The Women in the Gospel of Luke - Essay Example

The Women in the Gospel of Luke Introduction "The Gospel of Luke is the third of what is called the synoptic gospels of the New Testament. The synoptic gospels chronicle the life of Jesus historically, and this is the perspective of the gospels of Luke, Mark and Matthew. The common elements in all three gospels are numerous enough to make it reasonable to presume that the sources of information were common as well". The gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are addressed to "Theophilus," presumed to be a high Roman official. 1 "There are some arguments that the gospel of Luke was written circa 75 AD because Luke used Mark", whose gospel was written in AD 65, and Luke describes the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in AD 70 and in AD 96, Clement of Rome referred to the gospel in his writings. The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are actually two halves of one work written by one author, separated in the New Testament for purpose of orderliness. The first half, the Gospel of Luke deals with the story of Jesus up to the resurrection, most probably based on the eye-witness accounts of Mark. The second half, the Act of the Apostles, provides a historical account of church history up to the time of the apostle Paul's journey to Jerusalem. 2 There are many themes to be found in the gospel of Luke. Among them is what is termed "The Gospel of Women" in which Luke shows the importance of women in the story of Jesus which is peculiar to this gospel. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the attitude of Jesus attributed in the Gospel of Luke towards women and whether this was a reflection of the change in attitude towards women as a result of the teachings of Jesus. The role of women during the time of Jesus Women during the time of Jesus lived extremely restricted lives, in accordance with Jewish law and custom. They were little better than slaves, having little or no freedom and were completely subject to the authority of their men folk, first their fathers and later on their husbands. They were prohibited from talking to strangers or to go out in public unless they were double-veiled. They were not allowed to learn Hebrew scripture nor where they allowed to testify in court trials. Their husbands could divorce them at will but this option was not allowed them. 3 In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was portrayed as the savior of all men, not only Jews, as he illustrates in the parable of the Good Samaritan. He shows Jesus as openly accepting of gentiles, whom orthodox Jews considered unclean, praising even a Roman centurion for unflinching faith. Luke further shows Jesus befriending the poor, tax collectors, outcasts and sinners.4 In other words, Luke portrayed Jesus as a man who treated all equally, giving special emphasis to marginalized groups, which in Israel at the time women were particularly marginalized in their community. In more ways than one, Jesus advocated the overthrowing of numerous Jewish traditions and customs, and Luke exemplifies more than the other gospels the radical (at the time) idea that women were equal to men in the eyes of Jesus. The following section will discuss in detail the passages in the Gospel according to Luke which illustrates this attitude. Passages pertaining to women in the Gospel of Luke Hebrew laws forbid the teaching of women in worship, yet Luke (10:38-42) tells the tale of sisters Mary and Martha, whom welcomed Jesus into their house, and Mary sat at the feet of Jesus to hear his teachings. When Martha reprimanded Mary for neglecting her womanly duties, Jesus takes Mary's part and allows her to stay. 5 This is an unusual situation at that time, when Jesus not only allowed, but encouraged Mary to learn his teachings and thus become a disciple. Moreover, Mary's forthrightness in seeking to learn was not how Jewish women were taught to behave, knowing only enough of the Torah to find their place in the community. This explains Martha's distress at what Mary did, but Jesus rebuked her and praised Mary. However, Mary was not the only one to be a student in this sense according to the words of Luke. 6 In another passage, Jesus yet again challenges a Jewish custom by healing a woman with an 18-year infirmity of the spirit during Sabbath, which is supposed to be a day of rest. Jesus countered the reprimand of the synagogue leader by calling him a hypocrite. Moreover, Jesus referred to the woman as a "daughter of Abraham," an unprecedented parallelism to the term "son of Abraham," "effectively putting women and men on equal footing". (Luke 13:10-16) 7 A "son of Abraham" was of common usage, but it was Jesus, according to Luke, who first used the term. Luke mentions widows no less than six times in his gospel, illustrating the concern Jesus felt for these being unfortunates who have been effectively rendered helpless in a community that marginalizes them even more than ordinary women: Anna, daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher (2:36); the widow of Zarepath in Sidon to whom Elijah was sent (4:26); the widow of Nain, whose dead son Jesus resurrected (7:11-15); on the persistence of the righteous against an unfair judge (18:1-8); the love of power and victimization of the helpless (20:46-47); and the parable of the widow who gave her all in comparison to the rich and powerful who gave only a small portion of what they had (21:1-4)8 Widows form a large part of the congregation of Jesus throughout his ministry as they provided for and served him in his travels. Later on, after the Resurrection, followers would often congregate in the homes of believers, invariably the provenance of women.9 In Chapter 8, Luke (1-3) describes Jesus' passage through the towns and villages with the twelve apostles then mentions the inclusion of several women, including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, the wife of one of Herod's officials named Chuzas and "many others," implying that the entourage numbered quite a few women.10 Historian Ruth Tucker states that these men and women were given a commission to spread the Word and women are particularly suited for this servitude as they are at the same time mothers who may teach their children to carry the message as well. 11 Most interesting is the parallelism that Luke made in his stories between men and women in roughly the same situation. One example is the situation in which both Zacharias (1:5-22) and Mary (1:26-38) found themselves in, in which an angel appeared to them to announce the arrival of a son under seemingly miraculous circumstances. Zacharias is struck dumb because of his skepticism, while Mary embraces the news once she understands the blessing bestowed upon her. 12 Another example is that of Simeon and Anna (2:25-38), both of whom had been present at the time that Jesus was brought to the temple, and on whom the Holy Spirit had revealed the coming of the savior. Each realized the significance of Jesus and gave thanks for the blessing. In the passage, it is interesting to note that Anna was given equal importance as Simeon. She is called a prophetess, which signified religious importance as a spokesperson of God. 13 There are several instances where Jesus miraculously heals the sick, but in another parallelism, Luke reveals the story of a man possessed of the devil which Jesus casts out without harming the man, (4:31-36) and almost immediately relates the healing of Peter's mother-in-law who was in the grip of a high fever, whom immediately gets up to serve them. (4:38-39)14 The story of Simon and the woman sinner with whom Jesus associated with is significant on many levels. Jesus broke meat with the Pharisee Simon which was controversial because Pharisees are considered firmly opposed to apparent rule-breakers such as Jesus. But the crux of the matter was Hhis allowing a woman who was a known transgressor to wash His feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. Jesus countered with the parable of the two debtors, where the greater sinner who truly repents is given more forgiveness than one (meaning Simon) who had fewer transgressions but more self-righteousness. (7:36-47) Luke further emphasizes the importance of repentance by the parable of the lost coin in which a woman with 10 pieces of silver and has lost one, rejoices when the lost one is recovered, and calls others to rejoice with her. (15:7-10) This teaching is further reflected in the gospel, as illustrated in a similar and much more familiar parable of the prodigal son. (15:11-32) An interesting reference in the gospel is to "the queen of the south" (11:31) which refers possibly to the Queen of Ethiopia or the Queen of Sheba, who had come from "the ends of the earth" to learn wisdom from Solomon, and who was referred to as one who would rise in judgment of those men (emphasis mine) who failed to follow the words of Jesus. She is characterized as a woman of God bestowed with beauty, wisdom, hardihood and wealth. 15 That Luke regards women as the agent by whom life is fulfilled is alluded to by the passage in which he perceives a parallelism between the kingdom of God as a woman who leavens bread by first implanting the yeast and then leaving it to rise. (13:30-21) The issue of divorce is quite firmly laid down by Luke in Chapter 16, verse 18 in which he states that "Every one that putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth one that is put away from a husband committeth adultery."16 This is quite in contradiction with Hebrew law, which definitely gives men the right to divorce his wife. But perhaps most telling of all is Chapter 23 verses 54-56 and Chapter 24 verse 1 to 11 where Luke tells of how it was the women who were witnesses to the laying of the body Jesus in the tomb, their subsequent discovery of the loss of the body and the revelation of the Resurrection by two men in "dazzling apparel."17 Luke identified these witnesses as Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary mother of James, and other unidentified women. Discussion It has long been established that the gospel according to Luke abounds in references to women and their direct or indirect importance to the teachings and ministry of Jesus. It would be inadequate, however, to merely quote passages from the Gospel without taking into context the facts that lay behind the gospel. Luke was a Gentile, and it is widely accepted that he is a doctor and a learned man. He is said to have gleaned much of his information as to the life and teachings of Jesus from Mark, but it is noticeable that he has established a much wider perspective. This may be due to the fact that he was not a Jew and that his audience were mostly Gentiles, many of which were influential men and women. This would explain the deliberate emphasis on overturning the more restrictive Hebrew traditions and customs prevailing during this time for two purposes: to enable Gentiles to relate more fully to the teachings of Jesus; and to encourage the support and discipleship of the Jewish female population. While this may seem manipulative and politically driven, there is no reason to believe that the teachings of Jesus did not, in fact, intend to initiate these revolutionary ideas. In other words, Luke chose to interpret the teachings of Jesus in a way that would lift up the status of women and other marginalized groups while other gospels chose to interpret them from a more Jewish perspective. Considering that the three synoptic gospels roughly approximate the teachings of Jesus, it would seem reasonable to presume that the teachings were represented as accurately as possible from differing points of view. The role of women in the early Christian church is considerable, but it is only lately that such contributions have been widely proclaimed, mostly because of the persistent patriarchic perspective of the church leadership. Until recently, only a handful from the New Testament was familiar: the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Elizabeth, and Mary and Martha. However, the last two or three decades have been quite a revelation as historians delve deeper into early Christian records that describe the role of women in the formation of the church. 18 Conclusion As mentioned earlier, the gospel according to Luke is thought to be culled largely from the writings of Mark and from other, presumably primary, sources. This would seem to indicate that the attitude towards women had begun its metamorphosis during the time of Jesus rather than as a result of the movement after the Resurrection. The Act of the Apostles, which chronicles the history of the church after the resurrection, was thought to be written by the same man, presumably Luke, and therefore reflects the same attitude towards women. What is of particular note that aside from being the Gospel for Women, the gospel of Luke is distinguished as the gospel for all people, including those who were not rich and powerful. Simply put, Jesus is portrayed as the savior for those who needs succor, and the most obvious of this are the marginalized population: the poor, the sick and women. Ironically, women during this time were more prone to be all three, and the stories of the women who found comfort and sympathy in their service to Jesus inspired many believers to uplift their plight as well. In the Gospel according to Luke, it would appear that the perspective he chose to adopt was a true reflection of the Christian world at the time of his writing, largely influence by the teachings of Jesus, in which women were no longer considered second class citizens and were a significant force in what is now the modern Christian community. References Budge, E.A.W. (trans.) 2002, The Kebra Nagast. Retrieve April 22, 2007, from http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/kn/kn021.htm Cepulkauskaite, I. 1998, Woman in gospel. Retrieved April 22, 2007 from http://www.sociumas.lt/Eng/Nr7/evangelija.asp Christian views about women 2007. Retrieved April 20, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Christian_views_about_women&oldid=124032659 Graham, S. 1994, Jesus & women. Retrieved April 21, 2007, from http://www.wcg.org/lit/jesus/andwomen.htm Just, F. 2006, Luke. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Synoptics_Women.htm King, K. 2007, Women in ancient Christianity: the new discoveries. Retrieved April 21, 2007, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/women.html Kopas, J. 1986, 'Jesus and women: Luke's gospel', Theology Today, vol. 43, no. 2, pp 192-202. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/jul1986/v43-2-article4.htm Morrison, M. 1993, The prominence of women in the gospel of Luke. Retrieved April 21, 2007, from http://www.wcg.org/lit/bible/gospels/lukebox.htm Riley, C. 1997, The gospel according to St. Luke. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://www.stpetersnottingham.org/bible/luke.htm Robinson, B.A. 2004, The status of women in the Christian gospels. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://www.religioustolerance.org/cfe_bibl.htm Saldarini, A. 2007, Gospel according to Luke. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://mb-soft.com/believe/txs/luke.htm The gospel according to Luke (Luke) 2006. Retrieved April 21, 2007, from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/newtestament/section3.rhtml The gospel according to Luke for readers of the Urantia Book, n.d. Retrieved April 21, 2007, from http://www.urantiabook.org/archive/compare/luke.htm Read More