Men and Women

In the first century, men were valued more highly than women. For instance, from a Jewish source, Josephus wrote,

"But let not a single witness be credited, but three, or two at the least, and those such whose testimony is confirmed by their good lives. But let not the testimony of women be admitted, on account of the levity and boldness of their sex."

Likewise, Dr. Michael Kruger has demonstrated that one consistent critique against Christians among Roman sources is that it was too popular among women. Sociologist Rodney Stark estimates that perhaps 2/3 of the Christian community during the second century was made up of women.

In other words, "That's a religion for women!" was an effective insult.

We find this same negative attitude towards women in the New Testament. For instance, in Luke 24:9-11 we read,

"Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women."

**Luke is writing in a shockingly counter-cultural way.** Throughout his gospel, he shows how Jesus honored women, and here, in defiance of the cultural norms, he honors women as important witnesses to the resurrection.

From both sides, we have a very strong indication that Luke faithfully recorded what happened. In his cultural context, it took courage to say, "you should believe that an angel announced the resurrection of Jesus, because these women said so." But in the context of the church, it also took courage to say, "The male apostles failed to believe a revelation from God because they didn't trust what women said."

**The resurrection changed the status of women. Why?**

First, the resurrection confirmed that Jesus is Lord. And the first Christians imitated Jesus' example of honoring women. Consider how women were allowed to follow Jesus and be part of his ministry. The New Testament mentions women as leaders in the early Christian church, such as Phoebe, Priscilla, Tabitha, Lydia, and Junia.

**In a patriarchal society, what could enable men to start treating women as equals? What would motivate a husband to love his wife "as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for her" (Ephesians 5:25)?**

Could hallucinations about Jesus being alive do this? Or would it take the resurrection power of Jesus, at work in the hearts of men and women by the Holy Spirit, to create communities that honored women?