![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/833\/2020\/08\/muslim-4931998_640.jpg\")
\nWhen I read the question: \u201cWhy didn\u2019t Jesus call any women to be his disciples?\u201d I knew I had to respond.<\/p>\n
\nWhen I read the question: \u201cWhy didn\u2019t Jesus call any women to be his disciples?\u201d I knew I had to respond.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the reality: \u201cJesus DID call women to be his disciples!\u201d<\/p>\n
The problem is that later Church Fathers were so entangled and blinded by their Patriarchy they did their very best to obscure this fact and solidify men [and only men] as the leaders in the Body of Christ.<\/p>\n
So, here\u2019s what we often miss about the women disciples of Jesus.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re everywhere.<\/p>\n
First of all, the Gospels give us the names of several women who were following Jesus around [that\u2019s what it means to be a \u201cdisciple\u201d, by the way; it\u2019s a \u201cfollower\u201d], and we can find those examples here:<\/p>\n
Mary Magdalene, Joanna<\/strong> and Susanna<\/strong> were three of Jesus\u2019s female disciples according to Luke 8:1-3:<\/p>\n \u201cAfter this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.\u00a0The Twelve were with him,<\/span>\u00a0and also some women<\/strong> who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene)<\/strong>\u00a0from whom seven demons had come out;<\/span>\u00a0Joanna<\/strong> the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod\u2019s\u00a0household; Susanna<\/strong>; and many others<\/strong>. These women<\/strong> were helping to support them<\/strong> out of their own means.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Do you get this? Not only are we told about the Twelve, and then these 3 women by name, but we\u2019re also told that there were \u201cmany others\u201d [meaning, many other women] who not only followed Jesus around [which is the very definition of a Disciple in relation to a traveling Rabbi], but that they also supported Jesus financially.<\/p>\n Translation: They were active members of the ministry with skin in the game who put their money and their time into the cause of Christ.<\/p>\n We\u2019re also told that there were 3 women who were the first eyewitnesses to the Resurrection of Christ in Mark 16:1-3:<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the Sabbath was over,\u00a0Mary Magdalene<\/strong>, and Mary the\u00a0mother\u00a0of\u00a0James<\/strong>, and Salome<\/strong>,\u00a0bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Later, it is the same Mary Magdalene who is commissioned by Jesus as the \u201cApostle to the Apostles\u201d [because \u201cApostle\u201d means \u201csent one\u201d and she was sent by Jesus to testify to his resurrection].<\/p>\n And in the earliest Christian Church movement, women continued to be honored and included as Deacons, Elders, Prophets, Teachers, [yes, even as Apostles], throughout the later ministry of Paul and the other Apostles.<\/p>\n Women were not only included, they were honored, revered, appreciated and named.<\/p>\n For example:<\/p>\n Lydia of Philippi<\/strong>, a wealthy dealer in purple cloth, hosted a gathering of the saints in her home [which we would refer to as a Church or Ekklesia]. See Acts 16:11-15<\/p>\n Phoebe, Chloe<\/strong> and the mother of Rufus<\/strong> are also named by Paul as being among those women who served as Deacons [Diakanous<\/em> or \u201cservants\u201d] in the early Church.<\/p>\n For example:<\/p>\n \u201cI commend to you our sister\u00a0Phoebe<\/b>, who is a servant of the church [Deacon]<\/em>\u00a0which is at Cenchrea\u201d [Romans 16:1]\n<\/p> \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by\u00a0Chloe<\/b>\u2019s\u00a0people<\/i>, that there are quarrels among you.\u201d [1 Cor. 1:11]\n<\/p> And who can forget Junia<\/strong>? [Other than the men who later tried to erase her and give her a scriptural sex-change operation when they changed her name to a man\u2019s in later centuries].<\/p>\n \u201cGreet Andronicus and Junia<\/strong>, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the\u00a0<\/strong>apostles<\/b>, who also were in Christ before me.\u201d [Romans 16:7]\n<\/p> NOTE: Junia is a\u00a0 woman\u2019s name. This text identifies her as a female Apostle; one who was \u201coutstanding\u201d and \u201cin Christ before [Paul]\u201d<\/p>\n We also have Priscilla<\/strong> and her husband Aquila, who are referred to by Paul as \u201cmy fellow workers in Christ Jesus\u201d [Rom. 16:3], and always named together but according to custom the more prominent is always named first. Therefore, it\u2019s likely that Priscilla was the stronger teacher among them [because she is most often named first], and so she would have been known for her gifting within the early Church; especially as she was one who instructed Apollos [another early Apostle] about the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n \u201cand he [Apollos] began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when\u00a0Priscilla<\/b>\u00a0and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.\u201d<\/em> [Acts 18:26]\n<\/p> But, if you really want to know the most amazing example of a female disciple in the Scriptures, we need look no further than Mary<\/strong>, the sister of Lazarus and Martha.<\/p>\n In the famous story of where Martha got upset at her sister for not helping her in the kitchen, we miss the entire point: Mary was behaving like one of the men \u2013 she was sitting at the feet of a Rabbi. This is what one did if one intended to become a Rabbi oneself.<\/p>\n Scandalous, to say the least.<\/p>\n This just wasn\u2019t acceptable in that day and age [or culture].<\/p>\n Yet, the way Jesus responds to Martha\u2019s outrage is especially liberating. Notice what Jesus says about Mary\u2019s choice to adopt the posture of a disciple:<\/p>\n \u201cBut the Lord answered and said to her,\u00a0\u201cMartha, Martha, you are\u00a0worried and bothered about so many things;<\/span><\/span>\u00a0but\u00a0only\u00a0one thing is necessary, for\u00a0Mary has chosen the good<\/strong> part, which shall not be taken away from her.<\/strong>\u201d [Luke 10:41-42]<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Boom.<\/p>\n Jesus emphatically states that Mary has not only made a wise choice, it\u2019s one that will never be taken away from her [or, presumably, from any other woman who makes a similar choice].<\/p>\n Unfortunately, a few years later a few male Church leaders would do their best to take it away from her, and sadly they succeeded for quite some time.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s not forget those women who were disciples of Jesus from the very beginning or the many women who served as deacons, elders, teachers, evangelists and apostles in the early Church.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, let\u2019s continue to make room for women in the work and ministry of the Body of Christ today \u2013 even as Jesus celebrated them and welcomed them and honored them and boldly asserted that what they had chosen to do with their lives would never be taken from them.<\/p>\n Selah.<\/p>\n NOTE: If you\u2019re especially curious to learn more about Women In Ministry in the Early Church [and especially about those anti-women passages from Paul in 1 Timothy and 1 Corinthians specifically, I invite you to check out my 5-Minute Video Series<\/em> \u201cWomen In Church?\u201d<\/p>\n