How Jesus Treated Women
There is plenty of evidence that Jesus treated women with respect.
The four gospels that contain the life of Jesus have women in prominent roles spread throughout the stories. They traveled with the disciples. They walked and talked with Jesus. They took care of the needs of the traveling entourage. They supported Christ’s ministry financially. They sat at His feet and took in His teaching. They passed on His teaching to others. And after His resurrection, Jesus first appeared to the women. He trusted them to take the news to the others.
Jesus consistently broke social norms by speaking with, teaching, and honoring women. He welcomed them as disciples and partners in His ministry. Jesus’ treatment of women was revolutionary, and it remains a model for the church today.
An example of His treatment of women was his encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. It was an encounter that broke more than a few social norms. First, Jews do not speak to Samaritans, much less a man alone with a woman. And Jesus began the whole conversation by humbly asking her for a drink. The disciples had gone into town to buy food and when they came back, “they were shocked to find Him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, ‘What do you want with her?’ or ‘Why are you talking to her?’” (John 4:27)
They talked of many things — her personal life, the five husbands she had had and the fact that the one she was currently living with was not one of them, they talked about the water she came to the well for and the “living water” He said He could give her, they talked about where the Jews worship versus where the Samaritans worship and how real worship could happen anywhere because real worship is done anywhere in Spirit and in truth, and they talked about the Messiah and she became the only person to whom Jesus revealed directly, “I am the Messiah.” (John 4:26)
“Living water…” worshiping God “in Spirit and in truth…” “I am the Messiah…” these were huge concepts Jesus was revealing to a woman — a Samaritan woman no less.
By the time the disciples returned, the woman was so excited, she forgot her water jar and ran back to town to tell everyone to “come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”
Jesus was excited, too — so excited He wasn’t even interested in the lunch the disciples brought Him from town. “I have a kind of food you know nothing about… My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work… Wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.” (John 4:32-35)
And the whole town came to Him, and Jesus and the disciples stayed for two days, and many believed. All this came from a conversation with a woman.
Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:42)
Questions for further reflection or discussion:
- Which story of Jesus and women stands out to you most, and why?
- How does Jesus’ treatment of women challenge the way women are treated in churches today?
- What would it look like for men in the church to reflect Jesus’ radical respect for women?
For a dynamic musical rendition of this story by Pater, Paul and Mary circa 1965,
John Fischer The Catch 