My actions however, do reveal a difference in the way we interpret what the Bible has to say about who should lead, and preach. Even when I am pretending to take the position that women should remain silent and never preach, in reality what I believe is exactly the opposite. And, I take this passage as a clue as to how Jesus viewed the ministry of women. In His day, women were considered as second class, but Jesus had them very close to Him. Some of these were powerful women..at the very least they had the ear of someone in power. I don’t think you would have wanted to cross Joanna, she was almost certainly personally known by Herod and her husband was one of his most trusted partners. At the same time, Mary Magdalene is there from whom Jesus has cast out seven demons. A short time from now Jesus is going to deny a man from whom He casts out many demons the privilege of traveling with him…but Mary is afforded the same privilege.
In this chapter Jesus challenges our perception of reality. He says that His mother and brothers are the people who do God’s will, not simply the family He was born into. Could that understanding help shape the way we see women? They are very much co-heirs with men. I wonder sometimes if gender will even be a distinction in heaven. Jesus himself says we won’t marry or be married in heaven. Maybe the reason we argue over the role of women in the church is because our understanding is too limited. We see only the surface, when Christ sees much more. I hint at this because I see great and powerful ministries happening with women in charge. God appears to be blessing them, and He doesn’t bless disobedience. Again, I don’t see anywhere in Scripture that the Holy Spirit decides who gets what gift based on their gender. If the Spirit gifts you to preach or teach, then do it; in any way that is appropriate.
One other quick thought here. This passage is revealing the absolute power of Jesus over things out of control. The sea is out of control, and because it is, the disciples are filled with fear. When Jesus calms it, they begin to wonder about Him…because He clearly has great power. Moments later they encounter a man who is out of control. The townspeople have become used to having the madman run around naked in the cemetery. But when Jesus calms him, they become afraid! Why? Wouldn’t you think they would come out of town celebrating, thanking Jesus for doing what they couldn’t do? No. In our original nature we are only comfortable interacting with things we can control, and Jesus is “out of our control”. He reminds us simply by His actions that there are powers to which we must submit…and He is in control of those powers. The wise person immediately bows and makes every attempt to get Jesus “on their side”. Seriously. This is the creator, and if He is of a mind to do so, you or I can be dissolved in a moment.
The people of the town were afraid because they had encountered a powerful force that they didn’t understand, and didn’t know anything about. Instead of learning about Jesus, and discovering that He was benevolent towards them (as the disciples had already done) they chose to run away in fear. Those who run away and refuse to listen are like the seed that falls on hard ground, and the devil makes sure they have no chance to receive the message.
This is getting a little long…but I wonder about why the demons wanted to go into living things, even though within in two minutes they were drown. The demons didn’t want to go into the abyss…but as soon as the inhabited the pigs they ran directly into the abyss. What? They didn’t want to be without something to inhabit, and by their own actions they were without something to inhabit. It sounds to me as if their thinking is seriously compromised. I wonder if one of the results of being apart from God is a complete breakdown in logic.
The account of Jairus deserves more attention than I am prepared to give it today. I’ll discuss it when it comes up again in a day or two.
Serving the one who is beyond my control
PR