It was the sole act of Jesus Christ laying his hands on an individual of Jericho, named Bartimaeus, that healed a once blind man. It was also through the miracle of Christ, that one “half-empty” basket consisting of only five loaves and two fish turned into a basket able to feed a crowd of thousands. Through similarly prominent events in the gospel, the disciples and many followers, who had either heard or seen of the acts performed by the claimed “son of God,” began to question Jesus. If someone so powerful––so divine––could cast out demons, walk on water and even turn water into wine, why would he go out of his way to share table fellowship with women and sinners? More so, why did Jesus serve as an advocate for these outcasts?
The book of Luke features more women than any other gospel, and Jesus himself interacted with all the different types of women. They ranged from being Jewish, Samaritan, to Non-Israelite or Roman. He interacted with women both in public settings, ranging from markets or working in businesses like the Philippi cloth dealer Lydia, to private settings as specific as the home setting. In fact, the dominant social location to which women were held was in the home; they were occupied with household duties such as cleaning, cooking, and were highlighted for their roles as “childbearers” or “wives”, rather than as an equal to men. However, apart from the situation of marriage, the dichotomy between men and women was semi-non evident in cases involving larger households (where the women could command the working servant) or in cases such as widowhood. Women could exercise their “considerable freedom”, yet in the gospel these women were viewed as sinful, sexual and silent objects. As many women mentioned in the book of Luke, yet alone any gospel, more than half remained anonymous.
Although there are examples in which Jesus silences the speech of women such as his mother, it becomes clear to him that every woman he comes in contact with teach him a more valuable lesson. As silent as they remain, their actions speak louder than words. In Luke 13:20-21, the women knead enough flour to make loaves in abundance for feeding the whole village for a day. This models God’s promise and sustaining work to feed His people. A nameless woman presents herself with two small coins; this is all she has, yet it is worth more than the rich’s sacrifice. She gives up the only two coins to which she has to survive, and Jesus recognizes this to be an act of complete surrender that God demands from his people. On the few remaining days before Jesus’ death, an unnamed woman in the Pharisee’s house pours out a bottle of expensive perfume and cries tears over washing his feet. No one in the home had given this guest the proper treatment, but the woman’s actions were instead an apology for her sins.
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Through the abundant examples used to show the repentance of these women, mankind still considered them sinners. An anonymous women with a twelve-year disorder of bleeding had touched Jesus to become well. He turned to this woman “Who touched me [and took power from me]?” As scared as she might have been to reach out to touch any part of him, Jesus restored her and her faith. Others looked upon this specific situation and marked her as “unclean.” What becomes seemingly clear throughout all of these situations is that there is no concern with Jesus’ interactions with specifically women. It is the recognition that they are “sinner woman” due to their sinful character, and they are given this label due to Levitical standards. This is mimicking to the label of sinners, as the term “sinner” was used to announce those who did not withhold the standards, or abide to the norms of the Jewish community.
Jesus was considered a sinner by definition to the Jewish leaders. He healed the woman with the twelve-year disorder, but what made this act “sinful” was that he did so on the Sabbath. The Pharisees or religious leaders thought the Sabbath should have been kept a certain way, yet Jesus removed himself from such acceptance. God was accepting of all, woman, sinners, and was not basing His decision on an agreement made between religious leaders. God was not bound to the decisions in what others thought He should do, and neither is His son. It is only a “sin” if humankind continued to fail by committing wrongful behavior or stray away from the path of God without repentance. But in order to remove humankind as a whole from sin, God sent down his only son, Jesus, to restore sinners. And rather than condemn or remove these individuals from society like the rest, Jesus embodied God’s acceptance for others to see that the kingdom of Heaven was an open invitation for those who would repent and follow his word.
There were various ways to reach repentance as Jesus had claimed and acted upon from his ministry. In Luke 6:32, the disciples and followers are taught that they can “be better than sinners” or rebuke the action becoming a sinner themself by acting better to those labeled in society as sinners. There are also cases in which individuals such as John was baptised in order to forgive his sins through the washing and edification in God. There are other cases as mentioned above to which the unnamed woman used even the most simplest form of sorrow by using her tears and a bottle of perfume to cleanse the feet of Jesus. Others saw such an action of using an expensive bottle as sinful, which Jesus saw it as an act of glorifying him. But the last, and the most important act of forgiving our sins was Jesus Christ shedding his blood and dying. As dismissed as woman and sinners were, they were placed in such a low position due to the “complex web of sociocultural factors that led to [their] disempowered and desperate predicament.” Through recognition of the outcasts’ ease to repent and follow God’s word, Jesus was quick to partake in table fellowship with these groups. But throughout his lifetime of ministering to the importance of repentance, Jesus died on the cross to ultimately save all his people from sin.
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners…” Although Jesus was in recognition of what power he held as the son of God, he primarily served as an advocate for these “outcasts” through their “models of discipleship in their faith”; Jesus realized such discipleship through acts of repentance and sorrow, acceptance of God’s word and commitment to follow Jesus. He relied on parables to teach others about the kingdom of God, but acted out this parable for others to see that the kingdom itself was welcoming to anyone who would actually receive his message. In addition to this, many even referred to Jesus as a sinner himself, yet he did not let such a social position hold him back from his interactions.
