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Kenneth Plank 11/17/2016 Rel 3350 Final

Women and Jesus

In order to understand any person in history, it helps a great deal to understand how he

treated and viewed others, and how others treated and viewed him. As this is a very broad

concept, it helps to be more specific; to break the “others” down into relevant categories. How

did the king treat his subjects? How did the wealthy man perceive the poor? Was the artist

respected by his peers? The answers to these questions shed light on the life and philosophy of

the historical figure.

The relevant categories varies from person to person. One thing, however, is relevant to

understanding every man in history: his relationship with women. The letters between John

Adams and his wife Abigail are some of the best primary sources we have about either

individual. Stevie Wonder’s mother Lula Mae Hardaway co-wrote “Signed, Sealed Delivered

(I’m Yours)” with him. Walt Disney ran many of his creative ideas by his wife Lillian. The

relationship between famous men and the women in their lives gives can show us how those

men’s ideas and values were shaped.

Jesus is no different. By taking a look at the relationship between Jesus and the women

who followed him--both in life and after Resurrection--we can learn about Christ’s ideas, his

values, and what impact he had on the world. Jesus’s relationship with women can be broken

down into three broad categories: his mother, his followers, and, more controversially, his lovers.

Mary, as far as we can tell from the Gospels, was at least a competent mother to Jesus. In

Luke’s Gospel, Mary appears to be honored to be the one chosen to carry and birth the Savior.

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She goes so far as to sing a song of praise (New Revised Standard Version , Luke. 1.46-56).

When an angel ordered Joseph to flee from Jesus’s pursuers, the angel specified to take both

mother and child, which suggest that Mary was of some importance to Jesus’s life (Matthew.

2.13-21). According to Luke, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the Temple, as was the tradition

(2.22-40). Luke also tells us that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Jerusalem every Passover

(2.41). We can therefore presume that Jesus had an at least somewhat traditional upbringing.

Furthermore, Mary expressed worry when Jesus had stayed at the temple. Jesus then went back

home with his parents and “was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her

heart” (2.48, 51). All of this paints Mary as a typical mother who cares about her son.

Jesus, in turn, does not consistently show the same caring towards Mary. As stated above,

he was obedient to his parents as a child. However, as an adult, Jesus rejects his mother and

brothers. While speaking to crowds, Mary and her other sons attempted to get Jesus’s attention.

When someone attempts to bring them to his attention, Jesus replies “‘Who is my mother, and

who are my brothers?’ And pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my

brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and

mother’” (Matthew. 12.46-50). In most canon Gospels, this is the last we see of Mary, the

mother of Jesus. Though much art depicts Mary at the Crucifixion, only John’s Gospel places her

there (John. 19.25).

John’s gospel differs in another way, but let us first discuss Jesus’s rejection of Mary in

the other Gospels. Jesus’s rejection of his mother could suggest a few things. One is that it is

simply part of Jesus’s entire rebellion against the old ways. Jesus’s new way of thinking about

faith brings with it a new way of thinking about family. It may also be Jesus practicing what he

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preaches. As he states, in Matthew, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy

of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does

not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (37-38). The parent that Jesus values

above all others is the Father. Thus he rejects traditional views of kinship in favor of kinship with

God and His followers.

Returning to John, the other way in which John showed a different relationship between

Jesus and Mary was the Wedding at Cana. At the wedding, when the wine runs out, it is only at

Mary’s insistence that Jesus helps (2.3-5). As Cleo Kearns, writer of Mary, Motherhood, and

Sacrifice in the Gospels puts it, “Mary plays an instrumental role in this story both by seeming to

preempt or jump-start the maturation and emergence of Jesus as a man of power” (172). Mary in

John has a much more active role in Jesus’s life. She births him, is with him for his first miracle,

and is there to lay him to rest. This results in slightly different Jesus; a Jesus that is obedient to

his mother even in adulthood.

This Jesus sounds more like the who said to “render unto Caesar,” while the Jesus that

rejects his family sounds more like the one who cries “hypocrites” at the Pharisees. Thus the two

together shows us how complex the image of Jesus is, and how that image changes over time and

under different authors.

Next are the women who followed Jesus. Few are named, but those who are include

Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and Mary, mother of James. However, some unnamed

worshippers are also noteworthy.

A woman anoints Jesus as Bethany, for which the disciples scold her. Jesus, however,

corrects them: “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. For

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you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. By pouring this ointment

on my body she has prepared me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is

proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her”

(Matthew. 26.10-13). In this way, a woman shows that she understands Jesus’s values more than

his disciples do.

In In Memory of Her , Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza details how this is a consistent theme

in the Gospels, particularly Mark’s. “Judas betrays him,” she writes, “Peter denies him, and all

the male disciples abandon him and flee into hiding.” The women, however, display “true

discipleship” (319). Fiorenza notes that “women disciples have followed Jesus from Galilee to

Jerusalem, accompanied him on the way to the cross, and witnessed his death...found under the

cross, risking their own lives and safety” (320). In John, Jesus even reveals himself after his

Resurrection to Mary Magdalene before anyone else (20.17-18).

In this way, women are shown to be special disciples of Jesus. What might this tell us

about Jesus himself? This could suggest that Jesus valued a certain level of equality between

genders. This wouldn’t be terribly shocking, as standing up for the downtrodden was jesus’s

entire philosophy. Jesus sought to help the poor and the sick, those left behind by society.

Women would be a natural extension of this concern.

However, the fact that Jesus didn’t more explicitly speak in favor of women in general is

also telling. Jesus was clearly not against speaking in a way that angered those in authority, so it

is unlikely that he feared to speak favorably of women. Why be coy about women while

explicitly saying that the rich man has little chance of ascending to Heaven? While there is

nothing to suggest that Jesus would oppose better treatment of women, the fact that he says little

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in their favor may be telling about Jesus’s priorities. Helping the poor and the sick was top

priority, while addressing the patriarchal leanings of society was a lesser concern, if it was a

concern at all.

In more contemporary media, Mary Magdalene's role is emphasized. However, her role

is not just as follower, but also that of a potential romantic partner. As Bart D. Erhman notes in

his book Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene , the musical Jesus Christ Superstar depicts Jesus and

Mary’s relationship with “more than a little sexual tension going on, and not far below the

surface” (180). The film The Last Temptation of Christ, meanwhile, depicts Jesus and Mary

Magdalene’s relationship as explicitly romantic and sexual. It is no coincidence that these are

both relatively modern depictions of Jesus, from the latter half of the 20th century. In fact, all

media depictions of Jesus with a lover come long after the Gospels were written. This suggests

that giving Jesus a lover is an attempt to fit Jesus into ideas of modern storytelling. Countless

stories depict the main character saving the day and getting the girl. Giving Jesus a lover fits him

into this storytelling device. It modernizes Jesus in hopes of making him more relatable to a

modern audience. Jesus’s relationship with female lovers makes Jesus relatable to us. It brings

him down from the pillar he has been placed upon for two-thousand years, and allows a modern

audience to feel a common connection with him.

However, there is also another way in which we see Jesus with lovers. In Medieval

Writings on Female Spirituality , we find the revelations of Bridget of Sweden from the 1300s.

Bridget envisions herself as a bride of Christ, utterly and completely devoted to him above all

else (146-148). In this way, a female worshiper of Christ sees herself as a romantic partner as a

means of showing that devotion. Bridget is a widow, but she does not remarry. She gives all of

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her love and attention to Jesus. This is another way for a woman to frame her devotion to

Christianity. A way that, from the common point of view of the time, could only be practiced by

a woman. In this way, for women, Jesus can be worshiped in a special way. This offers women

an opportunity to have to their own unique path to spiritual enlightenment. Though the path that

Bridget offers is a rigid one with strict rules, the fact that she can offer a different path shows

how Jesus is a figure that people can find their own path to. The image of Jesus is flexible by

nature.

Through Jesus’s relationships with women, we can learn a few things. Through his

relationship with his mother, we can see his commitment to his new way of life. However,

John’s depiction of that relationship shows us how he wasn’t inclined to throw away all ties to

the old ways. Both depictions together show us the mutability of the image of Jesus; how he can

represent more than one way of thinking.

His relationship with his female followers gives us an idea of Jesus’s values. Women are

welcome, so much that they feel loyal enough to risk their lives to honor him. However, his lack

of direct vocal support of women in society may be a concerning oversight for some.

Lastly, Jesus’s lovers modernize him, making him a figure that can not only be

worshiped, but related to. Much like his relationship with his mother, this shows us how Jesus

can change between time and authors. At the same time, Jesus as a lover also provides a different

way to frame the path to the Kingdom of Heaven. It shows that Jesus is a flexible figure, and that

the path to him is somewhat customizable.

All of these different relationships contribute to the ever-growing history of Jesus, and to

the different ways Christians and others view that history.

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Works Cited

The Bible, New Revises Standard Version , https://www.biblegateway.com/

Bridget of Sweden. Extracts from the Liber Celestis . Medieval Writings on Female Spirituality,

edited by Elizabeth Spearing, Penguin Publishing, 145-174.

Erhman, Bart D.. Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and

Legend. Oxford University, 2006.

Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schüssler. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of

Christian Origins . Crossroad Publishing Company, 1983.

Kearns, Cleo McNelly. The Virgin Mary, Monotheism, and Sacrifice . Cambridge University

Press, 2008.

The Last Temptation of Christ. Directed by Martin Scorsese, performances by Willem Dafoe,

Harvey Keitel, and Barbara Hershey, Universal Pictures, 1988.