The Big Story (Yes, there is more!)

 In addition to the women I emphasized in my sermon, The BigStory, there are others that I simply did not have time to mention. If you have not listened to the sermon yet, you can find it here. These women are also important to the discussion, and I did not want you to miss their contributions.

Mary Magdalene and the other women at the empty tomb

Many scholars point out the historical significance of the first people to witness the empty tomb AND the first people to be told to proclaim the empty tomb. They were women! The resurrection is what all of Christianity hangs on. According to Paul, if there is not resurrection of Jesus then our faith is in vain. The most historically significant event in Christianity is first witnessed by and proclaimed by Mary Magdalene and the other women.

Why is this significant? In Jesus’s day women were not considered credible witnesses. Yet, Jesus chose women to proclaim the very first resurrection message. Mary and these other women were the first evangelists of the resurrection. This is recorded in all four of our gospel accounts.

Some scholars have suggested that this was such a radical move by Jesus, that by the time Paul is writing 1 Corinthians, the women have already been removed from the tradition. Notice who is missing from Paul’s list of Jesus’s resurrection appearances:

“For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” ~ 1 Cor. 15:3-7

Where is Mary in that list of appearances? She was actually the first to see the resurrected Jesus (John 20:11-18).

Philip’s Four Daughters

There is not much to elaborate on here, but it is important to at least include these women in the discussion. In Acts 21 we find Paul and his entourage making their way toward Jerusalem. Paul relied heavily on the hospitality of others as he made his missionary journeys. In Acts 21:8, we find a record of Paul making a trip to Caesarea. There he “stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.”

Philip’s four daughters were known as prophets. He was an evangelist in the church, and his daughters exercised the role of prophet. Little else is said about them, but this is enough to merit consideration for the discussion at hand. Prophets need an audience to prophesy to, and by this point in the church’s history it seems that most prophesy took place in the public worship gathering. Remember, Paul wrote that “those who prophesy build up the church” 1 Cor. 14:4.

Priscilla

In Acts 18, we are introduced to Priscilla and Aquila. Priscilla and Aquila are a married couple. Aquila is the husband. Priscilla the wife. In verses 24-28 we read about an encounter this married couple had with a man named Apollos.

Apollos was a disciple of Jesus, an educated man who had a heart for teaching the gospel. He had one problem. He only knew of John the Baptist’s baptism. He knew nothing of Jesus’ baptism.

When they cross paths, this married couple invites him into their home. Luke tells us that they “explained to him the way of God more adequately.”

In a patriarchal society, husbands were traditionally listed before wives. It is subtle but notice how Luke, throughout this story, lists them as “Priscilla and Aquila.” As a matter of fact, this married couple is mentioned six different times in the New Testament, and four out of those six times Priscilla is listed first. What do we make of this? Maybe nothing. It might be reading too much into it to suggest there is something to be gathered from the ordering of names. Many scholars, though, suggest that it is extremely unusual in a patriarchal culture to list women first, unless those women were of a higher standing or played a more significant role.

Whether there is significance to Priscilla being listed first or not, what we do know is that Priscilla played a major role in helping another disciple of Christ (a man, no less!) better understand the gospel of Christ. And Paul mentions this married couple in his list of greeting in Romans 15, saying of them, “Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus, and who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Greet also the church in their house.” She, along with her husband, risked her life for the gospel and for Paul. And all the Gentile churches in their day were to be grateful for her and her husband.

Junia

In Romans 16:7, Paul writes, “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.”

Junia has stirred up quite a bit of controversy throughout her history. Interestingly, most of those controversies didn’t start until about the 13th Century. Some of you may have Bible translations that do not say “Andronicus and Junia,” but rather “Andronicus and Junias.” Here is what makes this an important distinction between the two: Junia is a female name and Junias is a male name. In the Greek language, the only thing that changes the name from female to male is an accent mark. None of the early Greek manuscripts contain an accent mark. From the earliest Christian records, all the way up to the 13th Century, it was virtually unanimous that this was a female named Junia, and she was either the wife or the sister of Andronicus.

What changed in the 13th Century? Why did Junia become Junias? Well, a debate over the description of these two disciples began. What does it mean that Andronicus and Junia were “prominent among the apostles” (NRSV)? Other translations say they were “highly respected among the apostles” (NLT), “well known to the apostles” (ESV), “highly respected by the apostles” (CEV), “they are very important apostles” (NCV), or “noteworthy in the eyes of the apostles” (HCSB).

As you can see, there are two primary ways the Greek can be translated: they were either highly respected apostles, or they were highly respected by the apostles. For centuries, the consensus was that this was saying they were highly respected apostles, but in the 13th Century someone thought, “Wait a minute, a woman can’t be an apostle, so the text must be missing the accent that would make this a man. This must be Junias, not Junia.” Over time bible translators kept Junia as the primary text, but included a footnote suggesting Junias could be correct. Later, that was flipped. Junias started showing up in the actual text with a footnote suggesting Junia might be another translation. Then, many Bibles decided to quit supplying the footnote altogether and just made it Junias. Some of you may have a Bible translation that does this very thing - Junias without a footnote. In his book, Junia Is Not Alone, Scot McKnight declared, “Translators killed Junia!”

Here is what many scholars and Bible translators are starting to admit: there over 250 examples from ancient Greek literature (Biblical times) in which they can find women named Junia, but they can find virtually no evidence from that same time period that Junias was actually a name being used by men. In other words, Junia was a very popular name for women, but no man was actually named Junias, until the 13th century when someone decided to give Junia a sex change and renamed her Junias. But, as McKnight writes, “There is no evidence in ancient manuscripts that anyone understood Junia as a male, no evidence in translations she was a male, and there was no ancient evidence that Junias was a man’s name.”

Junia is a woman, and she was, “outstanding among the apostles” (NIV). What does that mean? I do not know. I do know that she was a very special lady in the church. She was well known and highly respected. She was a disciple of Jesus before Paul was ever converted, and she was imprisoned for her faith and work in the gospel. One early church father said of Junia, “To be an apostle is something great. But to be outstanding among the apostles -- just think what a wonderful song of praise that it is!” Some of the earliest church fathers believed that Junia may have been one of the seventy that Jesus sent out in Luke 9. The word “apostle” literally means “sent one” or “one who is sent.”

Junia, outstanding among the apostles!

Various Other Romans 16 Women

There are 27 people listed by name in this long list of greetings found in Romans 16. Would it surprise you to know that out of the 27, ten of those are women? Paul often gets a pretty bad reputation for being a male chauvinist, but a closer reading of Paul’s letters reveals quite a different story. This is the man who told the Galatians that in Christ Jesus there is not male and female, but they are both one in Christ. It is hard to read Romans 16 and conclude that he believed women had nothing of merit to contribute to the church.

We have already noted Phoebe, Priscilla, and Junia. There is also a woman named Mary (16:6). We don’t know who this Mary is. Is she a Mary about whom we have already heard? We do not know. All we know is that she is being recognized for her hard work. We also find:

·       Tryphena and Tryphosa (possibly twins since their names share the same root) in verse 12.

·       Persis (v. 12)

·       Rufus’ mother (v. 13)

·       Julia (v. 15)

·       Nereus’ sister (v. 15)

We know very little about any of these women, other than they are all described as women who worked very hard in the Lord. An early church father, John Chrysostom (late 300’s AD), said of these women, “The women of those days were more spirited than lions, sharing with the Apostles their labors for the Gospel’s sake. In this way, they went traveling with them and also performed all other ministries.”

Conclusion

It seems that in faith traditions like ours who have traditionally kept women silent during their worship assemblies, we have also silenced the women of scripture. I was unfamiliar with most of these women of scripture until I became an adult. Maybe that is not true for you, but I’m sure it is true for many who are reading this. Surely these women of scripture have much to contribute to the discussion about the ways in which women can participate in the worship and ministry of a church.

Every church has their Marthas. These are the hardworking women who are busy behind the scenes doing most of the grunt work that no one else wants to do. Most churches would fall to pieces if it were not for the Martha’s.

Every church has their Marys who sit at Jesus’s feet and listen. They are true students of the Word, consuming the spiritual nourishment the scriptures provide. They model peace, love, compassion, and adorn themselves with good works.

What about the Phoebes, the Huldahs, the Annas, and the Deborahs that fill our churches? Are we using their gifts? Are they being allowed to thrive in our churches, exercising the grace gifts given to them by the Holy Spirit?