Bhadagi Jayanti
Introduction
The New Testament speaks about the mission of Jesus and how He established the reign of God. Jesus was sent by His Father to accomplish the mission of His Father, i.e., to proclaim the Good News and accomplish salvation for the whole of humanity. Hence, He preached that the reign of God belongs to all and in particular to the poor, sinners, the marginalized, widows and orphans and eventually had to sacrifice His life on the Cross. However, Jesus was not alone in this mission, rather was assisted by some such as apostles and male and female disciples who followed Him. Nevertheless, despite the major role played by women in the mission of Jesus, their contribution is not very much highlighted in the Church today.
It is in this regard, Barbara Reid says, “Women were among Jesus’ first disciples, accompanied him in mission, and ministered to and with him and continued to do so after his death and resurrection. While the New Testament provides only a few of their names and stories, these are like the tip of and iceberg”[1]. Many people are accustomed to speaking about male disciples’ contributions to the mission of Jesus. Hence, I would like to highlight some aspects of women’s contribution to the mission of Jesus in light of the Gospels. I am writing this seminar paper so that it may change the thinking pattern of those people who are biased toward women’s salvific contribution and an invitation to each one of us to introspect our thinking and our stance regarding the same.
1. The background of Women in Jewish society
The human society is a collection of different cultures, beliefs, customs, norms, etc. and as we know, each human society differs from the other based on its culture and belief. Similarly, the Jewish people also had their own culture which was, in fact, a blend of many cultures given their exilic history. Though the others cultures had an influence on theirs, it was unique in itself. In this chapter, however, I am focusing only onto the state of Jewish women in their culture during the time of Jesus.
1.1. Religious and Socio-cultural background of Jewish women
During Jesus’ time, the Jewish society was a male-dominated society, for it had been deeply influenced by the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean cultures and Greco-Roman culture. These cultures always considered women as inferior to men and demanded that they be submissive to the latter in all aspects of their socio-cultural relationships.
1.1.1 Religious belief in the Jewish society
Religious life of Jewish people was divided mainly into three sects at the time of Jesus, namely the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes. Though they were following the Laws of Moses, they were different from each other in beliefs. The belief system influences society also, for religious practices and cultural beliefs are mostly interconnected in every society. Given the socio-cultural position of women in the Jewish society, men were allowed to offer sacrifices and not women. However, in the Old Testament, we see that there are some instances wherein women offered sacrifices in regional sanctuaries; Hannah, Deborah and Hulda are some examples in this regard. Men were allowed to participate in the service in the temple’s inner court, whereas women prayed by the temple’s northern gate outside. The Leviticus purity laws restricted women’s access to the temple during their menstruation and post-delivery discharges. Women were allowed to dance during religious festivals but not allowed to participate in the rituals.
1.1.2 Cultural beliefs and customs
Women were often considered second class citizens in the Jewish society. “Women did not count in the society of Jesus’ time. They were inferior beings, in the same category as children, calves, and cattle. Woman’s place in society was as belonging to man – his property. Women’s importance in the family was as a bearer of progeny,”[2] says Jyotsna Chatterji. Married women lived mostly like prisoners in their own houses. Divorce was a common practice among men in Israel as was in Greece. The law favoured the right of husband not only to get wife, but also to get rid of her as and when he wanted. An adulterous woman was considered a ‘triple sinner’[3]. Triple sinner means sinning against God, her husband and her children. According to the Law of Moses, women were considered unclean during their periods and hence were constrained to participate in public affair during their menstruations as well as after giving birth to child. The laws of purification were imposed on women and whoever touched women during their menstrual had to go through purification.
Women were, thus, oppressed in many ways in the Jewish tradition. In short, they were despised and oppressed culturally, socially and physically in the Jewish society even during Jesus’ time. Jesus’ Good News, however, tried to bring a change into religious and cultural beliefs of the Jewish people. Hence, many women followed Jesus and thereby paved the way for the reformation of their society through love, mercy, justice, peace and forgiveness. It is in this regard, Jyotsna Chatterji says, “He deals with women as persons, worthy to be talked to, listened to, worthy of being part of his band of followers, in need of salvation equally with men. Jesus gave promise of liberation from the chains of customs”.[4]Yes! Jesus liberated not only the Jewish women, but also all the women of the world through His life, death and resurrection.
2. Mary of Nazareth (Mother of Jesus)
2.1 Mother of Jesus
Mother Mary was an ordinary Jewish woman who played a significant role in the salvation history of humanity, starting from the annunciation to the crucifixion of her Son Jesus, our Lord and Redeemer.When angel Gabriel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will name him Jesus” (Lk 1: 30-31), God’s angel promised Mary that she would become the mother of God. Mother Mary accepted the greetings and conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit.Mary submitted herself completely to God’s plan. “Her acceptance to be the mother of the Messiah in the Annunciation sums up the way she had lived all her life,”[5] says Jyotsna Chatterji. Thus, Mother Mary became part of God’s salvific plan and carried it out completely. It is in having experienced the love and grace of God, she sings the Magnificat, her inner expression of the soul. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior” (Lk 1: 46-47). Since she rejoiced in the Spirit of God, she willingly accepted the prophecy of Simeon when he said, “A sword will pierce your own soul too” (Lk 2:35).
She treasured all these things in her heart, because she knew who she would become to be in the future. Yes! She became the first disciple of Jesus. She never doubted or fled Jesus when all the others fled and doubted Him; she stayed and accepted to the very end the burden of being under the Cross. Mother Mary empathized with her son’s suffering and accompanied her Son till His last breath and burial too. She remained faithful to her Son in His life and mission and accomplished the Will of God. Therefore, she is called blessed by all generations. She, with all her heart and mind, participated in the plan of salvation of humanity, for she had realized the vision of God, the vision of a new world.
2.2 The role of Women in the infancy narratives
The infancy narratives of Jesus are found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The infancy narrative presents the birth of Jesus as a climax of God’s promise to Israel and women like Mary, Elizabeth, Anna, Martha and Mary Magdalene have significant role in it. Elizabeth was the wife of a Jewish priest, Zechariah. She was a barren woman, but by God’s Spirit conceived in her old age. Thus, Elizabeth became the part of redemptive work of God. Mother Mary and Elizabeth conceived their sons by God’s Spirit to heal a broken and sinful world. Both of them embraced the uncertainty of life without hesitation, for they trusted in the providence of God. Even after knowing the nature of the Jewish society, they both consented to the Will of God by risking their lives and played a significant role to establish the Reign of God here on earth.
2.3 The First disciple of Jesus
Mother Mary was the first woman to be visited by an angel and be ‘overshadowed’. She was empowered by the Holy Spirit to live her whole life in complete surrender to God’s Will and participate in the mission of her Son. Thus, ‘She becomes a receiver and bearer of divine Word and Spirit’[6] in the words of Kamil Manka and thereby the first disciple of Jesus.
“In those days, Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country…When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Lk 1: 39, 41-42). The moment she received the word of God, she rushed to share it with her cousin Elizabeth. The effect of the word of God shared was such that the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaped with joy. Thus, Mother Mary became the first evangelist of Good News. By accompanying her son Jesus throughout His life, she gave the first testimony of the Gospel to the rest of the world. She was the first one to proclaim her son as the Saviour of the world. For Jesus’ disciples spent three years with Him during His ‘public ministry’ while Mary, thirty-three years. Thus, she knew her son better than anybody else.
“His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you’” (Jn 2:5). Here, mother, Mary took the initiative in her son’s mission. She was the first one to recognize her Son’s divine power and His mission for humanity. She played the role of an interceder in the wedding feast of Cana. She was also present on the great day of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, and witnessed the extraordinary presence of the Holy Spirit that transformed and empowered the early disciples. That same Holy Spirit inspired Mother Mary to live her unique missionary vocation as the first disciple of Jesus.
3. Jesus’ Relationship with women
3.1 Jesus’ mission for all humanity
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free” (Lk 4:18). This was the manifesto of Jesus Christ. His mission was not only for the poor and the oppressed or the marginalized, but also for the whole of humanity regardless of gender, nationality, socio-economic and spiritual condition. Jewish women were treated badly and considered sinners because of their gender. However, we see Jesus proclaiming the Good News to all, including the women.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:19). This verse confirms the fact that Jesus’ mission was for all humanity. Jesus did not tell His disciples to go and baptize only the men or the Jewish people, but the whole universe so that everybody can experience the love of Christ who sacrificed His life to bring equality to the whole of humanity. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared first to women such that they are first evangelists to proclaim the Good News. Thus, we can say that Jesus’ mission was centred around the liberation of the poor, captives, sinners and women, in particular.
3.2 Compassion for Women
The Lukan Jesus is a compassionate friend to the outcasts and the women. We can see this in various passages of the Gospel of Luke.
- “When Jesus saw her, He had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep” (Lk 7:13). Yes! Jesus empathized with the widow, told her not to worry about her life raised her son from death.
- Jesus justifies the sinful woman over Simon, the Pharisee. She showed gestures of repentance. Therefore, Jesus showed compassion by forgiving her sins.
- Jesus gives a new life to a sinful, rather crippled woman. After all she was crippled by the society in which she lived, didn’t she?
- Jesus saves the dignity of a woman caught in adultery. When the accusers wanted to punish the adulterous woman according to the law of Moses (Jn 8: 4-5), Jesus calmly says, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Thus, Jesus changed the traditional belief system that whoever commits adultery had to be stoned to death.
3.3 Empowering women in the Jewish society
Jewish women could not be disciples of a rabbi and hence would never travel with one.However, we see in the Gospel, “Martha had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what He was saying” (Lk 10:39).Martha intervened Jesus thinking that Mary had forgotten the Jewish culture in this regard, i.e., to serve the guest first and not sit around. For, she thought that Mary was forgetting their culture. Thus, Martha asserted the custom of the Jewish community that women belonged to the kitchen and had no right to become the disciple of a rabbi. However, we see Jesus praising Mary as she was listening to Jesus and learning from Him like His male disciples. Thus, Jesus breaks the traditional cultural norms imposed on women in the Jewish society empowers Mary as well as Martha by insisting on the fact that all have equal opportunities and rights to follow Him.
4. Discipleship of women
4.1 Equal rights for all disciples
In the Jewish tradition, only males could become disciples of a teacher. However, Jesus breaks this tradition and accepts women also as His disciples. Jesus does not discriminate people. We can see this when Jesus initiated the conversation with a Samaritan woman came alone to a well at midday to fetch water, because she was thought to be imperfect in the eyes of the Jewish society as she was married five times and now staying with another man (Jn 4). Towards the end of the chapter, we see that she becomes the first person to recognize Jesus as the Messiah according to the Gospel of John. Thus, He promotes her or rather gives her the rights to be the evangelist of the Good News and thereby makes her His ardent disciple.
In a similar narrative in the Gospel, we see Jesus curing a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhage for twelve years (Lk 8: 43-44). According to the law of Moses and the rabbinic tradition, this woman would have been considered ceremonially unclean in perpetuity which, in turn, meant that she could not participate in any religious activity or touch anyone. Thus, she must have remained an outcast and untouchable. However, this woman takes courage to come and get healed, for she had heard about Jesus being compassionate towards all irrespective of their gender. Thus, according to Jyotsna Chatterji, ‘She is healed physically, psychologically and socially. For Jesus rejected ritual impurity which was prevalent in His time and restored the person to wholeness and reunited the person with the community.’[7]
4.2 Mission of Women
We see in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus was accompanied by a group of women who supported him and the male disciples (8: 1-3). “There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem” (Mk 15:40-41). Jesus casts out demons from Mary Magdalene and heals other women, too. They experienced the healing touch of Jesus physically, psychologically and socially. Therefore, they too joined in the mission of Jesus and they bore witness through their daily activities and professed that Jesus is the true Messiah. These women followed Jesus and accompanied Him till His crucifixion. Because of the testimony of a Samaritan woman (Jn 4:39), many people believed in Jesus, the Messiah who came to liberate them from their social oppression.
We also see in the Gospels that the mission Jesus entrusted to His twelve disciples was proclamation of the message, casting out demons and curing diseases and sicknesses (Mk 3:13-15, Mt 10:1; Lk 9: 1-2). A similar command is seen in the Marcan Gospel wherein a heavenly messenger commissions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome, “Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you” (Mk 16:7). Thus, the women become His disciples who proclaim the Good News. The Gospel of Luke, too, gives us a similar narration where in Mary Magdalene and ‘the other Mary’ who got to the tomb were commissioned to proclaim the Good News to the other disciples (Lk 28:7). All these emphasize the fact that women always accompanied Jesus and were still in search of Him even after His death. That is why the risen Lord first appears to women and makes them His disciples. Until then, all that the apostles (males) saw was only an empty tomb (Jn 20:1-18; Mt 28: 5-10; Lk 24:11-12).
Conclusion
The four evangelists wrote the Gospel according to their experiences and were bound by their culture, customs and belief system in doing so. Besides, they mainly focused on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, if we look at the Gospels critically, we come to know that women played a significant role in the mission of Jesus. Women were present at all significant events of Jesus: birth, Passion and resurrection. Mary, the mother of Jesus played a vital role from annunciation to resurrection and many women were present at the crucifixion when all other (male) disciples fled away except John, the Beloved Disciple. These are the important sources to support the contribution of women in the mission of Jesus. Jesus did not patronize His ministry, rather gave equal rights to all men and women in His mission. It means that we need to recognize the presence of women in the Catholic Church strongly and enthusiastically.
Notes:
[1]Reid, Barbara E. Wisdom’s Feast: An Invitation to Feminist Interpretation of the Scriptures. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016.
[2] Ed. Chatterji, Jyotsna. Good News for Women. Delhi: ISPCK, 1979.
[3] Silence Half: Effects of Patriarchal church on women’s lives.
[4] Ed. Chatterji, Jyotsna. Good News For Women. Delhi: ISPCK, 1979.
[5] Jyotsna Chatterji, (ed), Good News For Women. Delhi: ISPCK, 1979.
[6]The role of Mary in the infancy Narrative of Luke by Kamil.P. Manka,
https://www.academia.edu/31500711/ TheRoleofMaryintheInfancyNarrativeofLuke?
[7]Ed. Chatterji, Jyotsna. Good News for Women. Delhi: ISPCK, 1979.
Bibliography
1.Rayan, Samuel, Kurien Kunnumpuram, Collected Writings of Samuel Rayan, SJ. Delhi: ISPCK, 2013.
2.Smith, Susan E. Women in Mission: From the New Testament to Today. American Society of Missiology Series, no. 40. Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books, 2007.
3.Sr. Chakkalakal Pauline, dsp. “Silence Half: Effects of Patriarchal Church on Women’s Lives.” Presented at the WOMEN, Ishvani Kendra, 1992.
4.Tavard, George H. Woman in Christian Tradition. Notre Dame; London: University of Notre Dame Press, 1975.
5.Podimattam, Felix M. O.F.M.CAP. In praise of woman, Theological considerations (Volume One), Media House Delhi, 2009
- McNally, Jane, A. Berkeley Mickelsen, and Alvera Mickelsen. Abuse of Christian Women in India. Delhi, India: ISPCK, 1999.
- Women Religious: Bearers of Good News. Bangalore: atc Publications, 1985.
- Reid, Barbara E. Wisdom’s Feast: An Invitation to Feminist Interpretation of the Scriptures. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016.
- Chatterji, Jyotsna. Ed. Good News For Women. Delhi: ISPCK, 1979.
- https://margmowczko.com/many-women-followed-jesus-gospels/
- https://www.catholic.org By Deacon Keith Fournier
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