Could you embrace equality for all?

Alfred Brittain writes in “Women of Early Christianity” about the inferior position of women in the first Century. He says “A common prayer was: "O God, let not my offspring be a girl: for very wretched is the life of women." It was said: "Happy he whose children are boys, and woe unto him whose children are girls."

Public conversation between the sexes was interdicted by the rabbis. "No one", says the Talmud, "is to speak with a woman, even if she be his wife, in the public street."

A close friend once said to me ‘I am following Jesus but at a distance’. She explained that while growing up, she had internalised the message from the Bible that God was only interested in men.

How sad to have this perception of Jesus who loved and valued women differently to what culture dictated and to whom women responded with love and gratitude. Women like Joanna gave up the comfort of being the wife of Herod’s business manager in order to travel on the road with Jesus. Mary Magdalene became his close companion. Mary, sister of Martha, sat at Jesus feet and listened to his religious instructions even though women were not to be taught the Torah by a rabbi and poured the entire contents of expensive perfume over Jesus’ head in love and gratitude.

At the cross, all the disciples except John fled fearing for their lives, while the women came and watched, staying close to Jesus in his agony. Mary Magdalene and the many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem (Mark 15:41) followed to catch a glimpse of the tomb where he was to be laid, and through their tears and pain of broken hearts prepared the spices and ointments to care for his body after the Sabbath was over.

Early on the Sunday morning the women returned to the tomb. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and several other women. How quiet the garden must have seemed. The familiar voice of Jesus no longer heard. His laughter no longer ringing out. When they arrived at the tomb they found to their surprise that the stone had been rolled away and the tomb was empty. Mary Magdalene, grief-stricken, stood outside the tomb weeping. Through her tears she did not recognise Jesus when he spoke to her and thought he was the gardener. She pleaded with him to tell her, if they had taken Jesus away, where they had put him so that she could go and get him. But when Jesus said her name she recognised him and at a time when the testimony of women was worthless Jesus instructed Mary Magdalene to ‘go tell’ his disciples that he was alive. (Matthew 28)

Dorothy Sayers wrote: ‘Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the cradle and last at the cross. They had never known a man like this Man – there had never been such another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, who never flattered or coaxed or patronized; who never made arch jokes about them, never treated them either as ‘The women, God help us!’ or ‘The ladies, God bless them!’; who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously, who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took who took them as he found them and was completely unself-conscious“

The tomb is empty. If Jesus were to call your name how would you respond? Could you journey with Him and embrace equality for all under God regardless of race, gender, class or sexual orientation?