Thursday, April 9, 2015

Reflection - Are We All Equal?

Source Website: http://brucehennigan.com/2012/12/03/are-we-all-equal/
Posted by Bruce Hennigan on 3 December 2012


In the Jewish culture of Jesus of Nazareth, women were very low in status. If a women was caught in the act of adultery, she could be stoned - forget about the man’s transgressions! The testimony of a woman was useless and never to be taken as truthful.
PHOTO: In the Jewish culture of Jesus of Nazareth, women were very low in status. If a women was caught in the act of adultery, she could be stoned - forget about the mans transgressions! The testimony of a woman was useless and never to be taken as truthful.
Picture from Central Valley SDA Church, A Love that Transforms
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H3nUBLRdPGM/VSaHAE2jDuI/AAAAAAAAfxs/qJRESD_PQOw/s1600/Adulterous.jpg
http://centralvalley.adventistfaith.org/site_data/%3Csite_id%3E/poster_images/0000/0217/Adulterous.jpg
http://centralvalley.adventistfaith.org/revelation-of-hope-seminar


There were only two women in my medical school class of 100 students. Back in the late seventies, women doctors were few and far between. It was a time of women's liberation. Frankly, I didn't get why women were not treated equally. My mother and father had set an example for me. My mother was a working woman back in the 1950s and 1960s right up to her retirement as a school bus driver in the mid 1970s. My father shared the job of cooking and cleaning. Every Saturday morning, he swept the entire house of all the dirt and dust of the prior week. I never heard him say anything about "women's work". Both of my sisters were career women even after they married and had children. I guess I was fortunate that my parents taught me that we are all equal in the eyes of God no matter what our gender, religion, race, or stature in life.

That particular belief did not come from a political point of view. It came from our devotion to the teachings of Christ. As I mentioned two posts ago, I want to look at the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth in this Christmas season and focus on those teachings without focusing on the religious claims about Jesus. I maintain that Jesus of Nazareth taught us powerful lessons that transcend culture and religion; lessons that even an atheist (a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods) or agnostic (
a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God) can live with. In fact, Jesus taught us powerful lessons that everyone should apply to our lives.


Jesus of Nazareth & Mary Magdalene
PHOTO: Jesus of Nazareth & Mary Magdalene
St. Mary Magdalene has an interesting track record. What we know about her from the Bible is that Jesus cast out seven demons from her and afterwards she became one of his most loyal disciples.

St. M&M traveled with Jesus and His Apostles. When Our Lord was crucified the disciples fled (except for St. John) but Mary stood vigil with Our Lady and waited with Jesus until He died. Since she stayed at the Cross until the end she most likely helped clean His body, wrap Him in linens, and place Him in the tomb. On Sunday, St. M&M along with some other women visited the tomb and were astonished to see the heavy boulder rolled away! The other women ran off but Mary stayed and Jesus appeared to her. Mary grabbed onto Jesus rejoicing that he was alive and Jesus gave her an important task. He told her to go and tell the disciples that He was risen.
Posted by Gordon Shumway, Published on Jun 26, 2014
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TyBYrNYIZxQ/VSaHBV3GasI/AAAAAAAAfyA/Mi3am2puDuE/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zQ7lmTNB1oE/maxresdefault.jpg
https://www.savetubevideo.com/?v=zQ7lmTNB1oE



Stop for a moment and consider the status of women in first century Palestine. Among the Roman culture, women were considered objects of sexual conquest and were often the center of many pagan religious practices. In the Jewish culture of Jesus of Nazareth, women were very low in status. They were little better than possessions. A man could divorce a women just be stating it was so. Women who had serious illnesses were considered unclean and untouchable. If a women was caught in the act of adultery, she could be stoned - forget about the mans transgressions! The testimony of a woman was useless and never to be taken as truthful.

However, we see an entirely different attitude toward women in four encounters Jesus had with a woman of his time. Each encounter is a teaching moment for us all to understand.

First, Jesus met a woman at a well. This woman had been married many times and was considered an adulterer. She came to the well in the heat of the day hoping no one would be there to make fun of her. She was also a Samaritan, considered lower than low; the most undesirable of the undesirables by any good Jew of the day. She met Jesus of Nazareth that day. He did the unthinkable and SPOKE to her! He told her all about herself. He told her that the water she drank from this well was temporary but that she should seek the water of spiritual fulfillment.

Here, Jesus illustrates one of the first of many very powerful lessons that all people are of equal value and of equal worth.



This woman was considered an adulterer and was also a Samaritan, considered lower than low; the most undesirable of the undesirables by any good Jew of the day. Jesus of Nazareth did the unthinkable and SPOKE to her!

PHOTO: This woman was considered an adulterer and was also a Samaritan, considered lower than low; the most undesirable of the undesirables by any good Jew of the day. Jesus of Nazareth did the unthinkable and SPOKE to her! (John 4:7-15)
Posted by Bruce Hennigan on 3 December 2012
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PwOa8Q0k19s/VSaHBzir4uI/AAAAAAAAfyI/16aIbo72Eps/s1600/woman-at-the-well-5001.jpg
http://dbhennigan.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/woman-at-the-well-5001.jpg
http://brucehennigan.com/2012/12/03/are-we-all-equal/



Second, Jesus was dining with a religious leader of the day. A woman appears suddenly at the door. She ignores the ridicule and chiding of the religious leaders and comes to Jesus. She produces a vial of expensive fragrance, pours it on Jesus' feet and his head and washes his feet with her tears and her hair. While the rest of the men present ridicule the woman's actions, Jesus accepts them as a gift and says that wherever and whenever his teachings are told down through the ages, this woman's devotion will be remembered.



Jesus accepts them as a gift and says that wherever and whenever his teachings are told down through the ages, this woman's devotion will be remembered.
PHOTO: Jesus accepts them as a gift and says that wherever and whenever his teachings are told down through the ages, this woman's devotion will be remembered. (Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; Luke 7:36-50; John 12:1-8)
Texts by Bruce Hennigan on 3 December 2012
Picture posted by Rich's "Pastor to Person" on 20 February 2015

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xepegiTmD5s/VSaHAPwdwYI/AAAAAAAAfxw/W95Zsyi6A1U/s1600/Sinner-Woman.jpg
http://calvaryfullerton.org/RichBlog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Sinner-Woman.jpg
http://calvaryfullerton.org/RichBlog/?p=1527



Third, is the most beautiful account of the woman caught in the act of adultery. We know from the account that this was a setup to trap Jesus; a trap set by the religious leaders of the day. Jesus literally disarmed the men ready to stone the woman with one of the most powerful statement in history, "Let he who is among you that is without sin cast the first stone." Then, Jesus does not condemn the woman but tells her she is free and to "go and sin no more"; that is don't allow yourself to get into the situation you were just in that almost led to your death. Learn from this and CHANGE your life for the better.



Go and Sin No More
PHOTO: "Go and Sin No More" (John 8:11)
The woman caught in the act of adultery; the account was a setup to trap Jesus; a trap set by the religious leaders of the day. Jesus literally disarmed the men ready to stone the woman with one of the most powerful statement in history, "Let he who is among you that is without sin cast the first stone." (John 8:7)
Texts by Bruce Hennigan on 3 December 2012
Picture posted by LDS.org

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Md4nYQabAgM/VSaHAU27bFI/AAAAAAAAfx0/M-z2kqfUHoU/s1600/AV120412_cah0084.jpg
https://www.lds.org/bc/content/bible-videos/videos/go-and-sin-no-more/images/AV120412_cah0084.jpg
https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/go-and-sin-no-more?lang=eng



"Go and Sin No More"

From: https://www.youtube.com/embed/w5GXnM_TxSQ


Fourth, it is very interesting that the accounts of Jesus' resurrection tell us that the first people he appeared to were women! A woman's testimony was worthless! If the story of the resurrection were false; that is, fabricated by men. they certainly would NOT have used women as the first line of testimony to the resurrection. Whether you believe this fact or not, the idea that Jesus would appear to women first is significant. His acknowledgement of women's worth for its time was astonishing.


Unique: Christ Jesus has destroyed death and has bought life and immortality to light through the gospel
PHOTO: "When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons" (Mark 16:9), New International Version.
Texts by Bruce Hennigan on 3 December 2012
Picture posted on pixgood.com - good pix galleries (The Resurrection)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1WYhNc7BMsI/VST6EjDu6nI/AAAAAAAAfwk/bTPDMxjFI3k/s1600/my-redeemer-lives-578369-print.jpg
http://marieleslie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/my-redeemer-lives-578369-print.jpg
http://pixgood.com/the-resurrection-lds.html



We see in these few examples (and there are many more) that Jesus of Nazareth disregarded a person's race (Samaritan), gender (female), and ethnic background (again, Samaritan). In fact, Jesus had harsh words for the religious leaders of the day calling them hypocrites. Jesus seems to be teaching that we are all equal in his eyes. Amazing, isn't it? Don't believe me? Look at this statement from a letter Paul wrote to the church in Galatia:
"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28).



Magdalena (1870)
PHOTO: Magdalena (1870)
Picture by Antonio Ciseri
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qUmyGdfhV6s/VSaHBmKxKPI/AAAAAAAAfyM/dh72PORhLM0/s1600/tumblr_n3qdxkUycz1roedt4o1_500.jpg
http://41.media.tumblr.com/65ceb62dffe7eda7ffc2df647d562909/tumblr_n3qdxkUycz1roedt4o1_500.jpg
http://colourthysoul.tumblr.com/post/82126236094/antonio-ciseri-magdalena-1870



What have I learned from the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth that I think all men and women should embrace:
Each person is unique and worthy.
No person is better than another.
No person is greater than another.


One should NEVER be looked down upon because of a difference in race, gender, religious beliefs, or stature in life.



kb Swindle Liz - He That is Without Sin
PHOTO: kb Swindle Liz - He That is Without Sin
Liz Lemon Swindle began her painting career in first grade. Her first exhibitions were on the refrigerator, encouraged by her father. In the early 1980s she tutored under renowned wildlife artist, Nancy Glazier. In 1992, Liz began painting a subject matter she had long desired to approach: her faith.



http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qxRwcM7odL4/VSaHBAlvgwI/AAAAAAAAfx4/u9umMZh7PV8/s1600/kb-Swindle-Liz-He-That-is-Without-Sin.jpg
http://artmight.com/albums/2011-02-07/art-upload-2/s/Swindle-Liz/kb-Swindle-Liz-He-That-is-Without-Sin.jpg
http://artmight.com/Artists/Swindle-Liz/kb-Swindle-Liz-He-That-is-Without-Sin-259364p.html



We should look upon EVERYONE with respect as our equal.

Once again, Jesus of Nazareth has taught us to do the HARD thing because it is the RIGHT thing to do!

Posted by Bruce Hennigan on 3 December 2012



Reference

NIV, New International Version, Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.