Women and The Bible

Women and The Bible

Matthew 28 verses 1 to 15 New International Version

Jesus Has Risen

28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 

3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 

4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 

6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 

7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 

9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 

10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

The Guards’ Report

11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 

12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 

13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 

14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 

15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

 Women mentioned in the bible.

The reading centres on Jesus resurrection

There are approximately 137 named women, both real and fictional, discussed in the New Testament alone.

Women in the Bible held positions of power and were called prophetesses, judges and leaders, warriors, healers and caregivers, mothers and wives, disciples and followers of Jesus Christ who testified of him.

In the old testament there were 111 women named.

In contrast:

The Quran does not mention any women except for Mary.

In the Vedas Hindu texts about 30 named women are mentioned.

How many women (Kaur) are mentioned in the Sikh Adi Granth?

Sikh means lion and Kaur means lioness.

Women in Biblical Times

Among many areas in which the Bible is revolutionary, it’s high regard for women is one in which it is a document truly ahead of its time. 

In ancient Israel, women participated in every aspect of community life except in the Temple priesthood.

Women freely engaged in

·        commerce and real estate (Proverbs 31),

·        as well as in manual labour (Exodus 35:25; Ruth 2:7; 1 Samuel 8:13).

·        They were not excluded from Temple worship.

·        Women played music in the sanctuary (the most sacred holy place), (Psalm 68:25),

·        prayed in the sanctuary (1 Samuel 1:12),

·        sang and danced with men in religious processions (2 Samuel 6:19, 22),

·        and participated in music and festivities at weddings (Song of Solomon 2:7; 3:11).

Women were not limited to private roles during those centuries. Several exercised leadership roles over Israel.

·        Miriam, the sister of Moses, led the women of Israel in worship (Exodus 15:20–21); 

·        Deborah was a judge and a prophetess (Judges 4:4), and the scriptures specifically mention that she was a wife and mother as well. 

·        Huldah was also a prophetess whom King Josiah consulted instead of Jeremiah, her contemporary (2 Kings 22:14–20).

But the social condition of women in the first century had been radically altered from that of their ancient sisters.

By the time of Jesus, the role of women had drastically changed for the worse.

In theory, women were held in high regard by first-century Jewish society, but in practice, this was not always true.

The concept of tzenuah, or the private role of the woman, was based on Psalm 45:13:

“All glorious is the princess in her chamber.”

 While a man’s primary responsibility was seen as public, a woman’s life was confined almost entirely within the private family sphere.

During this time Women were not allowed to testify in court.

In effect, this categorized them with

·        Gentiles,

·        minors,

·        deaf-mutes, and

·        “undesirables” such as

·        gamblers,

·        the insane,

·        usurers (money lenders), and

·        pigeon-racers, who were also denied that privilege.

Customarily, even a woman of stature could not engage in commerce and would rarely be seen outside her home.

Only a woman in dire economic straits, who was forced to become the family breadwinner, could engage in her own small trade.

If a woman was ever in the streets, she was to be heavily veiled and was prohibited from conversing with men.

The women recounted in the New Testament were very likely illiterate, since the rabbis did not consider it necessary for women to learn to read in order to study the Scriptures.

Based on the passage in Deuteronomy 4:9 (King James Version), “teach them to thy sons,” the rabbis declared women to be exempt from the commandment to learn the Law of Moses.

Indeed, the Talmud says, “It is foolishness to teach Torah to your daughter” (Sotah 20a).

Women were separated from men in private, public, and religious life.

They could go to the Temple, but could not venture beyond the confines of the Women’s Court (there was no such court found in the original descriptions of Solomon’s Temple, so we know it was added later).

Women were not allowed to participate in public prayer at the Temple, although they were encouraged to have private prayer lives at home.

By publicly including women in his ministry, Jesus shattered the prejudicial customs of his day.

Why was it unusual for Jesus to speak with women?

Nothing in the Mosaic Law prevented men and women from conversing with one another! Yet the society of Jesus’ day, with custom dictated by rabbinic Judaism, differed strikingly from the Old Testament social order.

Time after time in the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life, we see him offering his teachings, healing, and forgiveness to women as well as men.

Often, it was the women who were the most appreciative of his work and teaching.

The first proclaimer of Jesus as the Messiah of Israel was a woman: 

·        Anna in the Temple (Luke 2:36–38).

·        A woman washed Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:37–38) and

·        anointed him for his burial (Mark 14:3).

It was women who were with him at his execution until the end (Mark 15:47), and women who were the first to come to the tomb (John 20:1) and proclaim his resurrection (Matthew 28:8).

Prominent Women in the new Testament

There were many prominent women in the New Testament.

·     Mary, mother of Jesus

·     Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist

·        Women who were part of Jesus’ traveling party, helped pay his way.

·     Women healed by Jesus

·        Witnesses to the crucifixion

·        Witnesses to the resurrection

Mary Magdalene

Who was she?

·        First witness of the resurrection

·        From the city called Magdela which was on the north-west side of Galilee.

·        It is thought that Mary had her own business.

·        It was quite prosperous known for its salted fish which it exported to Rome.

How did she know Jesus?

·        Mary had been possessed by 7 demons

·        Jesus cast out the demons

·        Having been in the darkness Mary decided to choose the light and she devoted the rest of her life to following Jesus. 

·        Many Christians have tried to portray Mary as a prostitute. There is no evidence for this at all.

·        Mary helped finance Jesus and his ministry

What happened to her?

·        After Jesus was arrested all the disciples fled.

·        John said the only one who stayed was the one he loved most.

·        But there were a number of women who stayed by Jesus’ side including Mary Magdlene throughout Jesus time on the cross.

·        They risked being arrested themselves and being crucified as an accomplice of Jesus.

·        They helped to take the body down from the cross and carry it to the burial place.

After Jesus’ Crucifixion.

·        Mary was the first to return to the burial place and discovered the empty tomb.

·        When she was there, she became the first person to see the resurrected Jesus.

Why was she chosen to be the first person to see Jesus?

·        The use of Mary as the first witness tells us how God differs in his thinking from humankind.

·        According Josephus a Jewish historian at this time a witness has to have a good past life not a slave and not a woman.

·        Here was Mary who had been possessed by 7 demons a woman so not a credible witness.

·        Yet Jesus had chosen not only to come to Mary but a number of other women.

·        Before Jesus appeared to Peter who would become the head of his Church or any of the other disciples Jesus appeared to women.

·        The very same women who had witnessed the crucifixion and the burial were now witnessing the resurrection.

In a world that looked down on women and where they were not valued Jesus teaches us that we are not valued for out worldly credibility of status race or gender but instead sees our faith and devotion to him.

We should value people on how they treat others how they see good and evil the deeds that they do on a daily basis.

In the darkest of moments Mary and the other women had stayed with Jesus supporting him and burying him.

Now they are the first to see him rise.

Like Mary we too may feel at times that all hope is lost.

But Jesus came to her just as he comes to all people who seek him and are lost.

Jesus brings light to us all in even the darkest of days.

An Example of Women Who Today are Making a Difference.

Marziyeh Amirizadeh and Maryam Rostampour.

Meet the two women who spread Christianity to hundreds in Iran’s Evin prison

In the three years before their imprisonment, Rostampour and Amirizadeh had held church services in their apartment in Tehran and distributed over 20,000 Bibles to Iranians. Both acts are illegal under Iranian law.

The women had studied theology in Turkey before returning to Iran with the aim of spreading Christianity.

Christians in Iran are sentenced to prison terms for holding private Christmas gatherings, organizing and conducting house churches, and constructing and renovating houses of worship.

This is according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2019 report.

When Iranian authorities sentenced the two women to death in 2009 for spreading the message of Christianity, international observers feared the worst from the regime’s latest attempt to crush religious freedom in Iran.

But the regime’s punishment backfired when Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh evangelized hundreds of fellow prisoners, and even prison guards, in the 259 days before they were released following intense international pressure.

Rostampour and Amirizadeh initially prayed for a quick release after being sent to Tehran’s Evin prison, which is notorious for cruel and prolonged torture, using methods such as threats of execution or rape, sleep deprivation, electroshock, and severe beatings.

However, the friends soon realized “God had a purpose for being in that dark place,” according to Amirizadeh.

“At first we were praying for our release. But after a few days we realized that by meeting other women in the prison - some who were homeless or addicts - God had given us an opportunity to share the message of Christianity with people who needed to hear it the most,” said Rostampour.

The women educated hundreds of fellow prisoners about Christianity and led Christian prayers.

“We were not allowed to have a Bible, but we lived out its teachings in the prison,” said Amirizadeh.

Some of the prisoners initially expressed disdain for the women, calling them ‘dirty Christians,’ according to Amirizadeh, but later accepted the women and apologized for the comments.

Even some of the prison guards came to trust them.

“A female guard came to my cell and asked me to pray for her, but to keep it confidential. She said she believed that if I prayed for her, she would overcome fertility issues and become pregnant,” said Amirizadeh.

The duo gained a reputation in the women’s ward and men’s ward for their steadfast faith in the face of persecution by prison authorities.

“In prison in Iran, people don’t have any rights and it was worse for us because of our Christian faith,” said Rostampour, adding that she and Amirizadeh were physically threatened by guards and refused medical care by prison doctors.

“Whenever we got sick and went to the clinic, the doctors would first ask what our charge was before they asked how we were feeling. As soon as we said that our charges were because of our Christian faith, they would refuse to give us medication,” said Amirizadeh.

Despite the oppressive circumstances, Amirizadeh said she felt more free in prison than on the streets of Tehran.

“The guards couldn’t stop us from talking to prisoners about Christianity and that made them furious. We were already in prison, so what more could they do to us?” said Amirizadeh.

Rostampour and Amirizadeh, who now live in the US after being granted asylum, continue to speak out against Iran’s leadership.