Women have an important and prominent role in Luke-Acts. This is demonstrated from the birth narrative through to the resurrection in the Gospel and in the early chapters of the book of Acts. In discussing the role of women in the development of the Jesus movement I will concentrate on specific events within Luke-Acts; the birth narrative, the women who travelled with Jesus and the story of Martha and Mary, as well as including examples from the Acts of the Apostles. My starting point is the premise that women are presented in Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles in a positive way.
A technique that Luke uses within the narrative of the Gospel is pairing references. When Luke writes of an action, a cure, an expression of faith or when in a parable he uses a male character as the focus in the story, he will more often than not also use a complimentary example of a woman. For the majority of times that Luke uses this technique, it is used to suggest a measure of equality between the sexes that was unexpected in the time of Jesus. (Kopas 1986 p193)
Of these pairings there is the pairing of Zechariah to Mary. Both experience annunciations delivered by angels. Zechariah’s experience is recorded in Luke 1:8-23, and the annunciation to Mary is recorded in Luke 1:24-38. Another pairing is that of Simeon praising God in the temple (Luke -35) followed by Anna praising God (Luke -38). Another pairing is used when Jesus heals a man possessed by an evil spirit (Luke -37) immediately prior to the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law (Luke -39.) An example of a pairing used in parables is when Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God Kingdom of God
It is not entirely clear what the purpose of presenting material in pairings actually is, although mentioned above some suggests it demonstrates a measure of equality. The tool of pairings is not used in any of the other Gospels and Luke does not seem to continue using the tool in the same way in the Acts of the Apostles. In the Acts of the Apostles the pairings are usually of men and women together. For example, groups waiting (Acts -14), Ananias and Sappharia (Acts -18), a crowd of men and women (Acts ) and Priscilla and Aquilla (Acts 18:1-4). (D’Angelo 1990 pp445-448)
It is possible that in using the tool of pairings, Luke is explicitly demonstrating that the message of the kingdom of God
It was the consensus that Luke has a positive opinion of women. Karris (2002 p24) states that between 1970 and 1990 that this consensus was dominant and went almost unchallenged. Early feminist discussion on the subject saw Luke has having a radical standpoint on Jewish female roles. (Corley 1993 p109) However, Karris says that from the early 1980’s the understanding that Luke has a negative opinion of women began to be expounded. Both sides of the debate, the positive and the negative are feminist opinions. Corley suggests that the reason for Luke is negative about women is that he is more concerned about keeping the support of the traditional Greco-Roman understanding of the private role of women. In other words, women may be prominent in the narrative but that prominence does not change or challenge the established status quo for women.
The women in the birth narrative are Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist and Mary, the mother of Jesus and the prophetess Anna. Anna receives a brief mention when Mary and Joseph take the baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem Elizabeth
Luke paints a picture of a married couple yearning to be parents and hoping for their shame and disgrace of being childless to be taken away. As the events unfold, Luke ascribes to Elizabeth
The way in which the births of John the Baptist and Jesus are announced recall similar scenes in the Old Testament. Part of their purpose is to recall the past when God disclosed an important birth. (Tannehill 1996 p15) Mary’s acceptance is seen in contrast to that of Zechariahs. Mary is shown to have faith while the male Zechariah has doubt.
While still pregnant Elizabeth and Mary meet. (Luke 1:39-45) Mary is twice congratulated, first because the child within her is to be the Lord and secondly because of Mary’s response to God’s word. She is portrayed as a model disciple who hears and believes God’s word, (Talbert 2002 p25) someone who is an example for the community of faith to follow.
The third woman to be portrayed in the birth narrative is Anna. Luke does not ascribe any words to her, but he does go to some lengths to describe her background. (Luke 2:36-38) Anna is described as looking for the redemption of Israel
However, moving on to two other passages in the Gospel of Luke, demonstrates that some disagreement about how Luke portrays women exists. They are Luke 8:1-3, which tells of women who accompanied Jesus and Luke 12:38-42, when Jesus visited Martha and Mary.
It has been suggested that the named women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna who accompanied Jesus are female counterparts to the twelve apostles. (Tannehill 1996p136) What leads to this conclusion is that these women witness the crucifixion and in doing so supplement the witness to the twelve. When the apostles are named in Acts 1:13-14, these women are also mentioned. . They are only mentioned as “certain women” in the NRSV translation of these verses but this is taken to mean the women who were present to witness the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Luke names Mary Magdalene and Joanna as seeing the resurrected Jesus (Luke 24:10) and that the other women in their group had been with Jesus in Galilee . Karris (2002 p28) points out that the English translations of Luke 8:1-3 are in two sentences, whilst in the original Greek they are in one sentence. This is important because the single sentence structure of the verses indicates two subjects – Jesus and the women. The two sentence structure of the verses makes the women serving both Jesus and the twelve.
The point of the argument is that the women served Jesus. Traditionally it has been understood that the service given by the women was service at table. Karris (2002 p29) states that Ricci argues against this understanding. It is argued that Matthew 25:44 provides an apt parallel of service, and if it is transposed to Luke 8:3 it can be seen that the women were serving Jesus in more ways than waiting on tables. The word used to describe the women’s actions is diakoneia. When this word was used in Greek literature the meaning it conveyed was a go between. Karris (2002 p31) concludes that Luke 8:3 could read: Women who used their resources in going on mission for him.
These verses are a summary (Karris 2002 p32) and summaries are described by Co[i] ( pp56-57) as something more than an abbreviated account that precedes or follows a narrative, but is an independent and concise statement that describes a prolonged situation or describes an event as happening reflectively within an undetermined period of time. The situation that these verses describe something that was the norm and was accepted by those involved. It follows that the understanding of these verses has implications for the interpretation of Luke’s Gospel. It is possible that the women are present with Jesus and are his messengers even when they are not specifically mentioned in the text. This conclusion can be reached when in Luke 24:6-8 the women have discovered the empty tomb and angels (two men in dazzling clothes) appeared to them ask them to remember what Jesus said to them when they were in Galilee . The verses which they refer to could either be Luke or -34, but women are not specifically mentioned in the text as being present.
This gives rise to the question, could women have been present at Luke’s last supper? It has been argued by Quesnell[ii] that in Luke’s thinking a larger group was present and that larger group included women. Corley (1993 p112) does not think that Quesnell’s arguments are convincing. The argument against Quesnell’s belief that women were present at the last supper hinge on Luke 22:11, where Jesus asks for a place to eat the Passover with the disciples. Corley appears to make the assumption that disciples in this verse refer to the twelve male disciples and ignores the possibility that the women who travelled with Jesus were also followers worthy of the name disciple. Corley (1993 p113) points out that Quesnells arguments also fall down in the service that the women give to Jesus. The service is their financial support and not any kind of authority or leadership. Corley (1993 p116) sees Luke 8:1-3 in the context of highlighting the authority of the twelve males who take the place of Jesus in the early Christian Church. The women in Luke and later in Acts become part of the community that is served by the twelve. The only reversal of roles is that of the men who serve the women. On the other hand Karris (2002 p34) points out that in the discourse that Jesus has with his disciples at the last supper, he addresses a dispute that arose among them which was who among the disciples was to be regarded as the greatest. (Luke 22-28) The focus here is not on the twelve disciples but on the Lucan community that first heard the Gospel of Luke. Jesus’ response to the dispute in verse 26 is “the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves”, makes no sense if it is only addressed to the twelve. If women were present it may have been they who served and so provided an illustration that prompted the words.
However appealing or threatening the concept of women being present at the last supper is, it does not mean that Luke has an agenda of gender equalisation and is setting up the idea of women leadership as we know it, in the early church.
The story of Jesus’ visit to Martha and Mary is traditionally seen as an event that portrays a positive viewpoint of women. (Luke 10:38-42) Corley (1993 p135) states that Luke shows this positive concern for women in the interaction with Martha who tries to get Jesus to tell Mary to help her prepare a meal. But Jesus defends Mary’s choice of listening to his teaching. Mary is pictured like a rabbinical student sat at the feet of Jesus learning from him. In this situation Arlandson (1993 p 136) argues that Jesus was siding with those Jewish liberals of his day who permitted women to follow them. There is an implication that within the Judaism of the time women were beginning to be given a respect that had not been previously given to them. The central theme from this passage is directed to all, male and female that they must not allow even everyday tasks to impede their relationship with God. It is also seen as an affirmation of women’s participation in the life of the Christian community. (Corley 1993 p136). However, the view that this story presents women in a positive light is now being challenged. Some feminist theologians such as Fiorenza argue that Luke has a hidden agenda which is to discourage women from exercising leadership roles within the Christian community and to encourage them instead to adopt the passive silent example of Mary. (Tannehill 1996 p185)
Tannehill and Corley dispute this. Corley (1993 p137) maintains that Martha is seen as a leader of an early Christian house church but also acknowledges that the passage reflects the struggle in the church over women’s roles. (Corley 1993 p138) Tannehill accepts that Martha represents many people who played an important role in the spread of the gospel. Martha represents those people who gave hospitality to the itinerant preachers who enabled local churches to be planted. These people often became patrons or patronesses of the house churches and this came with a position of influence in the life of that church.
We have an example of this happening. In Acts 16 a woman called Lydia Philippi . She was a wealthy woman who served the Christian community by hosting visiting preachers. (Corley 1993 p143)
Jesus says of Martha that she is distracted by much service (pollen diakonian.) Those who argue that Luke intends to discourage women from exercising a leadership role point out that in Acts that diakonia is applied to preacher-leaders. Tannehill (1996 p185) however points out that that in this setting diakonia means caring for one’s guests especially by providing a meal which is what Martha was doing. Martha’s’ complaint that she needed help from Mary to provide the meal was an attempt to force Mary back into the expected role.
The conflict between the roles that Martha and Mary perform illustrates the diversity that discipleship can take, for both practical serving and listening to the word of God are seen as valid expressions of discipleship. The way in which Luke presents this story supplies the keystone of changed status of women which Luke reflects. (D’Angelo 1990 p448)
It is too easy to see Mary as a passive listener. Luke presents the reader-hearer with a pronouncement story that is designed to get a message across which does not give complete character portraits. Tannehill (1996 p186) argues against Mary being passive, as she has taken a bold step by not conforming to the expected role. The story implies that Mary cannot remain a passive listener. This does not mean that she will preach in public but she will be active in some way. The story of Martha and Mary defends the freedom of women in two ways. First, by Mary taking the role of a disciple and secondly, Mary is affirmed in her decision to neglect domestic duties in order to grow as a disciple.
Some see that it was Luke’s intent to discourage women and not prohibit Martha’s active role (Corley 1993 p141). This reduced the role of women in the early church to being the hosts to itinerant preachers (Corley 1993 p142). However, how the story of Martha and Mary is seen is dependent on the view that one has. There is the view that this story liberates women as it shows that women are able to be disciples without lowering the role of hospitality. The negative perspective of this story sees the story as restricting women. In the house church setting of the early church the spiritual and practical ministries of women coalesced. When Luke has Jesus praising the silent Mary and silencing the active Martha, he opens the way to be used by later male leaders in the church to rob women of both half’s of their power; the activity of hosting – leading and proclaiming. (Arlandson 1993 p136)
Luke portrays gender roles in terms that people from the Greco-Roman culture would understand. (Corley 1993 p117) He is sensitive to the understanding of the world he is witnessing to. The way in which Luke presents women, as important examples of service may reflect the division of society. At the time of Luke’s writing, the family was a production unit that had women as managers. The early church was based on a household model which enabled women to exercise leadership in the church. (Tannehill p139)
Fiorenza (1983 pp183-4) argues that women were among the most prominent leaders in the early church. She maintains that the more independent a woman leader was, the less chance she had to be remembered in history. Originally the church was based on a Jewish model but as the church made headway in the Greco-Roman world the church adapted to the structures of that society which made women leader’s invisible. Luke does not deny women’s participation but treats them with terminal discretion (D’Angelo 1990 pp461). The highlighting of gender being a criterion for membership of the twelve (Acts -26) probably addresses the need for witnesses to be male in the Greco-Roman world, not that women were unsuitable candidates because of their gender.
Women feature prominently in Luke’s Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles. They were written in a particular context and in a style that did not alienate members of the society they were trying to reach with the gospel. The message is directed to those who are believers, to a community that places women on equal footing with men. Women in this community were defined by their relationship to God, not through a relationship to a man or patriarchal structures (Fiorenza 1992) Luke does not openly state that change to those structures must happen but perhaps, as people from those structures come into the community of faith and are transformed by the new way of relating to one another, those structures in society will be eventually changed too.
References
Arlandson, James, “Women, Class and Society in Luke-Acts” Peadbody , MA
Corley, Kathleen E, Private “Women, Public Meals”, Peabody , MA
D’Angelo, Mary R “Women in Luke-Acts: A Redactional View. Journal of Biblical Literature Vol 109 No 3 (Autumn) 1990
Fiorenza Elisabeth S. “A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins” Crossroads, New York
Karris, Robert J. “Women and Discipleship in Luke”, in Levine A.J. ed A Feminist Companion to Luke. London , New York
Kopas, Jane. “Jesus and Women: Luke’s Gospel” Theology Today July 1986
http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/jul1986/v43-2-article4.htm
Talbert, Charles H, Reading Luke: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the Third Gospel. Macon , Ga
Tannehill, Robert C, Luke. Nashville , TN
[i] Maria Anicia Co. “The major summaries in Acts: Acts2,42-47,4,32-35,5,12-16: Linguistic and Literary relationships” ETL.68 (1992) pp.49-85 quoted in Karris Robert J. “Women and Discipleship in Luke”, in Levine A.J. ed A Feminist Companion to Luke. London , New York
[ii] Quesnell Quentin, “The women at the Last Supper”, in Richard J Cassidy and Philip J Scharper (eds), Political Issues in Luke-Acts (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1983) pp.59-79 as quoted in Karris, Robert J. “Women and Discipleship in Luke”, in Levine A.J. ed A Feminist Companion to Luke. London , New York
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