John: Jesus and Women

In biblical times, women had almost no rights. They lived under the power of men as property, whether their fathers or their husbands, and they couldn’t even speak to another man in public or be condemned to death. It was a patriarchal society where men were supreme to women. Enter Jesus. The Messiah came with a new attitude towards women. It seems that John gives more attention to the problem of male chauvinism than the other evangelists and he gives us many examples of Jesus’s relationship with women.

In the beginning of the gospel, Jesus realizes His first miracle in the Wedding at Cana (John 2, 1-12). But it isn’t Jesus that makes the decision, but instead the intercession of His mother. Firstly we notice that there were many women with Jesus and His disciples, which is something very strange in those times. Later, Maria says “they have no wine,” and Jesus responds, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” Perhaps Jesus didn’t want to begin his ministry this way, but being an obedient child He submitted to His mother. He shows us that the “woman,” as He says, also has a voice and a vote, and they deserve mutual respect of men.

John gives us another example of the relationship of Jesus with the Samaritan woman (John 4, 1-45). Jesus is the one who begins the dialog asking her for water and even the woman is surprised at his request. Not only because she is a Samaritan, but also because of the life she has lived. But Jesus doesn’t condemn her, but he invites her to recognize her sins and change her life. The woman immediately believes what Jesus tells her and goes to preach the Good News to her town. It’s a strong contrast between the woman and the disciples who are always confused and slow to believe the teachings of Jesus. This shows that women can also follow Christ and that it doesn’t matter if they have sinned or not, only that they repent.

Jesus, instead of neglecting the women, he lifts them out of their feelings of inferiority and He puts them on the same level if not higher than the men. John gives us another example in the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11, 1-44) where Jesus became “perturbed” after seeing Mary and “the Jews who had come with her weeping [...] and Jesus wept.” There are not many times in the gospel where Jesus cries and on this occasion for a woman. It also says that Jesus “loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,” another statement not found frequently in the gospel. At the end of the gospel, after His resurrection, Jesus appears not to His disciples, but to Mary of Magdalene (John 20, 11-18) giving even more importance to women. In the end, Jesus gives love, respect, and teachings to women in a time when they didn’t have even the most basic of human rights, and it seems obvious that we should follow His example.