Breaking the Rules
In the society in which Jesus lived and worked, women were largely kept out of public life. At Sabbath worship, they were mere onlookers, not participants.
In public, men were restricted in how much they could talk to a woman, even their wives. Women were not allowed to study the Torah; in fact, they were not even allowed to touch the Scriptures, lest they contaminate them.
Jesus took a different approach. Women were His beloved children, just as much as men. His death covered them just as much as any male.
Although rabbis of the time were not permitted to teach women, Jesus happily did. On one occasion, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, sat at His feet like a pupil (Luke 10:38-42).
Prejudice against women entered every aspect of life. Men were allowed to divorce women, even for the most trivial offenses, but women were not allowed to divorce men, even for the most serious of offenses. Jesus had strong words to say about the current practice of divorce, which treated women as if they were objects owned by men (Matt. 19:3-8).
In the space of two chapters in Luke, Jesus breaks the laws regarding contact with ceremonially unclean women. He touches a dead girl and restores her to life (Luke 8:41, 42, 49-55); allows a hemorrhaging woman to touch Him (Luke 8:43-48); and lets a woman of ill repute wash His feet (Luke 7:37-39). Read each of those accounts. What principles do you think led Jesus to break these rules? How are those principles applicable today?
No comments:
Post a Comment