Jesus did “women’s work” & the women did “man jobs”

We often create clear lines as to what men can do and what women can do. However, the Bible itself actually blurs cultural lines, empowering each of us.

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Here’s where we see it…

In Luke 10, Jesus visits His friends Mary & Martha (Lazarus’ sisters). You might know the story— Martha hustles around working while Mary “sits at Jesus’ feet.”

I’ve heard the story preached that “you just need to slow down and be with Jesus, and you don’t need to get overwhelmed doing all this work FOR God instead of being WITH God.”

True.

But there’s something more powerful going on in this tale…

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“To sit” at a rabbi’s feet meant that you were accepted by them as a student. Paul was “educated at the feet of Gamiliel,” for instance (Acts 22:3). Gamiliel was the famous rabbi who exhorted the Jewish tribunal not to sentence the apostles to death (Acts 5:34). In other words, Luke communicates to us that Mary was accepted by Jesus as a student in whom He would invest His time and focused teaching. And, back then, students didn’t choose their rabbi— their rabbi chose them.

Martha is the one who rushed to greet Jesus when He came to visit after Lazarus’ death. Mary remained in the house. When Martha stepped inside to let Mary know Jesus had arrived, she said, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you” (John 11:28).

Whereas most people called Him Master or Lord, these two enjoyed a unique rabbi-student relationship.

These female spiritual powerhouses knew Him as Teacher.

In accepting these sisters— women— as students, Jesus flipped the cultural script upside down. In fact, John also goes out of his way to let us know— in the shortest verse in the entire Bible— that “Jesus wept” (11:35). In that culture, weeping was “women’s work” and learning would have, typically, been a man’s.

Paul topsey-turvied the cultural script, too. He embraced women as co-laborers with him (Romans 16:3-4), and he acknowledged some as apostles and deacons (see Phoebe in Romans 16:1-2).

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And it got me thinking about the women that see see in the Bible… Just in the New Testament ALONE (aside from the warriors and judges and other stereo-type defying ladies we see throughout the entire narrative of Scripture, we see that the women…

… well, they were TOTALLY essential to Everything Jesus did…

I just flipped through my Bible…

Here’s a (small) sampling of what the LADIES did…

WOMEN (not men like me)—

✅ Encouraged Jesus to reveal His power, nudging Him to perform His first miracle (see John 2:3).

✅ Funded the ministry of Jesus (i.e., no women = no ministry $ (see Luke 8:3).

✅ Crashed parties to which they weren’t invited in order to honor Jesus publicly (see Luke Luke 7:37,44).

✅ Made some of the boldest faith claims— and took action— that we see in the Bible (Mark 5:25f.).

✅ A woman was healed, people heard of it, and it caused Jesus’ ministry to explode (Mark 1:30f.).

✅ “Sat at Jesus’ feet,” which is a euphemism from that culture meaning that they were accepted as disciples (See Luke 10:39 and John 11:28).

✅ Encouraged Him before facing the Cross, rather then denying it would happen or running away (see John 12:1f.).

✅ A woman encouraged Pilate that he had his facts wrong about Jesus (Matthew 27:19), that he was about to kill an innocent man.

✅ Stood at the Cross— after the men fled for their lives and even denied knowing Jesus (John 19:25).

✅ Were the first to the empty tomb, the first to see the resurrected Jesus, and the ones who informed the disciples (John 20:1, 20:15, 20:2). This happened while the men were “locked behind closed doors,” fearing for their lives (John 20:19).

✅ Were in the Upper Room when the Holy Spirit fell the first Pentecost— meaning they received the full measure of the Holy Spirit just like everyone else (see Acts 2:14, where they are singled out).

✅ A woman was the first person to be recorded as being resurrected after Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 9:39).

✅ Started the church in Phillipi (see Acts 16:13-14f.).

✅ Instructed some of the men leading the early church on essential doctrinal issues (Acts 17:26)— thereby empowering those men to grow churches and fulfill their calling (1 Corinthians 3:6).

✅ Led in the top leadership roles in the early church (i.e., see Philip’s daughters who became prophetesses in Acts 21:9, the list of women in Romans 16:1f. as deacons, including Junia referenced as an apostle in 16:7.).

✅ Took the “lead position” in some matters (Acts 18:26— the order in which people were listed in the ancient world denoted importance on a specific project or issue— so it’s intentional Luke mentions the women first here).

✅ Were encouraged to stand and prophesy in the church as women— and not hide their femininity in doing so (i.e., you don’t have to act like / be like a man to participate— live from the image of God you have been given (1 Corinthians 11:2f.).

✅ Were imprisoned because of their leadership roles in the early church (see Romans 16:7).

✅ Are told to submit to the men… who are ALSO told to submit to them (see Ephesians 5:21).

✅ Are equal heirs of grace— not secondary or lesser ones (1 Peter 3:7).

And…

✅ It’s interesting that, way back in the beginning, God FORMED man (Genesis 2:7), but he FASHIONED the woman (2:22), a more artistic word that speaks of something exquisite and wonderful…

Read the beginning of the story. They were / are the crown jewel of Creation.


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