And many women were beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto Him. Matthew 27:55
One of the enduring impressions we get from reading the Gospels is that of the dusty roadways and lonely villages being traversed by a group of 13 men, as the Lord Jesus made His way through His years of ministry leading up to Calvary. We picture in our minds the disciples gathered around the Lord Jesus for their great discussions on vital topics, including the Sermon on the Mount, the interpretation of the parables, and others. We also picture our Lord and the twelve disciples as a uniform group as the great miracles of healing, feeding the multitudes, and raising the dead, are performed. But our text today informs us that our perceptions have been wrong. Many of these great events during our Lord’s ministry occurred in the company of not only His disciples, but also of a group of faithful and devoted women. We know of some of them, of course, including the different Marys, Salome, and others, but our text indicates there was a significant number of them, perhaps as many as there were disciples. We don’t read much about what any of them said or did, but their presences must have been significant. And when it came to the crucifixion, they were the ones who stayed, while the disciples forsook the Lord Jesus and fled.
Scripture makes it plain that men and women have different roles in God’s Assembly, in the family, and in Christian testimony. But Scripture also makes it plain that God does not place women in an inferior or secondary position. Many times in the Word, women are given praise for their faith and diligence, and the Lord often presents Godly women as great examples for us all. How vastly different the Lord Jesus is from the evil doctrine of the Mohammedans, who shamefully place women in the position of mere property and subject them to all manner of subjugation, abuse, and disrespect.
We can understand how meetings of our Assemblies are unable to function without the presence and activity of the men. But we should also understand how the meetings of our Assemblies also cannot function without the presence of women and their obedience to the godly pattern of covered heads and modest apparel. Just as the Lord Jesus and His disciples depended on the faithful ministry of the women for such services as serving meals, cleaning clothing, and maintaining cleanliness and neatness, so our Assemblies rely heavily on the exercise and skills of the sisters to plan and prepare many of the activities and duties that most men would do a poor job of.
Our Bible is careful to acknowledge the diligence and faithfulness of the godly women among us. So should we. -Jim MacIntosh