Jesus Christ Values Women

[Christsfreeservant]

I am reading in John 4. Jesus had a divine appointment with a Samaritan woman at a well in Samaria where he shared with her the gospel of our salvation with regard to the “gift of God” and the “living water” which she could receive. And these have to do with Jesus Christ, our salvation, eternal life with God, the faith to believe in Jesus, which comes from God, and changed lives turned from sin to following Jesus in obedience to his ways.

Then Jesus opened up a conversation with the woman with regard to her husband, which she had none, by her own admission.

Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” ..The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” (See John 4:16-26, not quoted in full here.)​

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Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.” (John 4:27-30 ESV)​

I just love this! I love how Jesus treated women, not as less, not as not worth his time, not as people of no value to him who have nothing to give to the Lord and to the work of the ministry as many men treat some women today. She was worth his time. He took the time with her to show her the way of salvation. And then what did she do? She went and told her people, and then they came and listened to Jesus’ words. Amen! As it should be!

So many men are devaluing women in ministry today, and that should not be. Should we be in authority over men? No! Should we be instructing men as though we have authority over them and can exercise discipline over them? No! Not unless there are not enough men who meet the biblical and spiritual qualifications for overseer (elder, pastor, deacon). And honestly, I believe that is where we are today, at least here in America.

But a woman doesn’t have to be in the position of overseer to be able to prophesy (preach, i.e. proclaim the gospel of our salvation to all people), for the Scriptures teach that in the last days that both men and women will prophesy. And Paul even said that he wished that all would prophesy, and he even named some women who did prophesy. And Jesus obviously used this Samaritan woman to share the gospel with men and women. And Jesus sent the women at the tomb to tell his male disciples of Jesus’ resurrection.

[Matthew 26:6-13; Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 5:25-34; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 2:36-38; Luke 7:36-50; Luke 10:38-42; Luke 24:1-12; John 2:1-11; John 4:1-42; John 8:1-11; John 20:1-18; Acts 2:17-18; Acts 21:9; 1 Corinthians 11:5]

Jesus said: “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (John 4:35-38 ESV)​

You know what? This Samaritan woman (despised and devalued among men) believed Jesus Christ, and it changed her life so much that she immediately went and told the people in her town about Jesus. But she was sent by Jesus. He put that in her heart to do that. And there are godly women today who love Jesus and who believe his words who are out in the world sharing the truth of God’s words out of obedience to the Lord Jesus, too. And some of them are being discarded by pastors as worthless.

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:39-42 ESV)​

But what was the result of this woman’s obedience to the Lord? Many people in her town believed in Jesus Christ. Amen!

All my life (75 years) I have come up against men (them against me), some of them pastors, who devalued me, and who treated me like I was a nothing, a throwaway, worthless to them, and not worthy of their time or their consideration. They did not need me, and they did not want me, and they treated me badly and cast me off. I was told, “I was warned about people like you, people with strong convictions,” and that I should “go someplace else where you will be a better fit.” But I didn’t fit anywhere but with Jesus.

But Jesus didn’t treat me like men treated me. He treated me like he treated the Samaritan woman, and the women who served him in ministry who came to his tomb, and how he treated the woman who washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. And despite so many pastors rejecting me as though I am unnecessary, Jesus called me to this ministry 20 years ago of sharing on the internet what he teaches me from his word each day. And as a result, people are believing Jesus and His Word.

[I talk further about this in my book, “The Church Under Fire,” which I am presently sharing on the internet, one chapter at a time (8 entries total).]

So, don’t ever let the opinions of other humans keep you from obeying the Lord Jesus and doing his will for your life. Be bold in sharing the truth of God’s word with all people. And let them know that no one is too far gone to believe in Jesus, to be delivered from their slavery to sin, and to have the hope of eternal life with God. They just have to deny self, die with Christ to sin (not just once, but daily) and walk in obedience to the Lord and to his commands, in practice, in the power and wisdom of God Almighty.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You

Caution: This link may contain ads

Jesus Christ Values Women
An Original Work / January 28, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

[RamiC]

If we look at what Jesus did regarding women when He engaged with them, your testimony makes sense:

In the book of Acts, when God poured out His Spirit on Pentecost, Peter described it as the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, men and women alike, and they would all be gifted to serve and prophesy. If a woman is gifted by God to speak, why would we forbid her? There are women leaders and speakers in the churches in Acts, and in Paul’s letters, he refers to women leaders in the churches (for example, Romans 16). Doesn’t the Bible say women shouldn’t preach?

The Gospels point us toward including women’s voices and gifts. While we live in a time and culture far different from that of the historical Jesus, his way of welcoming and responding to women has much to teach us.
Many women in the Church today still feel invisible and unheard. The woman who wondered if there was a place for her at the table in her Church was not questioning whether she would be welcome at the Eucharist or able to sit at a parish council meeting. Her desires go deeper than that. She, like other women in the Church today, wonders if there is really an openness to both her spiritual desires and her insights.
Jesus' Extraordinary Treatment of Women | Franciscan Media

 

[Christsfreeservant]

If we look at what Jesus did regarding women when He engaged with them, your testimony makes sense:

In the book of Acts, when God poured out His Spirit on Pentecost, Peter described it as the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, men and women alike, and they would all be gifted to serve and prophesy. If a woman is gifted by God to speak, why would we forbid her? There are women leaders and speakers in the churches in Acts, and in Paul’s letters, he refers to women leaders in the churches (for example, Romans 16). Doesn’t the Bible say women shouldn’t preach?

The Gospels point us toward including women’s voices and gifts. While we live in a time and culture far different from that of the historical Jesus, his way of welcoming and responding to women has much to teach us.
Many women in the Church today still feel invisible and unheard. The woman who wondered if there was a place for her at the table in her Church was not questioning whether she would be welcome at the Eucharist or able to sit at a parish council meeting. Her desires go deeper than that. She, like other women in the Church today, wonders if there is really an openness to both her spiritual desires and her insights.
Jesus' Extraordinary Treatment of Women | Franciscan Media

This is a subject which is often misinterpreted. If read in context I believe we get a richer picture of how Jesus viewed women, how he valued them, and how he has called and gifted them in ministry, too.

 

[RamiC]

This is a subject which is often misinterpreted. If read in context I believe we get a richer picture of how Jesus viewed women, how he valued them, and how he has called and gifted them in ministry, too.

"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.​

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Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me." Romans 16​

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Yes.​

 

[soldier of light]

Is a deacon a teacher? I know Paul said that women should teach other women but not men it seems. It doesn't matter to me though. My church is at home in my heart. There is no debatable questions.

 

[RDKirk]

Is a deacon a teacher? I know Paul said that women should teach other women but not men it seems. It doesn't matter to me though. My church is at home in my heart. There is no debatable questions.

A deacon, from what we see in scripture, is a "designated servant" of the congregation. The actual role may be varied, but essentially it's someone not an elder but holding an administrative role that could in some situations also be directive in nature.

Yes, I also understand that Paul's real instruction was that men should be discipled to men, women should be discipled to women. If we reflect on how authoritative and even how intimate the master-disciple relationship was in that day, we can understand Paul's wisdom.

Paul identifies Phoebe as a deacon. She appears to have been the head of the delegation that carried Paul's letter to the Romans...and we can presume that there were men in that delegation, because a single woman or a group of women would not have been traveling alone. Paul further instructed the congregation at Rome to support Phoebe in her further "business" while at Rome.