Have you ever struggled with reading Genesis (where God created Eve to co-rule with Adam) and the rest of the Bible (where women are oppressed and treated as property)?

Have you ever wondered why Jesus didn’t touch on this disparity during His earthly ministry?

I used to! But as it turns out, when one really digs into Scripture – with additional cultural context - it’s clear that Jesus actually defied Jewish culture, lifted women up, and treated them with equality. I just needed some help to see it. And today, I’m going to help you see it too!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out Episodes 11 and 12 if you’d like to dive deeper into some of what I’ve mentioned. Also, the two books I referenced (and highly recommend) are Captivating by Stasi and John Eldredge and On Purpose: Understanding God’s Freedom for Women Through Scripture by Julie Zine Coleman.

Show Notes:

• Intro

  • Alright, sister. If you’re listening to this episode, it’s probably not too far-fetched of me to assume that, at one point or another, you’ve found yourself confused and thinking things like:

    • Why is there this huge disparity between Genesis, where God created Eve to be equal to Adam, and the rest of the Bible? 

    • Why is there this huge disparity between Genesis, where God created Eve to be equal to Adam, and the culture within the big “C” church? (Where women are often limited, treated as second-class citizens, trapped within its patriarchy, etc.)

    • Did God even truly create Adam and Eve equally, then?

    • If this disparity is legit, then why didn’t Jesus address the issue during His time on earth - especially during His ministry?

    • Did Jesus really care about women, then?

  • If you’ve ever thought of any of the questions, or ones like them, I totally get you. You are not alone. As I said in the teaser a minute ago, when I came to Christ in my early 20s, I was asking myself similar questions.

  • My brain just didn’t understand how a loving God, who broke into my life in a supernatural way and brought me to Jesus, and who created women to be equal with men, had basically distanced Himself from our plight. 

  • And I was upset with Jesus, because I didn’t understand why He didn’t address this during His time on earth.

  • But it turns out, sister, that Jesus did address it. Just not in the way that I was initially looking for. And it took some education because, like a lot of churches, this isn’t something that’s addressed. Or taught. Or brought up. 

  • But before we dig into that more closely…before we look at specific examples in Scripture of how Jesus treated women in the Kingdom way - meaning the way God intended prior to the Fall - versus the world’s way…we need some higher level context. To ensure we’re seeing things in the right lens.

    • One, in case you have doubts or you haven’t had a chance to explore this question more in-depth yet, let me just clarify…God did create Eve to co-rule with Adam. Eve was NOT created to be a lesser quote/unquote “helpmeet” as is so often taught. That’s not a true interpretation of the original text. It’s too much to dive into here, but you can go back to episodes 11 and 12 to learn more about that. Those episodes are based on a book by Stasi and John Eldredge called Captivating. So this comes from a legit, well-known wife and husband resource - not just myself.

    • Two, the change in how women were treated was NOT caused by God. It was a result of sin entering the world during the Fall. This is why there’s such a difference between before the Fall and afterwards. We don’t even get out of Genesis before we see the first mention of multiple wives, which is in Chapter 4 after the famous story of Cain and Abel. 

      • Now, there’s an additional note that I want to make here. Because it’s often taught that Eve (or woman) was entirely responsible for the Fall and thus sin entering the world. That’s Biblically inaccurate. If you look closely at the text, it says that Adam was right there. And he didn’t do anything to stop what happened. Eve’s sin was a sin of commission - which means she did something that she shouldn’t have done. Adam’s sin was a sin of omission - which means he didn’t do something that he should have done. The Fall is not solely the woman's fault. Both Adam and Eve were to blame.Also, and this is something I’ve learned about more recently, and I also talk about this back in episodes 11 and 12 which are based on the book Captivating, but Satan approached Eve, and not Adam, because he has a special hatred for women. I go into greater detail in the episodes, but essentially Satan hates us women because of the amazing creatures God created us to be. And because of what Satan lost by making the choices he did before his own fall.  

    • Three, God (and thus Jesus and the Holy Spirit) still regard women as He did before the Fall. Sin - and Satan’s special hatred for us - means that, until Jesus returns to fully restore His Kingdom (i.e. make everything the way it was meant to be), this inequality within the genders will likely remain, on some level, as far as global society goes. Even as we make strides in society. But it’s not God’s plan for us or how He views us. And this is why there are many examples in the Bible - such as the Old Testament judge Deborah, and Rahab, and Esther, and others - where God has used women in ways that go against the nonsense we’re told about women unable to be leaders, or lead men, or be bold or brave, etc. God hands out some pretty tough assignments to these ladies just like He’s done to the men.These instances of concubines, and multiple wives, and such that we read about…that wasn’t God’s plan. And this is why, later on in the New Testament, there’s specific direction to the church regarding having one wife. I personally wish it hadn’t pervaded for so long, and it’s something I’m seeking to better understand, but for now I can say that, for certain, it wasn’t God’s desire for His daughters.     

    • Four, Jesus did address this issue of inequality numerous times throughout His ministry - it just takes some context and attention to see it. When I was a new Christian, I was like, “Why didn’t Jesus change this on a system or cultural level?” But as my knowledge grew, I came to understand that His calling wasn’t to change systems or the entire culture…Jesus came to deal with sin. Because sin is the base issue, right? Sin is the problem behind all problems. Jesus also focused on teaching about the Kingdom of God. Which wasn’t just about what heaven or eternity looks like, but what following God and Jesus should look like on Earth. And at that time, the Jewish leaders had created laws and a culture that was far from God’s heart and intentions.  

• This is what life looked like for women in Jesus’ time on earth. (And I’m taking a lot of the following from a wonderful book I’m reading called On Purpose: Understanding God’s Freedom for Women Through Scripture by Julie Zine Coleman. I’m only part way through, but I highly recommend it.)

  • The oral law that the Pharisees and scribes promoted was strict and demeaning towards females.

  • By the beginning of the first century, the patriarchal system that we see in the Old Testament had hardened into a stance that considered women secondary to men.

  • It was generally considered that women were inferior to men physically, socially, and ethnically.

  • A woman’s testimony in court was not accepted. (Note: Keep this one at the forefront of your mind. Because this makes something Jesus did really interesting.)

  • Men largely held women responsible for the evil in the world, especially sexual sin.

  • Women were considered unteachable. 

• This is the time that Jesus was born into. And He came to set women truly free.

  • Jesus taught a lot about the Kingdom of God during His ministry in part because there was a lot of damage to undo. In the previous centuries, the Pharisees, with their oral law, had transformed Judaism into a life that was all about works and external appearances - instead of the love of God.

  • And within this new Judaism was a hierarchy that doesn’t exist in the Kingdom of God. There was this idea that those on the lower rungs of society were there because they were being punished for their sins. Meanwhile, those who were wealthy or in power were deemed to be very spiritual and thus blessed by God for their righteousness. It was a false hierarchy based on how well you adhered to the oral law (which was insanely large) and one’s station in life.

  • This is why so much of Jesus’s teachings and conversations centered on humility, on serving versus being served, or how every Jew (or today, Christian) is equal in God’s sight, how the law was oppressing people in so many ways, etc.

  • And amidst all of this - stuck in a false spiritual hierarchy, and a solid patriarchal system, etc. - you have women. With no rights. No equality. No weight to their voice. Being blamed for the sin in the word. Forced to be silent, illiterate, uneducated, and stuck.

• So when we look closely at how Jesus interacted with women, it’s clear that He was a rebel in this area. He treated women as they were created to be treated…not as the culture was treating them. Which was less than.

• And we see this in a number of ways:

  • 1) Jesus did not adhere to the cultural belief that women could not, or should not, be educated.

    • He was just as inclusive with women as He was with men. For example, in Luke 10:38-42, while visiting her home, Jesus welcomes Mary of Bethany to sit at His feet and discuss Scripture with the men. That posture - sitting at His feet - was the common posture of a rabbi’s student. Which, in that time, would normally include only men.

    • He spoke to crowds, large and small, of both men and women. He didn’t go to the inner rooms of the synagogues, which were only for men, to teach. He taught openly to men, women, and children.

  • 2) Jesus included females in His entourage. 

    • Luke named three women who followed Jesus from His early ministry. Luke 8:1-3 says: “Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”

    • Jesus not only had women in His group - it sounds like He may have had female entrepreneurs! 

    • These women learned from Him, witnessed His miracles, and were there when He was crucified.

    • These same women then went to the tomb to ensure that Jesus’s body had been properly prepared for burial. As the angels reminded them about what Jesus had taught about rising from the dead, they remembered His teaching even when none of the remaining eleven disciples did. (See Luke 24:1-9).

  • 3) A woman was the first person to see the resurrected Jesus.

    • That woman was Mary of Magdalene. 

    • In fact, Jesus told her to tell everyone else - even though the disciples wouldn’t believe her! (See John 20:17 and Luke 24:11.)

      • Note: Remember what I said earlier about a woman’s testimony not being allowed in court. You can’t tell me Jesus wasn’t laughing over this one! C’mon! It’s so great!

  • 4) On at least two occasions, Jesus told a woman something before He shared it with others - including His male disciples.

    • The first time Jesus openly admitted that He was the Messiah was to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:25-26).

    • Outside her brother’s tomb, Lazarus’s sister Martha was the first one to hear Jesus say that He was the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25-27). In response, Martha stated that she believed Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God.

• Jesus clearly did not align with the culture. Instead, He valued, respected, loved, and included women from a Kingdom perspective.     

  • It can be difficult to see when we first read Scripture; or when we read it at a high-level; or if we don’t have cultural context; or if we’ve been taught ideas or beliefs about women that aren’t Biblical.

  • We also need to set aside our own ideas of what Jesus should have done. Meaning, expecting that the answer would have been for Him to completely overhaul the system Himself. Or push the boundaries further, such as having female disciples, which wouldn’t have worked. Julie talks about this in her book On Purpose: God’s Freedom for Women Through Scripture. The disciples would go on to become apostles and to lay the foundation of the Church. Neither women, or even Gentiles, would have been able to do that based on the state of culture at that time. It had to be Jewish men. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been heard or taken seriously. It was an unfortunate reality at the time.

  • Key phrase: at the time.  

  • But it’s clear that Jesus consistently, through His actions, showed how women should be thought of and treated. Then He went to the cross, died for our sins, and was resurrected so that we may have life - a Kingdom life. When we give our lives to Jesus, and are baptized, our old self dies. And the new self is to live a Kingdom life here on earth. We’re to live the way God calls us to live.

  • This means three very important things:

    • One, Jesus did NOT fail to address the issue of women’s Biblical equality. He may not have forced an overhaul of the entire cultural system - but that’s not what He came to earth for. That wasn’t His calling. Just like He wasn’t here to defeat Rome and free the Jews from a military standpoint, which is what the Jewish people - including the disciples - were initially expecting from the Messiah. The disparity between the sexes exists because of the Fall…and because of sin…and because of Satan’s special hatred towards women. (Which again, I talk about back in episodes 11 and 12.) Systemically, it’s not going to be completely erased until Jesus comes back and sets things right in the end times. However, that brings me to my second point….

    • Two, until Jesus returns, the big “C” church is supposed to be living out God’s Kingdom on earth. But in the case of women being treated from the Kingdom perspective, it’s woefully fallen short. Instead of the Church embodying the way women are to be regarded, and letting that flow out into the world, the Church has been embodying the patriarchal system of the world - which isn’t Biblical. And using incorrect interpretations of Scripture to validate this stance.But…

    • Three, as a woman, you have been freed by Jesus. You have been freed from the power of sin - and you have been freed from living as a worldly citizen. You are a Kingdom citizen. Which means you play by God’s rules no matter what the world’s rules are.It doesn’t matter if society, or even the church you’re in, wants to keep you in a box. It’s about what God wants to do through you. How He’s gifted you. What His calling on your life is. And we’re living in an age where technology has given women other avenues of making their voices heard; and sharing their stories; and using their gifts. So, sister, if you’ve been thinking that God or Jesus saw you as less than the men…toss that aside right now! And grab ahold of everything that God has for you! Cheers!