The 3 women who challenged Jesus

We’re used to reading about Bible characters who opposed Jesus – such as the Pharisees and teachers of the law. But there are also those who did not oppose Jesus but still challenged him, confronted him and even openly argued with him.

In particular, the Gospels tell us of three women who stood up to Jesus, not from hostility, but from a place of deep need. These remarkable yet marginalised women broke the cultural boundaries of their day. And to the surprise of some, Jesus responded.

A Canaanite woman

In one of the most disturbing dialogues in Matthew’s Gospel, a woman approaches Jesus with a request - and comes face to face with a wall of prejudice.

In Matthew 15:21-28, Jesus and his disciples are in the foreign territory of Tyre and Sidon when a woman approaches them. She is not Jewish but a Canaanite – the ancient enemies of Israel. She cries out for help, saying her daughter is demon-possessed.

Jesus is silent, but his disciples are openly annoyed and tell Jesus to: “send her away for she keeps crying out after us.” In response, Matthew records the following dialogue: “He [Jesus] answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.’ The woman came and knelt before him. ‘Lord, help me!’ she said. He replied, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’ ‘Yes, it is Lord,’ she said. ‘Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.’ And her daughter was healed at that moment.”

On the surface, Jesus’ comments appear stunningly harsh, but context is everything here. We only have a summary of what was likely a lengthy, nuanced dialogue. We cannot see the half smile on Jesus’ face as he tests this woman out with what would have been a common insult of the day, tongue-in-cheek. What we do see is her sharp wit as she rises to meet his challenge.

But beyond the surface, this story shatters cultural norms in ways that go over our heads today. This was a Gentile woman with no status directly approaching – even shouting at - a Jewish male rabbi. Perhaps we could compare it to a homeless addict in a town centre, breaking through the police cordon and getting face-to-face with our Prime Minister, and yelling. This bold, persistent woman, with no rights or privileges, somehow recognises Jesus as the Messiah.

She will not be deterred. And Jesus responds.

Jesus was no respecter of boundaries; more often than not, he broke them. Here we see his disregard for race, gender and religion. He responds to faith wherever he finds it, and that may be among the most surprising groups.

The woman with a 12-year bleed

This second encounter is heart-breaking. (I highly recommend this moving account from The Chosen)

Here we see a lonely woman, truly an outcast from society. She has suffered from vaginal bleeding (likely) for twelve years and has spent all her money on doctors, only to find her condition is worse.

According to Old Testament law, not only is she unclean, but everything she touches becomes unclean. Excluded from her community, she is unable to come alongside or associate with others for fear of merely brushing past them and rendering them unclean. Her days were probably spent watching from a distance, imagining how life must be for those on the inside.

Jesus responds to faith wherever he finds it

So, in secret, she follows Jesus: “When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’ Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realised that power had gone out from him. He turned round in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ‘You see the people crowding against you,’ his disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, “Who touched me?”’ But Jesus kept looking around to see who had reached out. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet. Trembling with fear, she told him the whole truth. He said to her: ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace’”. (Mark 5:25-34).

The transformation of her life is all the more because this is the exact opposite of what should have happened. She should have made Jesus unclean, instead, he makes her clean. And her healing isn’t just physical, it’s a restoration of her dignity and worth. Jesus flips the script.

Again, Jesus has no second thoughts about connecting himself with this most marginalised person. Moreover, he responds to the persistent faith that reaches out to touch him.

The woman came in her vulnerability and powerlessness, believing that Jesus would make the difference. Perhaps it is when we come kneeling before Jesus, knowing we are powerless, that he is most able to respond.

Mary, the mother of Jesus

This one is different – but still a confrontation.

In the famous account of Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding at Cana, we find Jesus, his family and disciples all invited to a wedding celebration. Perhaps this is a close relative of Mary’s, perhaps she was helping with the catering, we don’t know, but Mary finds out before most people that they have run out of wine.

“Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’ ‘Woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so, they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’ They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine” (John 2:1-12).

When we come kneeling before Jesus, knowing we are powerless, he is most able to respond

Here we see Jesus’ mastery of the elements, reaching into the very fabric of creation. Something happened at the molecular level to cause the atoms and molecules to somehow re-configure themselves from water into wine. But the best description of what happened that day in Cana, sometimes attributed to St Augustine, is simpler: “The water looked into the face of its maker, and blushed.”

Beautiful!

Let’s return to the curious conversation between Jesus and his mother. Jesus’ comment “why do you involve me?” is found elsewhere in the New Testament and is usually meant as a rebuke. It seems Jesus didn’t want to perform miracles that day. Yet Mary persists in her faith that Jesus will do…something.

Perhaps this story tells us more about Mary than Jesus. She, like the previous women, won’t take no for an answer. It even looks like she overrules Jesus.

What do these women teach us?

All women in New Testament times were side-lined, but two of these three were particularly isolated by ethnicity, religion and society itself. And yet we see that God delights in responding to outcasts, honouring faith wherever he finds it. This is a key biblical theme: God often works through those whom society disregards.

However, the key message from these remarkable women has to be their courageous persistence.

Persisting in faith and prayer doesn’t come easy, but perhaps that’s why God values it. When we long for something so much that we simply won’t let go, it contrasts sharply with modern society’s quick fixes and instant gratifications. These women didn’t accept their circumstances or the answers they were given, even when the odds were against them.

I confess I find this kind of empty-handed, powerless persistence difficult. Perhaps it’s because I am a man, or just because I am me. But if Paul was right, that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness ( 2 Corinthians 12:9-10), maybe this is how God would have us come to him; persisting, risking it all – asking, seeking, knocking tenaciously, until the door is opened.