6-Life of Christ: The Beginning of Christ's Ministry, pt4

In his excellent resource MESSIAH'S MINISTRY, Professor William Varner discusses"Messiah and Women" stating "It has become fashionable among some feminist writers to castigate Biblical writers for their 'sexism' along with terms like 'patriarchalism' and 'male chauvinism.' The entire Judaeo-Christian tradition has often been blamed for perpetuating an unhealthy domination of men over women. A closer examination of the Biblical writers against the background of their contemporary culture, however, reveals quite a different picture. Rather than advocating the oppressive treatment of women, the Biblical authors' attitudes and actions toward women often went against the grain of their contemporary culture and actually helped to eventually elevate the status of women. Christianity in reality helped to upgrade the status of women. During the OT period, women were relieved from some responsibilities. For example, they were exempt from the requirement to attend the annual festivals (Ex 23:17), but...were able to serve at the door of the tabernacle (Ex 38:8); to take the Nazirite vow along with men (Neh 8:2-3); to engage in music ministry along with men (Ex 15:20; Judg 4:6-7; 2 Ki 22:14; Neh 6:14)...there was far more freedom for women than is often thought. [During the life and times of Jesus, Messiah, per rabbinic practice shown in the Mishna and Talmud], women were to be shunned in public social contact...were not to be publicly taught the Torah...were restricted from orally communicating the Torah to others, even to children...and had no right to bear public witness in a judicial case. Yet, in His public teaching, Jesus never uttered a word of deprecation regarding women. They were never the butt of cruel jokes nor were they ever 'put down' for being women. In His condemnation of adultery and divorce (Matt 5:27-28; 19:3-10), He taught that women were not to be treated as sex objects. In His sermons, He twice used the example of a woman to rebuke the faithless men of His generation--the widow at Zarephath to the men of Nazareth (Lk 4:28-29) and the Queen of Sheba to the Pharisees (Lk 11:31). At least twice in His parables, Jesus used a woman in a striking way to illustrate faith and determination: the persistent widow (Lk 18:2-8) and the woman searching for the lost coin (Lk 15:8-10)." In midweek Bible study of "The Life of Christ" this week we plan to complete the section on "The Beginning of Christ's Ministry,pt4." We'll see John the Baptizer superseded by Jesus, along with Jesus' arrival in Galilee. But in-between those events is His epic and intentional arrival in Samaria. He talks to this woman at the well in public and openly reveals Himself to her as the Messiah, something He won't do again until Passion Week. The Messiah simply exerts His own authority over the Rabbinic restriction against such acts, even if it meant risking misunderstanding by His own male disciples.