Lessons Learned: Jesus Cared About the Women

So we should too.

I’ve been spending time in the Gospel of Luke for a Bible study I’m participating in and while I often claim John as my favorite Gospel writer, my time in Luke has been rich.

One thing I love about Luke’s Gospel is how female-centric it is. The opening chapters of Luke focus heavily on two women—Elizabeth and Mary. Luke 2 records Mary’s song, where she teaches us about the purposes of her son and how he works in the world. Women come up repeatedly in Luke, and always positively. For us modern Christians, that might not seem shocking. But for Luke’s audience, focusing in on any women would be unheard of. Women were second class citizens. They couldn’t own property. Laws weren’t in their favor. They weren’t valued and had very little rights, if any. Even their word mattered little.

Yet Jesus comes to earth through a woman. His forerunner, John the Baptist, comes through a woman. He ministers to women. He is followed by women. He speaks to and cares for women. And not just any women, marginalized women. These were women who didn’t come from prominence. Some of these women were cast out of polite society (like Mary Magdalene and the woman with the discharge of blood).

But in Luke 7-8 we’re introduced again to many women. First, the woman in Luke 7:36-50, who anoints Jesus’ feet with perfume and then washes his feet with her tears and her hair. Luke tells us that this woman was a sinner (verse 37) and Jesus looks her in the face and forgives her.

Then in Luke 8:1-3, we see that he’s traveling with his twelve disciples, but also women who had been healed of sickness and demon possession. These women had been forgiven much, so like the woman in Luke 7, they give him much. They’re part of his group of followers, but they also support him financially in the work.

And at the end of Luke 8, we’re introduced to two females (one adult woman, one little girl) who are in dire need of healing. The father of the girl has the courage to come to Jesus begging for his help (verse 41). The woman can barely touch his garment for fear of repercussion (verse 43-44). The father is a leader in the synagogue. The woman is nameless, but clearly an outcast because of her ailment (bleeding for twelve years). And Jesus heals them both, but in reverse order of how they came to him. The little girl is healed in private (only bringing his close disciples and the parents). But the outcast woman is healed in the presence of all the people (verse 47). But in both instances of healing, the people came to him in boldness. They didn’t hold back in approaching him for healing. And in both instances, Jesus doesn’t condemn them for coming to him with their needs.

As someone in ministry, Jesus’ approach to people is convicting. If anyone could be standoffish it’s him. He’s literally bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders, and yet he opens wide his hand and his life to the men and women who come desperate to his feet. He’s always ready to receive people, and while they come trembling because they know he’s holy, there isn’t a sense that they are afraid of him. They sense his heart, even as they know he could condemn them because he’s God in the flesh. When a woman approaches him to wash his feet, he doesn’t turn her away. He lets her come to worship him and receive his forgiveness. When women follow him to financially support him and learn from him, he invites them further into relationship with him. When a woman who has been cast out of worship in the temple for over a decade comes trembling before him in healing, he calls her daughter and makes her well.

This tells us a lot about the type of people Christ comes to, but it tells us even more about the type of Savior he is. He draws near to us. He doesn’t wait for us to come to him—he stoops low and descends to us. The entire incarnation of Christ is about him leaving everything to come die to bring his people back into right relationship with the Father.

Our Savior is an approachable Savior. He is a Savior who gets into the mess with us and looks us in the eyes and says: “your sins are forgiven.” He is a Savior who removes our shame, listens to our prayers, and hears every cry for healing we make.

He had no reason to be so focused on the women. It certainly didn’t earn him points in the culture he was born into. But he came to seek and save the lost—and redeem what had been lost in his good creation, including the value of women. Luke wants us to see that in his writing. He wants us to see the upside down kingdom Jesus brings, and that we’re gladly grafted into it by faith in his Savior.

I’ve been sitting with these women this week as I’ve worked on my lesson. But more importantly, I’ve been sitting with the Savior they love, and who loves me too. He’s not unapproachable. He stoops low to redeem, heal, and save. And no matter what your pre-conceived ideas this Jesus might be, let Luke teach you that he’s not afraid of our cries for help. He won’t turn a deaf ear to you. And he values you, no matter where you came from. He’s ready to forgive and receive—even if the culture says otherwise.