of address Roman is not usually very respectful.

Is it say woman just doesn't sound very tender or very loving but that is a problem of translation in the language it was a form of address of utmost respect. So Jesus does the room who are new to me but it's like in a cake use of the term man.

This man he's speaking deferentially he's acknowledging her womanhood and in her motherhood at that point now. What else does Jesus address ladies as women blows my mind that when he has a conversation with the woman at the well who had all these husbands who was an outcast from the community because of her radical immoral lifestyle.

The reason why she was there at the middle day was a because she was allowed to be seen with the rest of the women of the community who always came to draw their water early in the morning. Women were not found at the public well at noonday, unless they were social outcasts and when Jesus talked to her he called her woman run the women who was caught in adultery was dragged in public humiliation and is a spectacle and put the feet of Jesus by those who one of the stoner and they obviously were calling her every obscene name that they could think of. Jesus says to her after he dismisses the crowd with his classic where the leases woman, where are your accusers he calls her woman. No, one of the examples.

In fact, I think the best example that we can find in the New Testament that shows you the affection, the respect and the tenderness that is loaded in that term woman is when Jesus was on the cross and when he was showing concern for the well-being of his mother recall he committed the care of his mother into the hands of the youngest of his disciples, whose name was John.

So while he's going through the agony of crucifixion, his mind is focused on taking care of his mother and making sure that John is going to be all right and he says to his mother from the cross woman, behold thy son son behold thy mother. Some people think they know erroneously that what Jesus was saying is mother, behold your son. Mother looked at me know he wasn't saying mother look at me. She was already looking at him. Mother, behold thy son and he's indicating John and he speaks to John. John behold thy mother.

But again, the point is, when he spoke to his own mother in the midst of the agony of his own death.

Do you think he would use a demeaning insulting form of address. He calls her woman, and that reveals I think something of the enormous respect and affection that Jesus had for the women in his life. I think a case can be made that two of his closest friends when he was on this earth were Mary and Martha.

The reason I say this is we see Jesus on the move. He's itinerant he's going all over Palestine, speaking to crowds and the multitudes, and we see how draining his ministry was to him how he at times would sense the power go out from and we saw that Jesus found a very very heavy need to get away from time to time from all that from his people. He would withdraw the bay by himself to be with his father to go on the mountain to pray to be alone away from the press of the multitudes and the needs that he was trying to serve every day of his life he do for recreation. What did Jesus do to relax. That gives you a key to a person's personality.

Every time we see Jesus taking time out to relax. He's going to Bethany to the home of Mary and Martha, and Lazarus is not that he's just there were two lady friends but the three of them are his most intimate friends when he leaves the ministry to get timeout go relax the clinicians up on the desk and take it easy, doesn't have to preach any sermons.

Although he does at the pre-sermons in the mirror because you may want let them alone there asking questions all day long with up to what I don't know how Jesus thought because I don't have the mind of Christ. Nobody has the mind of Christ perfectly so we can't really know hundred percent how Jesus felt in his ministry. I can identify one point he was in the ministry, not a ministry that is a huge difference there obviously but that let must we have a column about the ministry and I know that when I'm on the road. I have a policy that everybody when I go to speak someplace.

I get letters of six all we can put you up there some wonderful people in our congregation to have this marvelous house and what they have a guest cottage and they have a car at your disposal, and we will have you launched like a king. Every time I go away. I get that kind of a letter and then we had to go through the embarrassing thing of saying RC would prefer to stay in a hotel or motel. Why is juggling the house of the stranger after speaking all day, then what I'm working all night right that's just more work and the people may be the nicest people in the world but if I don't know them.

Then I have to be on site and the only time that I stay in people's house houses instead of in public accommodations when I'm on the road is when it's people that I know well and that they are my close friends now. Maybe I'm projecting something I shouldn't here. Maybe I'm reading something into the text, but I'm convinced that's why Jesus went to Bethany because he was comfortable with Mary and Martha and Lasker's. They ministered to him whispers. The father thinks about Mary and Martha for the ministry they had in their lifetime, the son of God the father was placed because there is a sense that there are kinds and forms of encouragement that no man can give a man only a woman can give a man certain times of incurred but obviously there are kinds of encouragement that only a man can give a man and only a woman can give a woman, but there is that special dimension were only women can relate to a man and a man to a woman. And let's not forget the fact that she says was a man and he, I'm sure responded. Natalie Tamayo fellowship with the female fellowship and I'm not talking about romance at all. I'm talking about friendship because there is such a thing as a real deep human level of friendship between men and women rest to have a real picture home with us in our family album. That's one of the best of his favorite pictures. It's a picture of my dad walking on the boardwalk of Atlantic City taken. I believe in the 30s where he had sleeve was like wearing spats shoes that he had this funny hat on and he is walking down the boardwalk with my mother on one arm and my dad's best friend's wife on the other arm and he's walking down the boardwalk like this and you could just see he was feeling like $1 million in the selected that is said, look at that. That's just like you are is this is all your girlfriends.

You have so my lady friends and I do I go nuts if I had just only men friends because there's a sensitivity. Somehow, that women have the men don't have and they gave that to Jesus again look at women that he encounters in his ministry. I think of the sorrow definition will if ever there was a woman to whom Jesus spoke disrespectfully. It was the sorrow definition woman remember her that the she came in she was not Jewish and she wanted to learn from Jesus and Jesus is saying to her, I doubt you know that I come for the lost sheep of Israel and in the woman says or even the dogs eat the crumbs from the Masters table and Jesus allowed as how she was of the hog Netflix that she was a dog in terms of the standard pigeonholing of people in that world when but then Jesus reached out to this woman and answered her needs and said of her that he had not found face like this in all of this for. And so Jesus sent this woman away with his benediction, whom the world considered a dog, or consider the woman with the issue of blood. The father, Jesus intruded on him interrupted him when he was on the way to raise somebody from the dead gyrus. Remember it, and that his daughter was dead and he plays with Jesus the common do something and so Jesus says okay I'll go and he's walking down the street and the word goes through the mob and all of a sudden safe. He's going to that dead girl and boy.

The crowd started gathering and pushing around them.

Jesus driving. He's all business is going to go to the home where there's a dead girl and he's got all these people watching to see where you do this to and suddenly in the middle of it. He stops and he said he touched me with Peter's reaction right always this remainder trust 10,000 people attend our lives in front and out through touch to everybody's problem jostling you about how could we possibly 90 days just ignores a misalignment somebody touched because I felt the power go out and he looks around and there's this woman cowering she'd been hemorrhaging for 12 years and gone to every doctor.

There was, with no relief as she sort of tendency subpoena. I'm sorry I I just felt if I could just touch the hem of your garment. I will be all right. Jesus said your face has made you call about the thing about it that touches me about that encounter is that Jesus could've said wait a minute, there's a dead girl over here. I don't have time for this undergo gray somebody from the dead. Can't you see that that's were the focus of the crowd is. That's the big issue I don't have time for the little stuff, but he stopped for her and this was his pattern, when Mary Magdalene comes and pours the alabaster ointment on his feet in and gives us extravagant manifestation of adoration and wiped his feet with her hair.

You talk about a moment of human tenderness. That woman is on her face wiping Jesus feet with her hair and Judas is all upset because of all this waste of money and Jesus, who has the rebuke Judas's a little while, God is never opposed to extravagant wealth and he takes care of Mary Magdalena woman possessed with seven devils, a woman who was a professional prostitute became an intimate part of Jesus entourage how close was Mary Magdalene to the heart of Jesus. She wasn't very well steamed, but nobody else into but Jesus was her Savior.

Jesus was her work and Jesus was her friend and when Jesus was crucified. The Bible says that there were three women standing Mary his mother, Mary, his aunt, the wife of Coco's and who else Mary Magdalene Hawley are fair weather fans running for their life.

Jesus's mother is there is an is there and this prostitute is there at Calvary where my going came on the crowd and stand up and lacrosse staying with you okay what God did not overlook that.

How would you love to sing the risen Lord with your own eyes. The been an eyewitness of the resurrection where the guys over the men in the upper room, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews and then the ladies come, they get up in the middle night they get all of their precious errors in ointments and phrases together they come into the garden to anoint the body and there's nobody there is nobody there's nobody. Okay.

And they come back there and they tell the disciples. Most of them dismiss them is what video no crazy ladies like relational they will come back in a bit. But Peter and John run because the leaders step aside will take charge when going to the tomb that there's any substance of this will find out and I'll gather and guess what, God let them see an empty tomb of gray cloth and a couple of angels. I'm excited and they run back to tell the guys run a running back Mary Magdalene is in the garden by herself and a man speaks to and she doesn't even look up, and she thinks it's the gardener nice is what's a matter she said it taken away my Lord. I don't know or live line pieces. Mary she says Ramona first humanize the sea, the resurrection of Jesus Christ with the eyes of Christ Jesus loved said Mary, do you think she'll refer what I see in the New Testament of the women who surrounded Jesus is the virtue of loyalty. They were groupies, but they loved him with a loyal we need. We do need that. That's Dr. RC scroll and your listing to Renewing Your Mind. Thank you for joining us for the Saturday edition of our program.

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