Matthew 27:55, 56, 61: Jesus Values Women in a World that Doesn’t

Guercino's painting "Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well" (1640-1641) from John chapter 4.   Jesus broke cultural and religious barriers just to speak with this woman.  

“There were also many women there…who followed Jesus from Galilee,” Matthew 27:55

“Lo, I shall lead her in order to make her a male, so  that she too may become a living spirit, resembling you males.  For every woman who makes herself male will enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  (The apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, claiming to be quoting Jesus)

All is now silent and dark.  The corpse of the Incarnate Son of God hangs on the cross.  People begin to wander away and leave.   But there were…many women there (v. 55) who stay.   During the crucifixion they were looking on from a distance (v. 55).   They had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him (v. 55).    Luke says that it was a group of women “who provided for” Jesus and His disciples during His public ministry “out of their means,” (Luke 8:3).

We live in a world that does not value women; Abortion, as dark as it is, has taken a hideous turn.   A rapidly growing abortion practice world-wide is “gendercide,” choosing to abort because the fetus is female.     Many women who survive the womb are born into societies that do not value them. 

In many cultures women cannot drive or vote.   In China, the “one-child-only” policy has led to many couples abandoning, even killing, their newborn daughters.   Women are disproportionately the victims in human trafficking and pornography world-wide, including in America.  

In Biblical times women fared no better.    An ancient Jewish prayer offered by men contained the phrase, “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, who has not made me a woman.”  Women were and are frequently used as a commodity to be consumed and discarded.

But Jesus did not act as the rest of the world.  He expressed dignity to women in a world that was cold and indifferent.  He redeemed prostitutes when others wanted them stoned. He spoke to women in public when others declared them unclean.  Doug Clark at.enrichmentjournal.ag.org, writes: “Twenty-four times in [the gospel of] Luke, Jesus either met a woman, talked about a woman, or mentioned a woman in a parable. All of these 24 times are instructive and positive.”

A woman who is a worshiper of Jesus Christ is truly a liberated woman, set free from the bondages of this world’s social, political and religious systems. 

Therefore it is no surprise that when His disciples had fled at His arrest (see 26:56), some women remained near Jesus all the way to the cross.  And beyond.  Among those at the scene of His crucifixion were Mary Magdalene from whom Jesus had casted seven demons (Luke 8:2) and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee (v. 56).

The love and acceptance that Christ showed women was poured out across all segments of society, from the wives of fishermen to those in the higher rungs of power.  “Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager “ (Luke 8:3) was counted among Jesus’ followers.  Lydia (Acts 16:14-15) and Phoebe (Romans 16:1-2) were women of wealth and prestige in the early church who followed Christ.  There is reason to suspect even Pilate’s wife was a follower of Jesus.

Regardless of their past and/or current social status, the hearts of these women had been won, their dignity restored.  They refused to leave Him, even at His burial when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, were there sitting opposite the tomb (v. 61). Maybe this is why women were the first who witnessed the empty tomb on Easter morning and the first to witness the Risen Lord!