Unlikely Messengers

One of the things that set Jesus apart was the way he treated women. Throughout the gospels, each writer records Jesus’s unique choices. For example, he went against cultural norms and spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).

Ben Witherington III writes, “It is fair to say that a low view of women was common, perhaps even predominant before, during and after Jesus’ era.”[1] Yet Jesus ignored the status quo and praised women’s curiosity and desire to learn from him (Luke 10:38-42). He cared for the needs of women by healing the women who bled for twelve years (Matt. 9:20–22) and healed the widow’s son (Luke 7:11-17).

Because of the intentional way Jesus values women, it shouldn’t surprise us that some of the first people to declare Jesus as the coming Messiah were women. Each of the four Gospels was written by a different author and for a different audience. Each author structured his book with an independent theme, even though many of the stories repeat.

Most theologians agree that Luke is the historical, journalistic Gospel. It is a thorough account of many important points in Jesus’ life arranged in chronological order. One overarching theme of Luke is that Jesus is the Savior of all, not just the Messiah of the Jews.

Luke sets Jesus apart by showing how God intentionally intertwined women into the earliest moments of Jesus’s life on earth. After Mary receives a visit from Gabriel, she goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Luke 1:26-27& 39-45 says,

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (NIV)

Elizabeth was the first person to confirm Mary’s miraculous pregnancy. It may be easy to dismiss this conversation between two women as necessary considering the cultural norms around pregnancy. However, it wouldn’t have been proper for a man to discuss pregnancy with a single woman and could have put Mary’s life at risk.

But I don’t believe we need to look at this moment simply as a convenience. God created a path for women to have significant roles alongside Jesus from the beginning of his time on earth. Elizabeth wasn’t the only woman Luke included in the earliest stories of Jesus’s life. Luke 2:21 and 34:38 says,

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.  (NIV)

The prophet Anna recognized that the infant in her presence was the one she had spent decades praying and fasting for. I think it’s telling that Anna spoke about Jesus to “all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”

Most likely, many more were present in the temple considering the required census, but the people who were already looking heard the good news about the arrival of Jesus.

From the first moments of Jesus’s life on earth, the most unlikely people proclaimed his mission. Those others deemed unqualified: shepherds (Luke 2), the Magi (Matthew 2), and women. Today the most unlikely messengers continue to spread God’s message through their actions and words. But just like those first days in the temple with Anna, many may miss the news simply by looking the wrong way.

This Christmas, will you join me in worshipping a Savior who invites even the most unlikely messengers to join him in his mission?

[1] Women in the Ministry of Jesus (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 10

Beth Walker is a football coach’s wife and mom of two energetic boys. She strives to encourage those around her to pursue their best lives in Jesus whether she is near the game field, in church, or at the local coffee shop. As a writer, Beth has been striving to find her voice through seeing Jesus in the ordinary and extraordinary of daily life. She blogs at Lessons from the Sidelines.

Photograph © Aaron Burden, used with permission