Over the past three decades I have read many books and listened to many opinions about our Lord's view of women. A lot of people have tried to portray Jesus as a social revolutionary who totally went against all established social norms, and completely liberated women so that in Christianity women could essentially do or be anything that men can do or be.
The truth is that Jesus never went as far as some like to think. He never included women in the twelve disciples. He never made statements that clearly indicated that the roles for men and women were interchangeable. I am aware of the claims of the Gnostics, but even in their own literature, the elevation of Mary Magdalene and the liberation of women is far from certain. The statements are very obscure and contradictory.
But the other truth is that Jesus was revolutionary in how he treated women. Jesus was shocking to other Jewish men in how he related to them and allowed them to participate in His mission to present Himself as the Messiah.
In John 4 we see Jesus deliberately passing through Samaria when most devout Jews would have detoured around it, and He sits down by a well near the city of Sychar at the hottest time of the day, high noon. When a Samaritan woman comes out to draw water, He says to her "give me a drink" (vs. 7). Now to us today, this hardly sounds revolutionary, but in Christ's day it was.
First of all, "good" Jews did not speak or have contact with Samaritans. The Samaritans were half-breeds who were considered "dogs" along with Gentiles, and they were looked at as theological heretics as well. Plus this Samaritan was a woman.
Jewish men considered women inferior to men in every way. The prayer that every devout Jewish man prayed every day included explicit thanks to God that he was created a man, and not a woman. Jewish men did not talk to women any more than was absolutely necessary. Even married Jewish men did not talk to their wives in public as a matter of rule. They certainly would never talk to a Samaritan woman. That was unthinkable. This is why when the disciples returned and realized that Jesus had been talking with a Samaritan woman, they "...marveled that He had been speaking with a woman" (vs. 27). They simply could not process this in their Jewish male minds.
But Jesus does a lot more than simply speak to her. He begins a dialogue with her that culminates with Him revealing to her that He is the Messiah (vs. 25-26). At this point she believes Him and goes back into the city to be a witness for Christ. As a result, "...many of the Samaritan believed in Him because of the word of the woman..." (vs. 39).
So, Jesus teaches this sinful woman (see vs. 18) about Himself, which was considered a complete waste of time in His day. Women were not taught spiritual truth because they were considered too dumb and sinful to make any significant use of such knowledge. But Christ not only instructs her about spiritual things, but He also uses her as a witness to her own people. Again, in that day, women were not allowed to testify in legal settings. Their testimony was worthless in court. They were seen as too sinful and unreliable. Yet Christ employs her as his first and primary witness to the Samaritan people.
The point is that although Jesus did not break with every social norm, He broke with several in regard to women. He treated them as human beings with value and intelligence. He was willing to interact with them as He did with men. He was also willing to teach women (see Luke 10:39), and send them out as witnesses for Himself. Most importantly, He made it clear that the salvation of a woman was every bit as important to Him as the salvation of a man. In this passage Jesus demonstrated the truth of what Paul proclaimed in Galatians 3:28, that is, that God looks at men and women as equally important in a salvific sense. In terms of salvation, we are all one in Christ.
No man ever treated women more lovingly, more fairly, and more respectfully than Jesus Christ. No woman could ever have a better friend and supporter than He. Now if the rest of us guys could just follow His example!
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