HOW WOMEN DISCIPLES CHANGED THE WORLD T
he
Bible has been used for years to oppress and limit women. Yet
Jesus clearly elevated women from property to persons to partners
in ministry. No basis exists in the gospels for denying
leadership to women in ministries of evangelism, preaching, teaching
and pastoral care. Paul's writings have been taken out of context
and distorted to oppress and alienate women. Jesus and Paul both
were revolutionary in their acceptance and respect for women. Women
in the synagogues were neither seen nor heard. They were required
to sit behind a screen when the law was read for fear that angels,
thought to be present at any reading of the law, might be
seduced. Rabbinical traditions about Genesis 6:1-8 blamed the
union between "the daughters of men" and "the sons of God" (angels) and
the Great Flood on the seductive powers of women, which is a constant
theme in the Old Testament. See Proverbs 7:1-27; 9:13-18.
This is why Paul said in I Corinthians 11:10 that women should cover
their heads "because of the angels." Religious
rules in the time of Jesus forbid women to read the law or speak in the
synagogues. No woman could be a rabbi or the student of a
rabbi. Women could not be Priests, Pharisees, Scribes, Sadducees
or Levites. Women could not go to the synagogue during their
menstrual flow. When a woman had a baby, she was "unclean" and
could not go to the synagogue for a month. If the baby was a
girl, the woman was "unclean" for two months! A
rabbi would not speak to any woman in public, not even to his own
mother. Some Pharisees would not even look at a woman in public;
so they shut their eyes whenever a woman came into view! A woman
was the property of her husband. Adultery was against her husband or
father, not against the woman. But Jesus said in Mark 10:11,
"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery
AGAINST HER." Devout
men prayed three times a day to thank God that they had not been born
slaves, Gentiles or women! Since a woman could not be circumcised
with "the sign of the covenant," she was included only by her
relationship to her husband, father or brother. See Paul's clear
challenge to this in Galatians 3:28-29. Many other rules and
traditions made religion totally "a man's world" in the time of Jesus.
Read: Luke 8:1-3; 10:38-42; 23:49-24:12: John 20:1-18; Romans 16:1-6; Galatians 3:26-29. "BABY JESUS"
Update for Christmas 2003 God
and Jesus were having a discussion in heaven about how to get the
world's attention when Jesus came to earth. God said, "Let's let
your mother be an unmarried homeless teenager named Mary. That
should be noticed. And it was. We celebrate the event every
Christmas. The
discussion continued. Jesus said, "How will we get the attention
of the world when I am resurrected from the dead?" God said,
"Let's let the first person to see you after the resurrection and to be
the first apostle and preacher of the good news be another woman named
Mary. She will be a woman with a bad reputation that you have
helped along the way. So they arranged for Mary Magdalene to be
the first witness to the risen Jesus and to be the first preacher to
proclaim the Gospel. The world noticed. But soon forgot. 2000
years have gone by. God and Jesus have been discussing what to do
to get the world's attention back on Jesus instead of on churches and
abusive religion. God said, "We need a whole army of
"Mary's"! There is a already a special group of people who are
gay and lesbian and who like to go around calling themselves and each
other "Mary"! Let's use them to bring the whole world back to
Jesus. So they did. Rembert Truluck
Christmas Eve 2003
Take a look at this Christmas Greeting!
http://web.icq.com/shockwave/0,,4845,00.swf |
