In the first passage, I tried to show how Jesus protected a woman threatened with stoning for adultery. She was a mere pawn in someone's political agenda--that of discrediting Christ. Jesus appealed to the conscience of the crowd when He said, "Let him without sin cast the first stone."
The second passage, from Mark's gospel, chapter 14, and the parallel passage in John 12, describe Jesus' response to the disciples who tried to put a big "guilt trip" on a dinner host, Mary, for "wasting" a large container of perfume she had poured out on Jesus. While Mark shows all the disciples' involvement, John's gospel brings out the fact that Judas was at the root of this harassment. Judas manipulated this woman and the other disciples because he was a thief, and wanted to profit from this gift.
The amount was large; it was a container that would have been purchased by a retailer from a wholesaler or a caravan. It had to be "broken" because it was hermetically sealed at the source--somewhere near India--to prevent tampering, i.e., someone's diluting the product as it passed through the many hands of trade. It was sealed to prevent exploitation of the purchaser--the very objective of Judas.
The sad thing was that Mary was doing what the disciples and everyone else should have been doing--honoring the perfect, sinless Son of God for the sacrifice of himself on the cross, a preparation for his death and burial. Her unselfish, caring, worshipful attitude contrasted sharply with the ugly self-seeking and shameful theatrics of Judas. The rest of the disciples were unknowingly carried along by this skillful, professional manipulator.
While we see Jesus taking the disciples aside for private correction in other passages, Jesus in this passage was instant and direct in his rebuke. "Let her alone!" This is what the church should be saying to men who abuse women. We should not be embarrassed for these men or coddle them.
Some husbands and boyfriends abuse women with this day-after-day weapon of guilt. Mothers have their service to their families thrown up in their faces in the same way Judas manipulated Mary: "Why was this not sold and the money given to the poor?" Like Judas, men who abuse women have their own selfishness at the root of their manipulation.
"Why are you bothering her?" Jesus said. This is the very question Judas should have asked himself; he knew the answer, for Jesus spoke to his conscience. I suppose the other disciples were brought to contrition by Jesus' unusually strong rebuke. But Judas' next steps, as we see in verse 10 of Mark 14, were to the chief priests in betrayal of his friend and teacher.
But Jesus honored Mary with his words. The others could "help the poor" at any time, with their own resources. Jesus said that Mary "did what she could", meaning that she used her own resources in contrast to the disciples who speculated about what "could have been done" for the poor, with someone else's resources. Mary sought to give Christ a memorial; Jesus left a memorial for her in stating that wherever the gospel was preached, her unselfish act would be spoken of.
Jesus demonstrated what our response should be in protecting women; we, as church officers, friends, and counselors, should be careful that we don't beat them up again. We should extol their good deeds; we should honor them. Many men (including teenagers) have been guilty of abusing girlfriends, wives and mothers this way--of turning a deed of service into some kind of offense.
We should remember that if Jesus had said nothing, this weapon of guilt formulated by Judas, and hurled by the rest of the disciples, would have been successful in bringing Mary down; her good deed would have been in her own eyes as something bad--a memorial to her own selfishness or poor judgment.
We see in these passages (including from the previous blog) that Jesus stood up for women who are victims of a political agenda, or of a selfish personal agenda. Hopefully we will be ready to defend the weak when these common scenarios present themselves. Is there any question that Jesus is calling his church and Christians everwhere to prevent domestic violence.
Showing posts with label exploitation of women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exploitation of women. Show all posts
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Violence Against Women - Part I
Many of us do not think of Jesus as a protector of women. When we see the abuse of women in our culture, we don't have a Biblical solution because scriptures related to the subject do not come to mind. I would like to help by addressing three passages that relate to Jesus dealing with violence against women, with domestic violence issues, and with exploitation of women.
The first example clearly shows how Jesus protected a woman who was the victim of someone's political agenda. The passage is in the eighth chapter of John's gospel, where we see a woman "taken in the act of adultery". The Old Testament proscribed stoning for adultery. What did Jesus say?
First of all, we know that the crowd, at least the instigators, were seeking an opportunity to trap Jesus--either to have him repudiate the law of Moses, and thus God's authority, or to have him promote stoning outside the jurisdiction of the Roman authorities. The former would discredit him in the eyes of the people; the latter would provide a basis to accuse Jesus of initiating rebellion.
The amazing thing was this: the woman was simply a means to achieve their end. She was set up. These people had an air of spiritual indignation against her sin; some may have been sincere but were themselves used by those who plotted Jesus' downfall. But in this indignation, whether superficial or real, there was a total lack of concern for real justice (for where was the man involved in the adultery?). And there was a total lack of concern for the woman--no concern that she live a wholesome life, and no concern that she come to terms with her guilt before God for her part in the affair.
Jesus protected the woman by appealing to the consciences of the crowd: "Let him without sin cast the first stone." Regardless of their sincerity, these people had a double standard--they were hypocrites. The crowd disbanded, beginning with the oldest.
Then Jesus showed his concern for the woman and for her shame before God and those present. He showed the concern that should have been shown by those who had spiritual oversight and direct knowledge of the sin. Instead of using her, the leaders should have headed off this and any other sin on the woman's part; but they were the ones who allowed sin to fester and exploited it for their own purposes. But Jesus spoke of forgiveness: "Neither do I condemn you." Then he measured out an appropriate, effective admonition: "Go and sin no more."
I have to believe that the admonition was, in this case, appropriate adjudication of the law by the Lord of grace. In any case, we know that Jesus' response sprang from a genuine concern for her, for her needed assurance of the grace of God, and for her continued walk with the Lord who would go to the cross for both her and our sins. We know Jesus was sincere. And we know the results: she was protected from the violence of this mob and from her own destructive lifestyle.
One twist to this situation is that Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground when the men first demanded an answer to the stoning question. He seemed to ignore the question. At this point they began to ask rather than demand an answer. It became apparent to the crowd, and importantly, to the woman, that Jesus did not have to answer anything. The fact that he did answer conveyed to this woman that he was willing to put his life on the line for her—they could have stoned him.
As to writing on the ground, many scholars believe that Jesus was writing the names of women that these men had consorted with. I don’t know the answer to that; but I do know that if he didn’t write those names, Jesus assuredly wanted those names to come to mind, for his statement about those without sin casting the first stone spoke right to their consciences and to their double standard.
Of course, this passage from John chapter 8 is relevant in the sense that we tend to be hypocrites and overlook our own sins in condemning others.
But it is relevant also to the abuse of women in our culture because of the finality of Jesus’ protection. Jesus asked, “Does any man condemn you?” She replied that there were none. This sealed in her mind the fact that she did not have to look over her shoulder for someone coming after her the next day. The matter was ended. But women who are physically abused or threatened in our culture learn to live in constant fear. Even if their attackers are in prison, letters and phone calls from them can terrorize the victims long after the actual physical torment has ended.
We as Christian men and women need to dedicate ourselves to breaking this binge of terror that occurs daily in our cities. Pastors need to covenant with their denominational and community peers to deal with this problem from the pulpit. We need to support our respective states’ Attorneys General to find solutions in our laws and in how we handle domestic violence cases.
Most importantly, we need to teach young men and women about healthy relationships. The book, How to Avoid Falling in Love With a Jerk, by Dr. John Van Epp, is an excellent resource for steering young people into healthy relationships. We also should nip in the bud any wrong attitude towards the opposite sex, especially as we engage our children around the dinner table and in front of the TV.
The first example clearly shows how Jesus protected a woman who was the victim of someone's political agenda. The passage is in the eighth chapter of John's gospel, where we see a woman "taken in the act of adultery". The Old Testament proscribed stoning for adultery. What did Jesus say?
First of all, we know that the crowd, at least the instigators, were seeking an opportunity to trap Jesus--either to have him repudiate the law of Moses, and thus God's authority, or to have him promote stoning outside the jurisdiction of the Roman authorities. The former would discredit him in the eyes of the people; the latter would provide a basis to accuse Jesus of initiating rebellion.
The amazing thing was this: the woman was simply a means to achieve their end. She was set up. These people had an air of spiritual indignation against her sin; some may have been sincere but were themselves used by those who plotted Jesus' downfall. But in this indignation, whether superficial or real, there was a total lack of concern for real justice (for where was the man involved in the adultery?). And there was a total lack of concern for the woman--no concern that she live a wholesome life, and no concern that she come to terms with her guilt before God for her part in the affair.
Jesus protected the woman by appealing to the consciences of the crowd: "Let him without sin cast the first stone." Regardless of their sincerity, these people had a double standard--they were hypocrites. The crowd disbanded, beginning with the oldest.
Then Jesus showed his concern for the woman and for her shame before God and those present. He showed the concern that should have been shown by those who had spiritual oversight and direct knowledge of the sin. Instead of using her, the leaders should have headed off this and any other sin on the woman's part; but they were the ones who allowed sin to fester and exploited it for their own purposes. But Jesus spoke of forgiveness: "Neither do I condemn you." Then he measured out an appropriate, effective admonition: "Go and sin no more."
I have to believe that the admonition was, in this case, appropriate adjudication of the law by the Lord of grace. In any case, we know that Jesus' response sprang from a genuine concern for her, for her needed assurance of the grace of God, and for her continued walk with the Lord who would go to the cross for both her and our sins. We know Jesus was sincere. And we know the results: she was protected from the violence of this mob and from her own destructive lifestyle.
One twist to this situation is that Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground when the men first demanded an answer to the stoning question. He seemed to ignore the question. At this point they began to ask rather than demand an answer. It became apparent to the crowd, and importantly, to the woman, that Jesus did not have to answer anything. The fact that he did answer conveyed to this woman that he was willing to put his life on the line for her—they could have stoned him.
As to writing on the ground, many scholars believe that Jesus was writing the names of women that these men had consorted with. I don’t know the answer to that; but I do know that if he didn’t write those names, Jesus assuredly wanted those names to come to mind, for his statement about those without sin casting the first stone spoke right to their consciences and to their double standard.
Of course, this passage from John chapter 8 is relevant in the sense that we tend to be hypocrites and overlook our own sins in condemning others.
But it is relevant also to the abuse of women in our culture because of the finality of Jesus’ protection. Jesus asked, “Does any man condemn you?” She replied that there were none. This sealed in her mind the fact that she did not have to look over her shoulder for someone coming after her the next day. The matter was ended. But women who are physically abused or threatened in our culture learn to live in constant fear. Even if their attackers are in prison, letters and phone calls from them can terrorize the victims long after the actual physical torment has ended.
We as Christian men and women need to dedicate ourselves to breaking this binge of terror that occurs daily in our cities. Pastors need to covenant with their denominational and community peers to deal with this problem from the pulpit. We need to support our respective states’ Attorneys General to find solutions in our laws and in how we handle domestic violence cases.
Most importantly, we need to teach young men and women about healthy relationships. The book, How to Avoid Falling in Love With a Jerk, by Dr. John Van Epp, is an excellent resource for steering young people into healthy relationships. We also should nip in the bud any wrong attitude towards the opposite sex, especially as we engage our children around the dinner table and in front of the TV.
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