My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? James 2:1

 

You may not think of Jesus as a radical, but He radically measured all people by the same inner standards, regardless of ethnicity or sex.

 

In Jesus’s day, women were excluded from much of life, including most aspects of spirituality. They weren’t allowed to go past the women’s area of the Jewish Temple, and couldn’t touch the scriptures. Yet Jesus openly interacted with women with kindness, respect, tenderness, and dignity. Jesus’s public ministry to non-Israelite people began when a Canaanite woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter. So bold was this woman’s faith that Jesus said, “Dear woman, your faith is great. Your request is granted” (Matthew 15:28).

 

Jesus even partnered with women in His ministry. Along with his 12 disciples, Jesus took several women with Him as He preached. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples” (Luke 8:1-3).

 

Jesus had many close friendships with women where He displayed unparalleled compassion for them, valuing them as people. Most amazingly, after Jesus rose from the dead, the person to whom Jesus first chose to disclose the fact of His resurrection was His friend, Mary Magdalene. The Bible book of Mark tells that Mary was the first to see Him after He was raised from the dead and she was the first to share the Good News with the disciples. Mark says, “But when she told them that Jesus was alive, they didn’t believe her” (Mark 16:9-11).

 

Jesus sees, values and loves women today just as He did the women we read of in the Bible.