Don't Know Much About the Bible - Kenneth C. Davis [156]
If she had a good lawyer, Mary of Magdala could have sued for libel. The images of her as prostitute, adulteress, sinner, or Jesus’ girlfriend all reflect either wishful thinking or serious misreadings. Perhaps because Jesus’ mother was a “good” Mary, early church leaders wanted to create a “bad” Mary who was saved by Jesus. But the biblical references to Mary of Magdala just don’t bear out her wanton image. Luke described Mary of Magdala as one of seven women whom Jesus healed by casting out “demons.” She then joined the group of devoted women followers who supported Jesus in his ministry. Her place among the followers was certainly somewhat special, as she is one of the women who goes to Jesus’ tomb to tend his body after he died and Jesus appears to Mary specifically after his resurrection.
Did Jesus look down on women?
Though cast in supporting roles in the Gospels, women like Mary of Magdala, Martha, and Mary, the sister of Lazarus, defy the concept, etched into dogma by the church, that women were secondclass citizens to Jesus. A woman’s place in first-century Jewish society was clearly limited. In the time of Jesus, a woman was “betrothed” or “espoused”—although “bought” might be a better term—at the age of twelve or fourteen. With little more status than a slave, she was meant to have children and maintain the proper dietary laws at home. School was for boys, of course, and women could only enter so far into the temple or synagogues. A woman could not enter a temple during times of “uncleanness,” whether her menstrual period or the weeks following the birth of a child. Women had no rights of possession, and though they could sue for divorce, the husband had to grant it.
But women frequently played a central role in Jesus’ life and teaching. In one small but rather striking episode told in Mark and Matthew, Jesus ignores a Canaanite woman who asks him to heal her child. Initially he responds by saying that he was sent to tend the “lost sheep of Israel” and rather dismissively and callously tells her, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” He means that his message is meant for Jews, not Gentiles; that was a sentiment he expressed in the early Gospels, and there are often disparaging references to Gentiles. But the woman brings Jesus up short when she tells him that even dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table. Realizing that a Gentile can accept his message, Jesus says, “Great is your faith” and he heals her daughter.
There are several other women who play key roles in the Gospels, and Jesus is often depicted talking with women who were outcasts of one kind or another. In a memorable scene recorded in John, he challenges a crowd of people ready to stone an adulteress. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone,” Jesus says, and the crowd sheepishly departs.
Besides the three Marys, Luke also singles out a Joanna and a Susanna who supported and fed Jesus and the disciples. As later biblical evidence from Acts and Paul’s letters shows, women in the early church were far