A Weakness in the Resurrection Story—Women?

Skeptics of Christianity must argue successfully that Jesus Christ, the Author of the Christian faith, was not who He claimed to be--“God in human flesh (John 1: 14; 4: 24-26).”  Like most readers of this article, you probably have at least given much thought to the character, words, and reported miracles of Jesus Christ.  You may also have grappled with whether or not to believe that Jesus bodily rose from the dead as the Bible claims.  Whether or not you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, do you realize that within the four Gospel accounts--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-- you can discover men and women in various stages of disbelief and belief?

Resurrection of Christ three days after His body was sealed in a tomb that had been hewn out of rock is one major event that must be addressed to establish (or refute) His claims to deity.  Skeptics claim that the four New Testament accounts are fictitious.  However, if they are fictitious, the authors missed a major opportunity to fabricate a stronger argument for Christ’s resurrection.  As Pastor Tim Keller explains in his sermon, ”Encountering the Risen King,” all four accounts err in placing too much weight on the supposed eyewitness reports from women. 

Women as eyewitnesses of Christ’s resurrection?  Yes, women of all people!  Couldn’t the writers have rested the resurrection story on the witness of men of stature and trustworthiness?  A Lutheran blogger writes, “The cultural attitudes toward women in Jesus’ day were deplorable. There were no such thing as equal rights.  Women were treated as second class citizens.” But surprisingly, we read that three women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome were the first to discover that the tomb was empty (Matthew 27: 56: 38: 1; Mark 15: 40; 16: 1; Luke 24: 10).  

If it were not enough that Christ’s resurrection account depended in large part upon the witness of women, consider the unsavory reputation of one of the women.  Mary Magdalene was one of several women who had followed Jesus and His disciples since the time that Jesus had healed them of evil spirits.  Luke reports that Mary had been possessed by seven demons until Jesus cast them out (Luke 8: 1-2).  We can only imagine the inner struggle, social behavior, and reputation Mary had earned in the town of Magdala and surrounding community.  Yet, according to all four Gospel accounts, this formerly despised and rejected woman was the first person to whom the resurrected Christ appeared!

Modern day skeptics of Christ’s resurrection should not be surprised that the female eyewitnesses already faced doubters as soon as they reported what they had seen and heard.  In Mark 16, we read that when Mary Magdalene reported to those who had been with Him [Jesus], while they were mourning and weeping…they refused to believe it (16: 11).  Luke records that their words …appeared to them as nonsense, and they refused to believe them (Luke 24: 11).

So far, the Gospel accounts of Christ’s resurrection appear to present the skeptic with three strong arguments for disbelief.  First, because the witnesses were women, they were of questionable value.  Second, one of the women had a shady past; and third, even the close companions of the women doubted their reports that Christ had arisen.   These points would seem to deal a damaging blow to the case for Christ’s resurrection.  However, if the emphasis on the role of women here seems unusual, any unusualness should face away when we consider the complete Gospel accounts of the Life of Christ. 

Women gained a place of honor in Christ’s earthly ministry.  Details of the character and conversations of both Elizabeth and Mary, the mothers of John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively, are featured prominently and with high regard in the Gospel of Luke.  The Gospel of John reports on the intimate personal conversations of Jesus with the Samaritan Woman (John 4); and with another woman named Mary and her sister, Martha (John 11).  Numerous miracles of Jesus involved healing of women, some of whom, like Mary Magdalene, were in great need.  Jesus’s dealings with women beginning when he was a boy of twelve (Luke 2: 39-52) and lasting into His adulthood show that He held them in high regard.

The accounts of how Jesus related to women and the subsequent teachings of the Apostles Paul (e.g. Ephesians 5) and Peter (1 Peter 3) are responsible for the role of Christianity in the elevation of women to a status of great respect.  According to Jack Wellman ¹, Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas, “In many of the world’s religions, women are suppressed and not even allowed to speak or appear in public without the husband’s permission. For those that do, the ramifications can be deadly, but Christianity has elevated the status of women because there is no distinction or respect between the free and slaves, Jew and Greek, women and men, because you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal 3:28).

Wellman explains how the change in the status of women came about in the first century: “Jesus’ treatment of women in the New Testament is radically different from the way the Jews, the Greeks, and the Romans (indeed, nearly all societies) treated women.  Women couldn’t be a witness in a court or sit on any council or be seen in public apart from the will of her husband. In short, they treated their wives as so many cattle.  A wife could be easily gained and easily disposed of, but this was not so from the beginning.”  Jesus made this clear as recorded in Matthew 19: 8.  Mistreatment of women was not an acceptable part of God’s created order. [While we may argue that women in Christian churches today are treated unequally with respect to leadership roles, that is a topic for another article—and for local church leadership to consider.]

If it is plausible that Jesus was inaugurating a first-century counterculture in which women were given high regard, then we could make the case that the eyewitnesses of Christ’s resurrection, both women and men, were both authentic and representative of those who were present in Jerusalem on that first Resurrection Sunday.  Indeed, the account might be more suspect and less meaningful to women in general if the eyewitnesses of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection had not included women.

The spread of the Gospel message began with women.  According to John’s account (John 20: 11-18), after the women, and Peter and John, had witnessed the empty tomb, Mary Magdalene lingered outside the open tomb, weeping:

…as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” 

She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”  Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

I think this encounter of Mary Magdalene with the Risen Lord Jesus may be the most intimate and powerful expression of God’s love for women and for all mankind in all the Bible.  The Risen Lord Jesus, the Everlasting God, having claimed victory over death, chooses to reveal Himself in His resurrection body to Mary as the first human being to see and talk with Him.  Although hundreds of people would see the Risen Christ during the 40 days following His resurrection, Mary’s encounter has special significance for us.  For it is in this encounter that a “witness” of questionable background comes face to face with the only One Who could “witness back to her” about who she really is in the eyes of Her Creator.

If you are now like I once was, skeptical of the Resurrection and Life of Jesus Christ, humbly take time to look at the Gospel accounts.  Consider the ‘nothing special’ character and ability of the witnesses, and read their reactions.  More importantly, read how gracious and merciful the Risen Christ is toward the confused, grieving, witnesses; and, how He comes to them, comforts them, and raises them up to become bold and complete in His power.

Timothy Keller has spoken of the special significance of Christ’s Resurrection and I would highly recommend that you listen to his message, “Encountering the Risen King.”  But, in case you’d rather read and ponder Keller’s words (paraphrased in places), I have included the most relevant part of his message on the adjacent graphic.  My prayer for myself and for you is that we will witness anew the power of Christ’s resurrection.  And, in so doing, may we allow our encounter with the Risen Lord to witness to us about who we are in Him.  Your “Comments” and questions are always welcome.
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¹ Emanuel Lutheran Church Blog Article. 2014.  Jesus Gives Women Honor, Value, Dignity and Respect.   New London, WI
² Wellman, Jack.  2016.  How Does Christianity Affect Gender Roles?   Patheos (online)

Gethsemane: Did It Matter?

Sometimes, we find it hard to communicate with a friend or our spouse even when we stand face-to-face!  Yet God, who we can't even see, claims to hear our prayers!  Does God really hear us when we pray--alone where no one else can hear?  Does God hear our quiet utterances from quivering lips?  Our groans without words—offered from deep within our souls--in total silence and in solitude?  

My faith is often so weak.  But God knows our weakness and clearly invites us to pray:  Call unto Me and I will answer you… (Jeremiah 33:3).  The Apostle Peter who was no stranger to doubt and fear encourages our faith to pray:  Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him… (1 Peter 1: 8).  And Hebrews 11: 1 adds that faith is the substance (or “reality”) of things hoped for, the evidence (certainty, conviction, proof) of things not seen. 

God knows how hard it is for us to exercise faith.  His knowledge of our human frailty is demonstrated in part through His incarnation—God …became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us (John 1: 14).  The Apostle Paul explains that …although He [Jesus, the perfect ‘God-Man’] existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2: 6-8).

Jesus Christ surrendered His kingly position with God the Father and become a willing bond-servant to serve His Master out of love.  According to many Gospel accounts, Jesus’s life was marked by His habit of praying to His Father in Heaven.  When our faith is weak, we can look to Jesus as our example--and look to His Spirit for power. 

As was Jesus’s dependency upon His Father, so is to be our dependency upon Jesus (paraphrased from F.B. Meyer).  We are to abide in Him.  Jesus taught this principle to His disciples on Thursday of the Passion Week using two methods.  First, he used the parable of the vine and the branches (John 15).  Then He showed His disciples what it means for a person to “abide in His Father” as He approached His anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Consider first, the parable of the vine and branches.

As Jesus and his disciples walked toward Gethsemane, He may have pointed to a grape vine while He explained, I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit (John 15: 1-2).  In this parable, Jesus pictures the life of every Christ-follower as a branch of a fruitful vine (Jesus); and, the Father is pictured as the loving caretaker of the vine. 

Then, Jesus explains that Christ-followers (“branches”) are joined and nourished by the vine so that we can be fruitful (see Galatians 5: 22-23):  I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing…(John 15: 5).  If we are to “abide in Him” we must (a) hear and obey His Word and (b) commune with Him through prayer in knowledge of His will:  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (John 15: 5, 7).

The disciples heard this wonderful parable of Jesus.  They had also just heard Jesus tell Peter that Satan has asked permission to “have you to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you (Luke 22: 31-32).”  They also heard Peter’s vow never to deny Jesus; and, Jesus’s prophecy that Peter would deny Him three times (v. 33-34).  Now it was time for them to see what “abiding in Him” actually looks like, especially when they were about to face great trial and turmoil.

Jesus had prayed many times in the dark, lonely setting of the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22: 39).  But neither His disciples nor we as readers of the Gospel accounts will ever understand the physical, mental, and spiritual struggle Christ faced on that crucial night.  There, Jesus poured out His anguished soul to His Father as He anticipated being separated from God the Father as He would take upon Himself the sins of the whole world and carry them to the grave in His physical death.

When we are faced with a great decision, a trial, or a spiritual battle, this example of Christ teaches us to resort to prayer.  His disciples entered the garden with Him; and then, He invited Peter, James, and John to accompany Him to pray and keep watch while He drew aside to pray (Matthew 26: 36-46; Mark 14: 32-42; Luke 22: 39-46).  As we carefully read these accounts of Christ praying in physical and spiritual anguish in the Garden, may we find great comfort and instruction to help when we face temptations and trials that threaten our abiding in the vine-Life of our Savior.  Remember, Christ's dependence on the Father is our example to follow.

When we feel isolated and alone in times of spiritual and emotional distress, may we find comfort in knowing that Jesus knows all about this experience.  His disciples, especially the three closest to Jesus, saw Him praying nearby in great anguish and distress.  But they did not continue in prayer.  Jesus found them three times fast asleep.  If we’ve ever felt the loneliness of being forsaken by our dearest friends in a time of need, we can be sure Jesus knows how it feels.  What’s more, Jesus’s spiritual battle may have been even greater if He heard Satan saying something like, “See, no one cares for You!  Not even your closest friends.  And, you came to “seek and to save” them?”

In times of spiritual battle, our obedience and prayers may not only face “spiritual interference” from our sense of loneliness and from Satan’s attacks.  We may also experience doubt when we don’t cling to God’s Word.  In His humanity, Jesus Christ’s spiritual battle in the Garden of Gethsemane may have brought back memories of the spiritual battle faced by His first human image bearers, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden.  Genesis 3 records how Adam and Eve let go of their faith in God’s Word as Satan twisted the truth and convinced them that he offered a better way than God had promised.  Failing to abide in the Word of God, the first humans took and ate the only fruit that was forbidden in the Garden of Eden.   Now, Jesus had come to a pivotal point in His messianic mission to rescue Adam’s descendants from the curse of sin. Thankfully, Jesus the “second Adam” (1 Corinthians 15: 45) faced the spiritual warfare in “another Garden” and, through prayer and obedience to His Father, did not lose the spiritual battle.

When we face many-colored trials--loneliness, being misunderstood, the lust of the flesh, spiritual lethargy, doubt, or some combination of these, may we be encouraged by the teaching and example of Jesus, the Son of Man-Son of God.  The Apostle Peter who matured through many humbling trials and sufferings later wrote (1 Peter 2: 21-24),

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Our Savior Prays for Us:  If the teaching and example of Christ are not enough to encourage us in our trials, consider that according to Hebrews 7: 24-25, Jesus is now our faithful High Priest Who holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore, He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.  In Romans 8: 34, in response to the question, “Who would condemn us?”—we read that it is Christ Jesus…who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

As we remember the anguish of Jesus in Gethsemane, and His victory over sin and death through His Resurrection, may we be encouraged that He ever lives and makes intercession for us.  May we abide in the True Vine and so aim toward the ideal of Christ who prayed to His Father, I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do (John 17: 4).  Abiding in Christ with His mind and purpose is the foundation of all stewardship.  And praise God, even when we feel most helpless and besieged, “We are in Christ, not because we hold Him, but because He holds us…” -- F.B. Meyer

How About You?
Like many people, you have no doubt experienced times of turmoil and isolation.  Do you know that God knows all about you and your need?  He also has made provision for you.  If you have not experienced dying to self and being raised through faith to New Life in Christ, perhaps the Steps to Peace with God will point you in the direction of Salvation in Christ.  If you have additional questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you.  Just post a “Comment” below or e-mail me at silviusj@cedarville.edu