Honoring Women

Luke 8:1-4 After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.
 
THIS reading is the first of several that examine Kingdom of God characteristics. One way to understand the Kingdom of God is to know it has four essential traits: 1) place (currently the world) 2) form (the church today) 3) substance (God’s Word) and 4) time (now into eternity). We’ll mainly focus on the substance or elements as we come to understand what God requires of us in the church now.
   The first Kingdom substance is to honor women, so they fulfill their God-given gifts. One great attack from the world is to say that the Bible and Christianity demean, even enslave women. Of course these lies come from the devil’s influence on the world in an attempt to discredit God’s magnificent love and provision for his creation. Jesus spoke of the devil’s lies in this heated exchange with the Jews in John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
   Let’s understand the truth, then, about women in the Kingdom of God. God created woman as equal to man. A woman was to be man’s helper as God is our helper. A helper is one who completes and empowers another. Without helpers, we accomplish very little. Each of us has a helper role in different areas of our lives.
   Know, too, that the Woman is God’s only creation that comes directly from another life. Eve completed God’s creation. God loves women. God honors women. God chooses women into his church. A women bears the children in God’s image. God gifts women to serve in his kingdom. Women are of great value in God’s sight.
   Some examples in the gospels include the way Jesus loved and saved the repentant woman who wept over her sins (Luke 7). And our Scripture here tells us of three specific women and many others who helped Jesus in his day-to-day ministry. Mary Magdalene was freed of demon possession. Joanna is a woman of means. It is thought Jesus had healed her son, and she then traveled with Jesus to support him financially. Some evidence indicates Jesus had also healed Susanna.
   For women to travel with men in this way was the subject of scandal. Furthermore, co-education was not done in this culture. Women were second-class citizens. But not in the Kingdom of God. Jesus had come to set the captives free, and that certainly includes women enslaved by cultural roles that deem then unworthy of equality with men.
   These women would also have been learning along with The Twelve. You can even say they were Jesus’ disciples, too, as the term applies to all who pursued his teachings and learned from him. Jesus graciously welcomed women into his midst to use their gifts, witness his miracles and receive his teachings.
   These women would not only be supporting Jesus and helping the physical aspects of his ministry, we can understand, too, they would be a living testimony to Jesus’ healing, transforming powers. The Kingdom of God thrives when all whom Christ has healed testify of God’s grace and power to heal.  
   The Bible records many more ways our Lord affirms women. As in all things we hear, put away the world’s deceptions. Listen closely to God’s words. Believe and live what he says.