John 11:28 -- When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”
Thank You Lord for sleep. Thank You Lord for the early mornings. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
After Jesus making the powerful statement, "I am the resurrection and the life" Martha heads home to talk to her sister Mary.
One of the first things that jumps out is Martha calling Jesus, "The Teacher". During this time, religious authorities would not instruct women. If you recall way back in John chapter four, Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman in broad daylight was an insane upside-down thing according to the Jewish culture and society. There was even the group of Pharisees called "The Blind" or "The Bruised and Bleeding" because they would shut their eyes or look down when a woman was walking past them in public.
Okay, so what's the big deal?
The fact that Martha had just talked with Jesus openly on the road, then returns home to tell her sister "The Teacher" wants to talk to her. Pharisees and Teachers didn't teach women or even speak to them in public, yet Jesus not only speaks to Martha in public, but He also calls for Mary to come talk to Him openly.
I don't know that we fully understand the deep and powerful weight it carries that Jesus did this. Women were essentially property in these times, but not to Jesus. The Son of God, who in John 1:1-3 we find is the Word and learn that all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made, including women.
Here is Jesus, The Word, The Way, The Truth, The Life, The Teacher, seeing creation eye to eye and not a single care in the world what religious authorities, other men, the culture, or society thought. He loved, agapao (selfless, tireless, Godly love), Martha and Mary, just as much as He loved, agapao, Lazarus.
Our modern American culture is set on destroying all manhood in men (not just toxic), then assigning manhood to women, basically that women aren't just equal to, but better than men. So, it is quite lost on us, even some professed Christians, that God designed and created both male and female. In many ways different, but never do we find one is better than the other. Look at Jesus in John chapter four. Look in John eleven. Look at Mary sitting at His feet listening to Him in Luke 10:39. Without hesitation He repeatedly went against the cultural/societal/religious taboos when it came to women.
Sure, many will pull individual verses out and try to use them to prove God is a male chauvinist, but as with anyone who pulls single verses out of context to twist them and use them to justify their point, there is no debate or discussion that will satisfy their quest to be right and tear God down.
Christian men, we'd better make certain we read the entirety of God's Word, in context, when it comes to how God sees women, and how we're to treat them. If you think for one second, any verse in the Bible gives you the right to love them less, treat them poorly, or rule over them as a tyrant, you are gravely mistaken. 1 John 2:6 says if you profess to be in Christ Jesus, you owe a debt to walk as He did. So, ask yourself, are you walking as He did in your marriage, in your interactions with women, when dating a woman, etc…?
Well, that's all for today. Please don't take my word on anything, I'm just a guy sharing my morning quiet time. Please get into the Bible, read it yourself, pray and ask the Lord to show you directly.
You are loved. You are prayed over. You are not alone.
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