Luke 24:11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

It is hard for us to imagine how thoroughly women were looked down on in that society. In a court of law, a woman’s testimony was worth literally half that of a man’s. That was one of the many ways Jesus’ ministry was so shocking and rule-breaking. For a Biblical example, the women weren’t even counted in the stories of the miraculous mass feedings Jesus did. “The 5000” was just the number of men, and likewise the 4000 in the second instance. It is actually one of the proofs of Jesus’ resurrection that He chose to reveal Himself, and the fact that He had risen, to women first.  That was NOT what anyone would have done had they been concocting a hoax! As it says here, even the apostles didn’t believe the women at first, though Peter and John did go to check on the story. John reports that Mary Magdalene was the first person to actually see Jesus (John 20:14ff) and she was the least likely to be trusted of all the women, since she had been oppressed by seven demons! (Luke 8:2) Jesus didn’t put women above men, but He didn’t put them below, either, and that violated all sorts of norms. Paul is accused of being a misogynist, but he wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) Society in general thought that women were for the utility of men, since men couldn’t have babies by themselves, but authentic Christian faith recognizes that indeed the ground is level at the foot of the cross, as the saying goes. Today, we need to avoid the excesses of women who would denigrate men, but we certainly need to recognize the gifts and contributions of women, of fully equal value as that of men.

I have been vaguely aware of this issue all my life. My mother was in a very real sense demoted, when she married my father, from “missionary” to “missionary wife,” and that gave her a lot of trouble around the time I was a young child, to the point that she was on tranquilizers for a while. She had applied to the mission board before my father had, but somehow, she was considered secondary by the mission board once they got married. My father was the one in the spotlight, but I think my mother was the first to publish a book, Japanese Youth Face Life. I know that my father could not have been and done all he was and did had he not been married to her. I in turn have been incredibly blessed with my wife, who has been my partner in every way. Our gifting is very different, thankfully. That’s one of the big points of marriage! For example, the Lord gives her dreams and visions, which He seldom does for me. At this point our physical differences are accentuated because of her health issues, so I need to be physically strong for her, but I must never let the devil blind me to the contributions she makes to our marriage and our ministry.

Father, thank You for this reminder. In all the stress of preparing for our first visit to the US in seven years, our differing focus has already led to friction. Help me see her with Your eyes, and her me, so that we may be the unit that You designed us to be, effectively doing Your will for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!