It was a woman: Weekly Reflection from Emily Rutledge

It’s difficult for me not to read the Bible as a feminist manifesto.  I am often bewildered by those who take the Word of God and use bits and pieces of it to oppress women when through my reading and study I see it as a love letter about the power of the female spirit.  Strong, powerful, humble, open women who allow love, redemption, and grace to flow through them and magnify the love of God fill up the Old and New Testament.

Full disclosure:  I’m a woman so I wear a certain lens. 

The life and ministry of Christ is marked by the presence of women.  

Mary… the mother of God.

Samaritan woman at the well… evangelist extraordinaire.

The hemorrhaging woman who touches Jesus’ robe… audaciously courageous and healed.

Mary Magdalene… apostle to the apostles.

Martha… bold friend and sister.

Mary… the anointer. 

During Holy Week I am always keenly aware of the ways that women show up when men turn away.  Before Jesus’ magnificent entry into Jerusalem Mary, Lazarus’ sister, pours out an entire jar of expensive perfume anointing Jesus.  While the men at the table criticize her for not selling it and giving the money to the poor Jesus tells them what’s what and informs his followers that she is preparing him for burial (disciples: insert foot in mouth) and in both Matthew 26 and Mark 14 Jesus says that wherever the Gospel is preached, what this woman has done shall be spoken of in memory of her.  It is a woman who anoints Christ before his death.

When his disciples turn on him, abandon him, and hide, it is the women who stand at the foot of the cross.  His own mother stands witness to his suffering and watches as he dies a horrible death. Each Gospel gives a different combination of women in addition to Mary the Mother of Jesus in their account but all say the same thing: it is the women who stand at the cross, it is the women who witness him dying. 

It is Mary Magdalene who goes out early on Sunday morning to do the unpleasant and blessed work of caring for Jesus’ body when she discovers the resurrected Christ.   It is a woman who discovers and then proclaims the news that the scriptures have been fulfilled and that Christ is risen. 

When Jesus came to radically change the social constructs of this world he did it in every way and on every axis imaginable.  Christ’s message of hope for the sinner and care for the outcast proclaimed inclusion for all people; across cultures, religions, races, and circumstances. The ministry of Jesus flipped the universal understanding and acceptance of women as second class citizens on its head.  While it has been fun to place the blame of the fall of society on Eve and thus all women (#adamateittoo) through the metaphorical story of the Garden of Eden it is in Christ’s actual birth, life, and death that a radical re-evaluation of the role of women unfolds.  The first to proclaim the news of the resurrected Lord is a woman. **If that’s not case for women in ministry… I’m not sure what is**   The bold and brave steps that the women surrounding Christ took during his life and at his death are examples to each of us of how we can be transformative and powerful vessels of love even when no one wants us to, expects us to, or thinks we are capable.  Through His death and resurrection, “Jesus radically affirmed the full dignity of women and the vital value of their witness.” (Justin Taylor, Gospel Coalition). 

Each of us has something that allows the world to view us as less than: gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political stance, age, race, disability, weight, and the list goes on… as we approach this Holy Week I invite you to be like the women surrounding Christ: be boldly untethered to the expectations society has placed on you and harness your full dignity and your vital value.  Where are you called to anoint?  Where are you called to hold space in suffering?  Where are you called to proclaim the hope of resurrection?  Christ wants you there.