WOMEN AND THE POWER OF GOD – by Deacon Marty McIndoe
This is the second part of my article on Women and the Power of God. In the first part I looked at some of the women of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). Today we will look at some of the women of the Christian Scriptures (the New Testament). Next week we will look at some women Saints. God consistently uses women to show His power and to help bring about the Kingdom.
PART II – POWERFUL WOMEN OF THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES (NEW TESTAMENT)
MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS: We start our New Testament list of women with the woman who made it all possible. Because of her resounding YES, the second person of the Holy Trinity, The Word, became Jesus. We must remember that Mary was just a young teenage girl when the angel appeared to her. Try to imagine what it must have been like to be a young teenager, engaged to be married and have an angel come to her with the revelation that God was calling her to become the mother of His son. She quickly pointed out that she did not know man and wondered how this could happen. The angel told her that the Holy Spirit would come over her and she would be with child. That would be scary for any woman, but Mary, because of her love of God and her trust in Him, said yes. Think what it must have been like to travel to a foreign town and have to give birth in a cave with animals. Imagine having the three Magi come to her bearing gifts and coming to see the King of Kings, her baby. Her amazement continued with the Shepherds coming and describing their own visit by an angel announcing Glory to God in the Highest. When she presented the baby Jesus in the Temple, Simeon said to her, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.” How those words must have cut in to her spirit. Think about how Joseph told her that Herod was going to kill their baby and that they needed to flee to Egypt where she would spend a significant time away from her family and friends in a foreign nation. Mary had to be a very strong woman to handle all of this and to do it so graciously. Think of the strength that she had to have during Jesus’ ministry and especially at the time of his Passion. Mary continually showed her strength and trust in God. There is so much that could be said about her that I really don’t have the space here. Mary is the Theotokos, the Mother of God.
ELIZABETH: When Mary was pregnant with Jesus, she went to be with her elder cousin, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was probably between 60 and 70 years old and was miraculously pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth was the wife of the priest, Zechariah and was a strong woman of faith. Scripture tells us “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit”. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” This statement of Elizabeth is filled with so much faith and such recognition of who Jesus was. Elizabeth’s encounter with the pregnant Mary caused her to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The baby in her womb, John the Baptist, leapt for joy. Those same words were used in the Old Testament when David leapt and danced before the Ark of the Covenant. Mary, pregnant with Jesus, is the new Ark of the Covenant and Elizabeth recognizes this immediately. Elizabeth was a strong woman of faith. She was also strong enough to protect her child, John the Baptist, from being killed by Herod’s soldiers when he ordered the slaughter of the innocent.
MARTHA AND MARY: These two women and their brother Lazarus were close friends of Jesus. Their names often come up in the scriptures. Martha is seen as the working servant and Mary as the quiet listener. They certainly each had their own personalities, but they seemed to put all that they had into following Jesus and working for the building of His Kingdom. The important thing about their relationship to Jesus is that it seems to be on par with the relationship men would have with their rabbi. Normally women would not be so close to the rabbi and wouldn’t be seen as important enough to “sit at their feet” in learning and also wouldn’t be seen as workers with him. Jesus, in his relationship with Martha and Mary showed us that gender was not an issue to Him, even if it was to His culture.
MARY MAGDALENE: Mary Magdalene is often misunderstood in the scriptures, art and tradition. Her name is so common that she is often confused with other Mary’s. Unfortunately, in the Western world, she is also often seen as the repentant prostitute mentioned in the scriptures. Truth of the matter is that in 1969 the Roman Church officially said the she was not that sinful prostitute. Enough bible study and study of early Church writings showed that she wasn’t. In 2016 Pope Francis gave her a feast day, June 22nd, ranking her with the male Apostles. If you study the early writings it appears that she supported Jesus both financially and spiritually. Eastern tradition has it that she went with Mary, the mother of Jesus to Ephesus to live and that she was considered an early leader in the Church. Mary Magdalene was a strong disciple of Jesus right until the very end. She was present at His crucifixion and was a witness of His empty tomb. Whenever scripture mentions her with other women, her name is always first. The Resurrected Jesus appeared to her at least twice. Our modern study of scripture and early writings show that she was a powerful disciple and leader of the early Church. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican’s culture minister, said Mary Magdalene’s reputation was sullied by her depiction in art over the centuries. He said, “Art history made her become a prostitute, which is something that is not present in the Gospels, It is important to find the real face of Mary Magdalene, who is a woman who represents the importance of the female aspect on the side of Christ.” Mary was a strong leader and tremendous help to Jesus during His ministry. She continued to be a strong help to His Church.
THE SYROPHOENICIAN WOMAN (MARK)/CANAANITE WOMAN (MATTHEW): Matthew and Mark tell us of the Pagan woman who comes to Jesus requesting healing for her daughter. The woman’s name is not given. The incident occurs in Tyre (modern day Lebanon) which has a long history of being an enemy of Israel. The woman is not a Jew, yet she comes to Jesus asking for help. She more than asks for help, she screams for help over and over again. Jesus seems to ignore her. She pleads with Jesus who finally says that he was “sent only to the lost sheep of Israel”. Matthew tells us that the woman throws herself at the feet of Jesus and pleads for his help. Jesus tells her, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” The woman tells Jesus that “even the dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table”. To this, Jesus replies to her, “O woman, your faith is great; let it be done as you have requested.” Jesus emphasizes the word great. At that moment the daughter is healed and Jesus tells the woman to go home to her daughter and to trust. She does. There are several things in this story that tell us of the strength and cunning of this woman that allows the power of Jesus to shine through. First of all her persistence in trying to get Jesus to help is commendable. Secondly her use of the word Lord and Son of David in addressing Jesus shows us that even though she was not a Jew, she knew about Jewish thought on the messiah. The very fact that she went to Jesus, and was persistent shows us of the faith that she had. When Jesus makes the comment about feeding the children and not the dogs, she didn’t show anger but was smart enough to come back with the line that even the dogs eat the scraps that drop from the table. To this Jesus remarks about how great her faith was and he healed her daughter. Lastly, when Jesus told her to go home in trust, she did exactly that. She trusted that her petitions to Jesus were answered. We all need to learn from this powerful, faithful, persistent, trusting woman.
LYDIA: Lydia was an educated and wealthy woman from Thyatira (modern day Turkey). She did not follow the numerous gods of that region but instead showed an interest in the one God that the Jewish people professed. She was a business woman who sold rare dyes (particularly purple) and had her business centered in Philippi Greece. There she met the apostle St. Paul who told her about Jesus. She was the first person converted by Paul during his trip to Greece. She was so convinced in her conversion that she immediately shared the good news with her family and they followed her in to being a convert to Christianity. She opened the first Christian church in Greece in her large home. Paul and Silas remained with her for several weeks training her in the faith. Because of her business connections and trading in many areas she was responsible for the conversion of many Greeks. Not only had she started the first Christian church in Greece, but she also helped to spread that faith to many areas. God used this strong and successful business woman to help spread the faith. We can’t help but to be thankful for the way that she turned all that she had made (and it was significant) to be used for spreading the Good News.
DAMARIS: Damaris was an intellectual woman in the city of Athens. When Paul went to Athens he spoke in the streets about Jesus and although this was scoffed at by many, some of the intellectual Greeks there found him quite interesting. He was invited to speak to the Intellectual Council there. One of the members present was a woman named Damaris who was intrigued by all that Paul taught about Jesus and after many discussions with Paul, she converted and helped to lead many people to Jesus. She became a leader in the church in Athens. God used this intellectually gifted woman to help build up his Church.
PHOEBE: Phoebe was a successful business woman from Corinth. Paul spent a considerable amount of time in Corinth setting up his Church. Phoebe was an integral part of the work that he did there. In a letter to the Romans Paul describes Phoebe as a servant leader of the Church there and a benefactor to the Church. Just like Lydia, Phoebe used her significant resources to help the Church. She also used her “connections” to help spread the Word. Paul called her a saint and a leader in that church.
PRISCILLA: Priscilla was a Gentile from the Roman aristocracy who married a Turkish Jew named Aquila. They originally lived in Rome and helped Peter set up the Church there. By profession they were tent makers. In 51 AD they were expelled from Rome (for their Christian work) and moved to Corinth. There they met Paul and worked with him in evangelizing Greece. They were so important to Paul that he brought them both with him to help spread the Good News in Ephesus. Even though Priscilla and Aquila worked together, Paul always mentions Priscilla first indicating her importance. It seems that her role as an evangelist and a leader in the Church is something that Paul wished to emphasize. Later they both returned to Rome and again helped build up the Church there.
CONCLUSION: When we look at the women of the New Testament we can’t help but to see that they stood out as being equal to men as evangelizers and leaders in the early Church. What makes this so extraordinary is that in the culture of the time, women could hardly do anything in public. Their place was in the home. Jesus and the early Church quickly showed the fallacy of this. These women were strong leaders and servants that helped to spread the Good News.