7 4 03

12p

Matthew 12:46-50 (also found in Mark 3:31-35 and Luke 8:19-21)

This little bit of scripture discusses who Jesus considers His family to be. Jesus is talking to a crowd of people when Mary and Jesus� brothers approach and ask to speak with Him. When the message is given to Jesus, He asks who His mother and brothers are then points to His disciples saying that they are his mother and brothers. He went on to say that whoever does the will of God in heaven is Jesus� brother, sister and mother.

This is significant to me for two reasons. First, because He included women as His family. Why should this be of any significance? Because all over the New Testament, we hear Paul saying that women should basically be silent and fade into the background. Okay, so maybe Paul doesn�t say that, but it seems to be implied.

As far as I know, when Jesus did His time as a Human, the societal standard was for men to discuss spiritual matters and women to cook, clean and stay out of the way. Believe it or not, the image in my mind is from the movie Yentil, in which men were allowed to study and women were not. I know very, very little about the culture of that era, but I believe it was even more restrictive for women than the movie showed.

Regardless, Jesus preached to women a lot. He included women as His family and He even told Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) that women were important to Him; that they should, indeed, listen and learn and believe.

For those of you unfamiliar with the tale, that passage in Luke covers a pair of sisters (Mary and Martha, duh). When Jesus was passing through town, Martha opened her home to Him and His disciples. Mary chose to sit at Jesus� feet, hearing what He preached, while Martha was working on preparing the food and managing all the background stuff� ya know, �woman�s work�.

Martha was frustrated that Mary wasn�t helping, so she asked Jesus to tell Mary to help with the preparations. Jesus looked to Martha and told her that though she was worried about many things, only one thing was needed. He went on to say that what Mary chose was the better option and it would not be taken away from her.

So what does that mean to me? It means that it is more important to hear the words of Jesus, to live by them, to honor them, to believe, than it is to prepare a meal and have a nicely appointed table. What�s more, it means that when a woman takes in the word of God, when she puts her effort into learning and living God�s way, what she has learned will not be stolen from her. She will not be told to leave the education and go make coffee. It is not bad to serve. Nor is it bad to concentrate on making your home available for guests. But, it is more important to do God�s work than your own.

So, the point of this Bible study today is that women are NOT second class. Women are not put in a place of service only. Women are definitely allowed, and indeed, encouraged, to worship, learn, desire and work with and for God. God is not a respecter of persons. This means that women have just as much right to be His family as do men. That was very definitely a radical thought for that specific era.

Yay God!!!