Latest / Scripture Central / The Women of Easter I Come Follow Me I Handmaidens, Harems and Heroines I Lynne Hilton Wilson

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The Women of Easter I Come Follow Me I Handmaidens, Harems and Heroines I Lynne Hilton Wilson · Scripture Central

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  As the crowds come up to greet him and as he waits for the
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  donkey, the women are part of this crowd, which makes me so
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  happy to read about that. All the people running up the
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  hill included many different ages and genders.
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  Hosanna hosanna. This is extremely counter
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  cultural. These women are breaking the
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  cultural norm. They are not going with the
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  flow. They are not following the
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  prescribed cultural definitions of the Pharah sake lifestyle,
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  where a woman should remain indoors, never speak to a man,
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  and never become educated. And he is calling these women to
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  not only witness, but to testify.
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  And these women have the spirit of prophecy.
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  And the Lord then called the women throughout the rest of the
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  New Testament to be His. Hello and a blessed Easter to
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  you. I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson, part of
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  the Scripture Central team that tries to build enduring faith in
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  Jesus Christ. And what a better time of year
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  to talk about that than this holy, Holy Week of our Saviours,
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  last week of life and his resurrection.
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  I am thrilled, too, to be looking at the people in the
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  Easter story who are handmaidens and heroines.
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  I am thrilled to be able to look at Martha of Bethany and Mary of
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  Bethany, Mary of Nazareth in her later years, Jesus's Aunt,
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  Mary's sister Mary of Magdala, Mary of Cleophus, Mary the
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  mother of James and Josie, Mary the other Mary, Salome, mother
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  of James and John and spouse of Zebedee, as well as many other
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  women from Galilee. Now if you counted that up,
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  we've got enough Marys that really you only have to remember
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  3 woman's names, Martha, Salome and Auntie.
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  And that's I know she's an unnamed person, but I just love
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  the fact that Jesus Aunt is there as well.
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  As we read in John's gospel. As we talk about these women
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  today, I want to use the title prophetess.
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  In the New Testament, the Spirit of prophecy is defined as
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  someone who's had a witness of the spirit that Jesus is the
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  Christ and they testify of that. They are witnesses of it.
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  And today these women feel that category.
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  Every one of them become women with the Spirit of Prophecy.
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  And in the biblical definition, that is defined as a prophetess.
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  Now in the New Testament, we've got 45 named women, about 135
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  unnamed women, but some of those are categories like the
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  prostitutes or something, giving us a total of 180 named women.
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  So next year we'll go into those.
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  But for right now, I want to remind us that we're told at the
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  beginning of Luke, actually it's Luke chapter 8, verse one
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  through three that Jesus went through every city and village
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  preaching and the 12 were with him and certain women who had
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  been healed of evil spirits and infirmities.
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  Mary called Magdalene, Joanna. And it goes on and describes how
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  she's the wife of Chuza, who's a very wealthy, wealthy man and
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  works directly for Herod and Susanna and many others who
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  provided for him of their substance.
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  Now this is very interesting to me because at this time women
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  were not allowed to own property.
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  So this would suggest that people like Joanna's is in
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  agreement with her husband on donating money to cover the cost
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  of Jesus ministry. And it's not just the 12 that
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  are traveling with Jesus, it's all these women as well that go
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  from city to city. This is extremely
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  countercultural. These women are breaking the
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  cultural norm. They are not going with the
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  flow. They are not following the
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  prescribed cultural definitions of the Pharah sake lifestyle
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  where a woman should remain indoors, never speak to a man,
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  and never become educated. And this is all written up in
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  the Mishna from this time period.
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  Now, of course, there's exceptions to those rules.
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  We have a few examples of some very wealthy women who were
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  educated, who were allowed out of their house.
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  But the majority of the women, whether you're a Jew in
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  Alexandria and Philo is writing about you, or a Jewish woman in
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  Jerusalem, or a Jewish woman up in Galilee, the majority of
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  women were encouraged to remain in the house.
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  And if they ever went outside, they had to be completely
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  veiled, head to toe and never speak.
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  So let's put our hands together and give a shout of hurrah for
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  Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of James and Josie, and
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  Joanna the wife of Chuza, and Mary the wife of Cleophus.
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  You know, these great women, Salome and Martha and Mary of
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  Bethany just are able to make dramatic departures from the
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  culture of their day. And they were brave enough to do
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  it. Now let's open up to the text of
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  the Easter. And just as a reminder, the
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  synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke share a lot of
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  information, and they are all organized geographically.
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  So everything Jesus does up in Galilee is at the beginning of
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  their gospel. And everything that happens in
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  Jerusalem during that last week of his life is down at the end
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  of their gospel. You know, there's only one
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  Passover in their situation. So everything that happened in
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  Jerusalem in Jesus three-year ministry is telescoped down into
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  that one week. But John's gospel is organized
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  chronologically. And so we have three years.
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  We have different passovers. We have Jesus coming down for
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  the feast of the Tabernacles, feast of the dedication.
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  You know, he's he's going from Galilee down to Jerusalem
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  repeatedly, multiple times. And so we don't have the same
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  stories that the synoptics do. And I think John's Gospel is
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  more accurate of what happened that week.
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  Here's a small little outline of According to John's Gospel, the
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  triumphal entry was on a Sunday, and we celebrate that as
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  Christians on our Palm Sunday. But the day before of that would
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  have been his Sabbath. And the day before is when they
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  have the beautiful meeting with at Martha's house where Mary
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  washes his feet, which we'll talk about later.
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  And then in John's Gospel, that Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week
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  is when the Savior is teaching in the temple.
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  The cleansing of the temple is done three years earlier, not
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  now. There's also the preparation for
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  the Passover. There's the last suppering on
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  Wednesday and Gethsemane on Wednesday, and then on Thursday
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  morning. And the very, very early hours
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  of the day is his arrest, his trial, his crucifixion, his
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  burial. And the Passover begins at
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  sunset and then on Friday and Saturday at the Lord is in the
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  tomb and which gives us a portion of three days and three
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  nights in the tomb. And then on this Sunday, Jesus
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  is resurrected. I want to start with wonderful
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  Mary and Martha of Bethany. These wonderful sisters, Martha
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  and Mary, are recorded in three different places.
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  Luke chapter 10 gives us the story where the Savior is
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  teaching Mary, sitting there, learning from him, and we see
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  her there repeatedly in the Gospel of John as well.
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  In John's Gospel we read of them again at the raising of Lazarus
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  and and then again and right before the Saviors last week of
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  his life. And that's the story.
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  When Mary of Bethany buys that very expensive nard and real
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  nard, it means spikenard, sort of like the real Gucci or
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  something. You know, it's a very expensive
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  perfume. It takes almost a year's worth
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  of Labor to pay for that. And we have this beautiful story
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  where the Savior honors her. Didn't mean her for using money
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  in that way. He says she has done this in
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  preparation for my burial. Now Mary of Bethany is not the
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  wicked woman up in Galilee at the Pharisees house who washes
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  Jesus's feet with her tears. That's a different story.
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  Don't get these two women confused, please.
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  Washing a feet was done often by your slaves, your children and
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  women. Women are in the same
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  socioeconomic category as slaves and children.
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  But in John chapter 12, after that sacred dinner, he talks
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  about arising early and those that are traveling with him from
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  Galilee, they've stopped in Bethany on the backside of the
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  Mount of Olives. And now they go up to the top of
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  the Mount of Olives and the crowds begin to gather.
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  And so this would be on a Sunday morning.
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  I love picturing in my mind's eye what the Lord saw at the
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  top, the Crest of the Mount of Olives.
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  Down below him he sees the garden, the orchards of which
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  are known now as Gethsemane. He sees the winter flowing
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  Kidron. Because it's early spring, there
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  still was probably a little runoff.
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  He sees the Maiden Highway, where the crucifixion poles are.
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  The crossbeams are carried by the person who's going to be
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  crucified, but the poles are always in the ground, right
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  beside the Major Rd. He also sees the edge of Mount
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  Moriah on the far South side or his left, which was called in
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  the ancient times Gehenna or Hell because of the burning and
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  the things that were done by certain kings there who
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  sacrificed their children. It's a horrific place, but from
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  that vantage point on the Mount of Olives, he's able to see
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  what's going to happen to him that week, including the
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  beautiful, glistening Golden Temple.
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  That Herod has now got the buildings finished, but they are
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  still adding the gold leaf. And the Herod began that in 20
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  BC and it's not finished until 63AD and then it's destroyed
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  starting in 6869 and 70 completely.
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  So this is a amazing vantage point for the Lord to be
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  standing there as the crowds come up to greet Him and as He
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  waits for the donkey. But the women are part of this
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  crowd, which makes me so happy to read about that.
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  All the people running up the hill included many different
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  ages and genders. Hosanna, Hosanna.
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  And I presume that even though we were not alive then, we could
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  have been part of those heavenly hosts that were joining in that
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  beautiful song and praise of their king entering in on a
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  donkey, not on a War Horse. And of course, this is
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  fulfilling the prophecy in Zechariah 9 that the Lord will
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  come seated on a donkey. Matthew's the only one that says
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  there's two. And Matthew, I think, is reading
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  Zechariah 9A little differently than it than it says.
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  But for whatever reason, Matthew included two and the others all
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  have one. The four gospels each mentioned
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  the Savior coming to the temple and preaching in the court of
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  the women. This is significant to me
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  because initially when Moses establishes his Tabernacle and
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  then Solomon builds the temple, we have different areas for the
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  priests, for the Levites, for the males who are Israelite, and
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  for the women and children. But by the time of Harrah's
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  Temple, you know he, he cut off the top of Mount Moriah, He's
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  made this huge 35 acre platform where he has expanded the court
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  of the Gentiles. By this time in the New
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  Testament, the court of the women is not just the last place
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  the women can go, but the women are secluded over in one corner.
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  This is all coming from the Mishnah.
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  They are to stay over in the treasury where they can pay
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  their dues and silently leave. They can only enter, as I
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  mentioned before, if they're completely veiled, head to toe,
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  over their face, over their fingers, over their toes.
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  So there were not as many women there, but we do know that there
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  were some there. We know that our wonderful
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  Mother of the Lord went there on a regular basis.
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  It says in Luke, she went every year and worshipped in that
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  courtyard as well. When we get to Wednesday of the
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  Holy Week, the scripture says that the Savior asked for
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  Catalama. It's a rented room and you
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  remember our Lord said I have no way place to lay my head.
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  The Son of Man has no home. He's always on the go.
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  This mission was exhausting for him, I'm sure.
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  And yet he was born in a rented building and now his Last Supper
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  will also be eaten in a catalama or place of lodging.
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  Were the women in this upper room?
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  There's no reference to them in the text, but that is normal for
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  that time and age. I think Kent Brown, a professor
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  at BYU who's written a fabulous commentary on the Gospel of Luke
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  from the BYU Commentary series with Eric Huntsman's translation
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  of the new of the text here from the Greek that I'd encourage you
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  all to read. Kent Brown lines up all the
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  reasons why the women were there and and he's convinced me.
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  Of course they had to be there. You think ourselves run around
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  and do all the work. Absolutely not.
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  The women were there, you know they wouldn't be eating at that
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  same table. Women and men did not eat
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  together unless you were closely related family.
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  But knowing how the Lord worked, I would not be surprised if he
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  invited them. They come out of the kitchen,
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  out of the room or the rooftop where they were cooking and and
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  preparing. They were the ones preparing the
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  unleavened bread. They were the ones preparing the
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  meal for hours. You can't just walk in and have
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  a meal ready without work. And remember, the women are
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  those who are the servants and slaves in that category of that
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  day and age. And and even though they're
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  wealthy women, even though they're paying for the Lord's
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  mission, that is their socio economic role at that time in
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  both the Greco Roman world and the Judaic world, more so in the
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  Judaic world than the Greco Roman.
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  But remember, our Savior taught multiple times in multiple
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  gospels. I am among you as one who
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  serves. And just stepping back and
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  looking at the whole Roman Empire, 1/3 of the population
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  are in that category of servants or slaves, and half of big
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  cities. So half of Rome is living in
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  servitude, half of Jerusalem is living in servitude.
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  And so the idea that women and children do slaves work should
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  not be surprising to us. The most interesting part for me
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  about this socioeconomic period is that even disciples, did the
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  slaves work for their master teacher.
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  You know, they would help him get dressed, they would help him
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  brush his hair, they would help him eat.
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  They would pull the meat off the bones.
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  But a disciple was not allowed to wash his master's feet.
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  That was absolutely forbidden. It was too horrific, too
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  demeaning. And that's why Peter goes crazy
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  when the Lord takes off his outer cloak, puts on an apron,
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  and does the work of a servant. And Peter is corrected by the
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  Lord and humbly changes his heart like that and allows
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  himself to learn the lesson that our Savior is teaching, that
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  masters have got to serve to be a master like our Savior, to be
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  a master teacher, to be a leader in His Kingdom, to be in His
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  shoes. We must learn how to serve each
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  other and wash each other's feet.
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  I think that message would have rung so true to the women who
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  were often assigned the task of washing the filthy, bleeding,
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  calloused feet. Mark says the Son of Man did not
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  come to be served, but to serve. And so the Last Supper rolls on
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  and the story is known. Well, I just want to emphasize
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  the parts that the women were participating in, the bread that
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  Jesus broke to introduce the sacrament that appears to be
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  part of the Judaic Seder, Alpha Coleman, that you hide it and it
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  represents the hidden Messiah who made that bread.
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  This is the women. The women made that bread.
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  I feel like they are taking the role of of an assist in a
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  basketball game. You know, they are taking the
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  role of someone who prepares the way so that everything can run
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  smoothly. They are probably the ones also
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  who diluted the wine to three to 1, three parts water, one part
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  wine. They are probably the ones who
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  are doing all this work so that the Savior then can teach it.
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  My favorite teachings at the Last Supper.
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  In John's beautiful account in chapter 15, verse 5, the Lord
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  describes Himself as a vine. And you disciples, men, women,
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  and children bond free. Anyone who loves the Lord is a
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  branch. And if we can always remember
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  Him, we can receive His strength to produce His fruit.
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  It's just a beautiful thing. I hope the women got to hear the
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  intercessory prayer, but even if they didn't, John recorded it
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  and it could have been passed on to the Saints over the years so
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  that this Christian disciples would have known the Lord
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  prayed. I come unto the Holy Father,
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  keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me,
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  that they may be one, as we are one.
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  The Lord love these women. He called them as His first
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  witnesses, and I think they are included in this intercessory
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  prayer. I think the women probably slept
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  the night in that upper Chamber of that upper room.
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  I don't know if that meant it was on the upper city over.
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  It meant it was upstairs. But whatever the situation is,
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  the Greek is a little ambiguous. The apostles and the Lord went
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  down to the Mount of Olives, and according to John's Gospel, they
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  crossover the Kidron, the winter flowing Little River there, to
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  an orchard where there is an olive press.
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  That's why it's called Gethsemane.
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  It's an olive press right there. There are probably grapevines
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  there as well. And as our Savior had to suffer
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  from the pains of the world, He was pressed as an olive was.
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  And as the word Christ means the word anointed One or Messiah.
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  Messiah He is producing that night as He is suffering for our
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  sins, the anointing that not only He was anointed by the
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  Father, but He must produce his form of anointing for those
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  people that come unto him, that receive Him, that become
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  Christians or anointed ones. I really appreciate each
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  different gospels account. Mark describes the horrific
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  torture of falling to the ground and Matthew falling on his face.
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  Mark says ABBA father, all things are possible.
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  Whereas Luke has the Lord maintained dignity.
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  He calls unto his Father for help, and in response to that
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  prayer, the Lord sends him an Angel.
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  And I believe that when we too are in agony and we pray more
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  earnestly, we too will receive angelic ministrations as he did.
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  But my favorite account is in the Doctrine Covenants first
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  person. The Lord is talking to Martin
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  Harris about the importance of repentance and he describes.
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  Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all,
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  to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and
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  suffer both body and spirit and wood, that I might not drink the
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  bitter cup and shrink. Nevertheless, glory be to the
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  Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto
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  the children of men. Even looking back on that Elder
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  Holland describes he had to pause and couldn't go forward.
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  He pled before the Father, and yet the evening continued in
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  horrific torture of scourging and looking forward to the
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  humiliation and pain of the crucifixion.
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  Even though he was so weak he could not carry his own
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  crossbeam, he still sees women crying for him and he
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  acknowledges their need. And he says, Daughters of
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  Jerusalem, weep not for me. And who is near him at the
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  crucifixion? Not the 12th.
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  John the Beloved is the only disciple there beside these
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  Galilean women. We know his mother was there
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  because they have a conversation, and we know of
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  others because they're listed. In fact, I've made a chart of
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  the women mentioned it, both the cross and the tomb.
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  And as you look at Matthew's accounts of both those women and
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  Mark and Luke and John, it's consistent that Mary of Magdala
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  is there. Mary the mother of James and
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  Josie is there. There's another Mary there.
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  Luke includes Joanna, wife of Chuza, and our wonderful John
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  includes Jesus's mother was there.
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  We also have the mother of Zebedee there.
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  Now it appears in Mark's gospel that her name is Salome.
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  Now maybe Salome was just one of these other women, but Salome is
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  the mother of John and and so I and James and and wife of
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  Zebedee. So I assume that she is a
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  significant person, and I wonder if she is listed as Jesus's
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  mother's sister. And the reason why I say that is
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  in John's gospel, he never mentions his own name, he never
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  mentions the name of Mary, and Jesus's mother always calls her
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  respectful titles. And then he's not mentioning
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  Jesus's mother's sister's name. Could it possibly be his own
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  mother? And he lives in a culture where
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  the name of the Lord is never mentioned.
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  Could he, out of respect, not be mentioning Jesus's mother and
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  his own mother? And could John the Beloved be
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  Jesus's first cousin? This is a very interesting chart
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  to look at, and I have everything written up on my hand
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  out as well about it if you'd like to take a more look.
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  As you know, they were preparing for a high holy day.
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  And in John's Gospel this is a Thursday, and some of the other
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  translations of John 1931, you see that they have to take him
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  off the cross, because it is on the eve of the Passover, and
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  then the next day is the Sabbath.
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  So they cannot do work for two days.
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  But these women that assist Joseph of Arimathea in the tomb
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  and and Nicodemus's servants who have all come to carry the body
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  of our Lord and to bring the spices.
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  It says 100 lbs in King James, but the pound then was only 12
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  ounces. So it was about 75 lbs of spices
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  and ointments. But those women hurry back after
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  they've begun helping the servants in the preparation.
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  After they know that the Lord is being buried in a tomb close by
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  this main road, a garden setting that's close by the where the
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  crucifixion took place, they hurry back to be in their own
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  places before sunset, before the Passover begins.
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  But it is so ironic to me that as thousands and thousands and
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  hundreds of thousands of people are possibly walking up this
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  main road during the crucifixion up to the Temple Mount to
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  receive their lambs for their Passover.
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  That night they are passing by our Passover, the Lamb of God,
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  whom Nephi mentions I think like 45 times or something, the name
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  of the Savior as the Lamb of God.
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  But these diligent women wait until the end of the second
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  Sabbath so that the Savior is in the tomb for three days and part
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  of three nights before they come.
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  But it is still dark, we're told, when they tiptoe back and
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  they retrace their steps. I'm sure it was extremely
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  dangerous and extremely scary, especially as they came down the
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  main road and could have seen the places where those
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  crucifixion polls were. I'm sure they remembered the
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  sounds of the smells from three days before.
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  I'm sure they comforted each other.
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  But remember, they're heavily veiled and it's dark.
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  But when they get there and they realize that an earthquake
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  happens, the roll, the stone has rolled away by angels, and they
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  see angels inside. They also have witnesses.
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  Come and invite them, come and see, and then they are
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  commissioned by divine angels. Go quickly and tell the
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  apostles. Remember, in the book of Matthew
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  the word for disciple is always apostles.
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  And those women have seen the empty tomb, and they joyously go
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  back and express this statement, that the angels have told them
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  He has risen. But our beloved Mary of Magdala
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  cannot leave. And the Savior comes to her,
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  calling her by name and introducing her as the first
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  witness of His resurrection. Matthew's Gospel says as the
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  women were leaving that the Savior also came to them.
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  And he tells them, do not be afraid, but go and tell my
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  brethren, you know, this was a completely opposed in the
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  ancient Scriptures, women were not allowed to bear witness.
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  And at the time of the New Testament, when the oral laws
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  are dictating this, women could not be a voice in a court of
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  law. But the Savior is trying to cut
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  away. He's making a dramatic departure
• 26:47
  from this cultural inaccuracy, and he is calling these women to
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  not only witness, but to testify.
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  And these women have the spirit of prophecy.
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  And the Lord then called the women throughout the rest of the
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  New Testament to be His witnesses, to bear his name.
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  And the same has happened now. He is calling women to become
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  priestesses and prophetesses and to raise their voice to testify
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  of knowing that Jesus is the Christ.
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  And I would like to add my voice with these great women, that He
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  is our Savior, He is our Redeemer.
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  And Hosanna, hosanna to the Son of God, on this glorious Easter
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  season, may we humbly bend our knee and bow our head and follow
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  his example to come, not to be served, but to serve in the name
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  of Jesus Christ, Amen.