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Not only was Jesus compassionate toward children, He was also
uniquely compassionate toward women. Indeed, His attitude toward them
and His relationship with them were revolutionary. Israel was a
patriarchal society in which women occupied a subordinate position
and were in many ways treated as social and spiritual inferiors to
men.
It's difficult, though, to generalize, because
the rabbis differed among themselves on this issue. Fathers too
differed in the upbringing of their daughters. And husbands differed
in how controlling and restrictive they were with their wives. Love
and personality differences made for great differences in the
experiences of Hebrew women.
Yet it is undeniable that generally a woman's
lot in that patriarchal society was hard. The prevalent belief in
female inferiority found terse expression in the prayer offered by
Jewish males: "God, I thank Thee that I was not born a dog. I
thank Thee that I was not born a Gentile. I thank Thee that I was not
born a woman."
In their younger years, daughters were often
treated with suspicion. They were closely supervised in order to
prevent anything that might be viewed as unchastity.
When she began her menstrual cycle, a woman
was unclean and needed purification (Lev. 15:19-30). To touch a menstruating
woman was to undergo defilement that required ritual purification.
Incidentally, a man was not to touch any woman except his wife, not
even if she was his cousin and the touch accidental.
When a girl reached a marriageable age, she
was bartered by her father. After marriage she could be bartered by
her husband.
The female role was that of housekeeper, with
none of the conveniences we take for granted today. Her other role
was that of childbearing with frequent pregnancies--the more she
bore, the higher a wife was held in esteem. After childbirth, a woman
was regarded as unclean and in need of purification (Lev. 12).
If a wife displeased her husband, he could
divorce her, but a wife was not granted the same right (Dt. 24:1-4).
If she was suspected of adultery, a wife could be subjected to the
frightful water ordeal (Num. 5:11-31), but no such provision was made
for testing a suspected husband.
A woman had no property rights. She could not
serve as a witness. She could not share equally in worship. Singing
and chanting were done by men exclusively while women listened in
their own synagogue compartments. As a rule they were not taught the
Torah as boys were. Some rabbis went so far as to declare, "Let
the words of the law be burned rather than committed to women. . . .
If a man teaches his daughter the Law, it is as though he taught her
lechery." Ten men had to be present for a service to be held.
Nine men plus one woman would not do!
Jesus, however, was sensitive to the needs of
all people whether male or female. He exhibited an all-inclusive
compassion that broke through the traditional gender restrictions and
taboos. In order to heal, He allowed Himself to be touched by a woman
without a shuddering reaction and without following the prescribed
routine for cleansing.
Luke told about a woman who for 12 years had
an issue of blood (evidently some menstrual dysfunction). She
stretched out her fingers and brushed the fringe of Jesus' garment.
Instead of condemning her for such a male-contaminating act, Jesus
gently led her to understand the difference between a belief in a
kind of magical contact and a saving faith in divine grace (Lk.
8:42-48).
Another woman, in this case a defiled
prostitute, poured precious ointment on the Savior's feet and washed
them with her tears while Jesus was eating in a Pharisee's house.
Compassionately, our Lord, who knew her penitence and faith, defended
that bold, extravagant action and sent her away with a benediction of
peace (Lk. 7:36-50).
Jesus again disclosed His compassionate
attitude toward women, and particularly those who were marginalized
by their own sin, when He refused to engage in the stoning of an
adulteress caught in the very act. Leaving aside the question of why
her accusers didn't drag the male offender as well to the feet of
Jesus, we watch our Lord, who with pitying tactfulness handled this
sordid situation righteously yet forgivingly. He absolved this
transgressor of her guilt, warned her against future temptation, and
sent her away to live a changed life (Jn. 8:1-11). He didn't condone
sin. Not in the least! Yet lovingly He offered pardon and hope to
those women whom society pushed aside as moral refuse.
Widows especially elicited our Savior's
compassionate help. The Old Testament laid down specific commands
that widows were to be treated with kindness and respect (Dt.
14:28-29; 24:19-21; 26:12-13; Isa. 1:17; Zech. 7:10). In all
likelihood, then as now, some families may have nevertheless
neglected to provide sufficient companionship and care for these
second-class women. Often, then as now, they may have moved to the
outskirts of the family orbit.
A typical example of our Lord's attitude
toward these marginalized women was His encounter with a funeral
procession outside the city of Nain. A young man had died. He was the
only child of his grief-stricken mother. She was facing loneliness
and in all probability destitution. When Jesus saw the funeral
procession and heard the mother sobbing, He was moved with
compassion. "His heart went out to her" (Lk. 7:13). He
didn't wait for any appeal. He acted. He touched the coffin, risking
ritual contamination, and He commanded the corpse to arise.
Miraculously, the son obeyed as life returned to his body. Imagine
the mother's gratitude as uncontrollable joy replaced inconsolable
sorrow! (vv.11-17).
In Jesus' sermon in Nazareth as He inaugurated
His public ministry, He referred to a widow (an alien from pagan
Sidon) as an object of God's saving grace. That reference, made
intentionally not casually, contradicted the prejudices of His
audience (Lk. 4:25-26). The Sidon widow was not the only bereft widow
whom Jesus used as an example to challenge His contemporaries and
present-day readers of the Gospels.
In Jesus' day, men had only a meager knowledge
of God and a superficial fellowship with Him. The plight of women was
far worse. Therefore Jesus, in defiance of tradition, allowed them to
be among His followers and actually engage in the service and support
of His itinerant mission (Lk. 8:1-3). Women together with men were
being taught about God's grace that rules out gender distinction.
With compassion, our Lord told women, individually as well as
collectively, the truth about God and His kingdom. He took time to
instruct Mary of Bethany (Lk. 10:39). Significantly, He gently
rebuked Martha the sister of Mary, counseling her that it was better
for a woman to learn about God than to be preoccupied with household
chores like preparing a meal. In so saying, He was turning the
traditional role of women upside down.
Once again, at Jacob's well, He gave a brief
course in basic theology to a Samaritan woman. No wonder His
tradition-bound companions were astonished. He was talking to a woman
in public! He was talking to her alone! He was talking to a despised
Samaritan woman, someone of a race that pious Jews viewed as
heretics! (Jn. 4:1-30).
What motivated such behavior by Christ?
Compassion. He saw people in the whole gamut of their need. He saw
people not in abstract categories such as males and females, Jews and
Gentiles, aliens and citizens, adults and children. Jesus saw people as
individuals, each made in God's image, each a member of God's human
family and a potential member of God's spiritual family.
Jesus models and motivates sacrificial
compassion. How, though, can we become conduits of His compassionate
kindness? Let Henri Nouwen instruct us:
When I pray for the endless needs of the
millions, my soul expands and wants to embrace them all and bring
them into the presence of God. But in the midst of that experience I
realize that compassion is not mine but God's gift to me. I cannot
embrace the world, but God can. I cannot pray, but God can pray in
me. When God became as we are . . . He allowed us to enter into the
intimacy of the divine life. He made it possible for us to share in
God's infinite compassion.
And by grace we not only share the experience
of God's compassion. By His enabling grace we can become the conduits
of that compassion, following in Christ's footsteps as did a host of
our spiritual predecessors. But if we indeed are copying Christ, as
Paul urged in 1 Corinthians 11:1, our compassion will not be limited
to bodily needs. It will have soul needs as its supreme priority.
Curtis
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