Women Who Showed the Way #2

Welcome to The Truth Pulpit with Don Green, Founding Pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hello again, I'm Bill Wright. It is our joy to continue our commitment to teaching God's people God's Word. Today Don is continuing with the second part of a message we started last time.

So let's get right to it. Open your Bible as we join Don now in The Truth Pulpit. Secondly, let's look at women and the earthly ministry of Jesus. We kind of flash forward 30 years in the life of Jesus, and we find Jesus doing something that is really remarkable. We're all familiar, most of us are familiar with the fact that Peter made a great confession of Christ. He said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

But Peter wasn't the only one who made that. There were women to whom Christ revealed that. There were women who made that confession themselves and showed that they had embraced Christ and the identity of Christ themselves quite apart from being under the influence of another human man. So for example, turn to John chapter 4 with me.

It would be very profitable to spend a few weeks teaching on the Samaritan woman at the well, but we're just going to touch on it briefly here. In John chapter 4, verse 21, let's say, Jesus said to this woman, We worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. Now pause there for just a moment and just realize that in the context Jesus is inviting her to Himself.

The Father is seeking people just like you to become His worshipers. To this woman with a very sordid and sinful past, Jesus extends the promise of the gospel to her. And He says in verse 24, God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming. He who is called Christ, when He comes, He will tell us all things. She said, I've heard of this promise of God. I've heard of this coming Messiah. In the biblical narrative, Jesus speaks to her plainly and simply and said to her, I who speak to you am He.

This Messiah that you're anticipating, this Messiah that you have been told about, that you know is coming, it's Me. This is a remarkable revelation given to her in a private conversation and the dignity that Christ defers on this woman and upon women in general by manifesting Himself in that way is of the highest order. He honored this woman by disclosing His Messianic identity to her and she believed. And the wonderful story, she goes down in verse 39, we read that many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman's testimony.

He told me all that I ever did. She went out and she proclaimed. She manifested her faith and confidence in the Word by telling others of what had been shown to her.

And many more believed as Christ stayed with them. Verse 42, they said to the woman, it's no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. She had said to them earlier in verse 29, come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?

The original language is expressed in a slightly different way than it's translated there. She's saying this can't be the Christ, can it? And she's setting it forth but in a deferential way that allows them to contradict her in case she's wrong, then they went and investigated on her testimony, they went and investigated for themselves and said, yeah, this is the one. And that brief encounter led to a burgeoning testimony among the Samaritans based on this woman's teachable spirit under the Word of God. Turn over to John chapter 11.

With me in a similar way, similar theme, I guess would be the better way to say it. In John chapter 11, Jesus is on the verge of raising Lazarus, but he wants to prepare Martha for the moment. And you know the story. They asked Jesus to come. He delayed a couple of days. Lazarus died and now he shows up and they're distraught over the fact that Lazarus had died and if only Jesus had come earlier, then he could have healed Lazarus, not quite having worked faith all the way through. If he could have healed him, then he can raise him from the dead, which they'll see in a moment. But in John chapter 11 verse 21, Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. See the faith that she has in Christ, not fully formed yet, but she had such a confidence in him. There was such a genuineness to her open-ended trust in Christ that she could say, if you had been here, death would have been averted. And she goes on, verse 22, but even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.

Martha's still not quite all the way there about what's about to happen. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. There's all kinds of vibrant faith being expressed here. She's confident in Christ, confident in his power, confidence in a future resurrection. Jesus said to her, verse 25, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

Do you believe this? And look at what Martha says. She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God who is coming into the world. She affirms this faith that Christ is the son of God.

By very nature, God himself. Lord, I believe in you. I trust you. I affirm you. I look forward to all that you would do. Here, in another interaction with another woman of high dignity, we see the reality of Christ coming forth being brought to light through his interactions with this woman, just as he did with the Samaritan woman.

And we can see other things with less explicit conversations. Turn back to Luke chapter 8. So easy to overlook these things and miss what it tells us about the high dignity of women. Luke chapter 8, verse 1. Soon afterward, he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him. And also, some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out. And Joanna, who had been killed. And Susanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager. And Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their means.

Do you see it, beloved? The dignity of women shown in the fact that they were following Christ with the circle of the apostles. As Christ taught the men, the women were beside them receiving his ministry.

This is an important role, humanly speaking, of the advance of the ministry because they were supporting them out of their own private means. This is a place of dignity as these women followed and supported him. And the Holy Spirit saw fit to inspire Luke as he wrote his gospel to include this for our instruction and our benefit. Jesus extended the kingdom, extended the gospel, extended eternal life, extended his healing and his teaching freely and abundantly upon women just as he did upon men.

Women are on an equal plane with men as it comes to their position in Christ. That will become important as we go into Ephesians chapter 8. Luke chapter 5, down the road to keep in mind. One other passage here as we consider women and the earthly ministry of Jesus. Just turn over a couple of pages to Luke chapter 10. It's about longing for the word of Christ and not simply an outward station with a family.

Verse 38. Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.

Do you see it again? And listening to his teaching. This is exactly what I was saying to you earlier about the heart of godliness. The heart of the true dignity and the high dignity of true women is that they hunger and thirst for righteousness. They hunger and thirst for the true word of God.

Not simply going through the motions of a religious affiliation to maintain an outward appearance before men. Their heart was captivated by a desire to hear what Christ said, to understand the truth and to respond accordingly. She sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. She asked her then to help me. But the Lord answered her, Martha, Martha. You can see the affection and the correction mingled in his voice.

You are anxious and troubled about many things. But one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her. Mary has chosen to sit at my feet and to hear me teach. She longs for the word of God. If you think about it in terms of 1 Peter chapter 2 that says that like newborn babes long for the pure milk of the word which is told to men and women alike here before Peter wrote, we see Mary manifesting this characteristic that is central to godliness. I want to hear the word of God.

I want to know what it says. I want to understand and you know just looking out on some of your dear sweet faces. You know in this room we're surrounded with women just like that. That's why you're here. You want the word of God. This theme from scripture is affirming the central core of godliness in your own character. Praise the Lord for that. Just understand that the teaching of Christ is central to the aspirations of the godly woman. It is not peripheral. Your earthly passing things becomes the central preoccupation of your heart and put the teaching of Christ on the periphery.

That's flipping it exactly upside down. I understand that young moms have a lot of difficulty to find even a sliver of time for scripture reading and these other things. We're not talking about that today. The question is what's at the core of your heart? What is it that you most long for?

What is it that you want? What is it that you want to lead your children into? Do you lead your children into the word of God or something else?

So much I could say about that but I will hold my tongue for now. As we look at the Samaritan woman, as she interacted with Christ, as we look at Martha making her affirmation about the person of Christ, we see the women following Jesus and his teaching in Luke chapter 8. We see Mary sitting at his feet over and over and over again. Scripture holds up these women, shows clearly their desire for Christ and for the teaching of Christ. And shows us that the fulfillment of womanhood, the fulfillment of the dignity of women is found in their teachable spirit under the word of God. A woman finds her highest dignity when she has a teachable spirit under the word of God. Not all women are like that in the church. Scripture comes to you, dear ladies, holds it up, affirms you to the extent that this is what motivates your heart and calls you to excel even more to desire these things.

To grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ as it says in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 18. The godly woman has an unquenchable desire, has an unquenchable flame that lightens her heart that by its light leads her to, I'm speaking in metaphors here, leads her to the word of God, to want to understand the meaning of the word of God, what the word of God means by what it says. Godly woman has a teachable spirit under the word of God. We said women in the birth of Jesus, godly women, women of dignity, they show humble faith in the promise of God. Women in the earthly ministry of Jesus, they had a teachable spirit under the word of God. They wanted to follow him and they did. Though none go with me, still I will follow. Now thirdly, women and the events of the gospel.

Women and the events of the gospel. That's our third point here. And to see this is just remarkable. It's wonderful.

It's invigorating. Let me remind you of a famous text. We looked at it not long ago that summarizes the gospel. The gospel itself. What is the gospel? 1 Corinthians 15. Paul says, I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received. Earlier he had said, I want to remind you about the gospel that I delivered to you.

What is the gospel? Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scripture. Christ died on the cross for our sins. He was buried. He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures.

And those are the historical events that are the basis of all redemption. This happened in real time and space. It was a literal wooden cross upon which Christ was crucified. He was literally placed into a stone-cold grave. The grave was sealed.

He literally came out of that. The tomb is empty. His body is nowhere and his bones are nowhere to be found on earth because these things literally happened. And just think about the historical events surrounding that. The crucifixion, the burial, the resurrection. That is the basis of all our redemption.

Now think about this. Think about this and what happened around the time of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. The men around Christ, let's just say they did not distinguish themselves at the time. The men didn't distinguish themselves at the time. But the women, different story.

Different story. This is just the account of the resurrection. This is just a written account of the Word of God.

As a man, I'd like for it to be reversed. I'd like it that it was the men showing loyalty, the men showing courage, the men being there. It was the women. It was the women that followed Jesus to the cross. Turn to the gospel of Mark chapter 15.

This section. Although the other gospels confirm and reinforce these things as well. Look at Mark chapter 15, verses 39 to 41, showing that the women were at the cross. Jesus had breathed his last. Verse 39, the centurion who stood facing him.

Saw it face to face. Saw that in this way he breathed his last. He said, truly this man was the Son of God. That's the centurion's testimony immediately upon the death of Christ. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

The men scattered like cats. The women stayed close, manifesting their careful attention to Christ, their careful attention to the central event in redemption, even if they didn't understand that that's what they did. They were witnessing at the time. Just out of love for the person of Christ, they said, I'm going to be with him till the very end.

Women were maintaining vigil as Jesus was laid to rest in the tomb. Here you see a man introduced, Joseph of Arimathea, went to Pilate, received custody of the body. He was granted the corpse. We see in verse 45 what I want you to see in verse 45. Verse 46 is this, and Joseph, of course, not one of the 12. Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock, and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

The period at the end of the sentence, so it seemed. The final act of honoring Christ, so it seemed. The tomb had now been sealed.

And look at verse 47. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph, saw where he was laid. There were women at the cross.

There were women at the burial. So unlimited was their devotion, their love for him, that they followed him all the way to the grave. Women then were the first witnesses to the resurrection. Read on in verse 16.

When the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, and Siloam, bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?

Look at it, look at it, beloved. Very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they couldn't wait to get there. The Sabbath was over, and their first duty on their heart, their first desire, was to tend to the body of Christ. And as a result of that, they became the first witnesses to the resurrection. Verse 4, looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back.

It was very large. And they said to them, do not be alarmed. And he said to them, do not be alarmed. You, you women, seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here.

See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, since they're not here, you're here, they're not here. You go and tell them that he is going before you to Galilee.

There you will see him just as he told you. And for a time, the women were seized. They didn't say anything until they got to the disciples, verse 8. They went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Obviously, they told the disciples later, so it's just talking about on their way to see them, they said nothing to anyone else along the way.

But beloved, park it right here in your mind. The gospel declares that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture. He was buried and he was raised on the third day. And who are the witnesses to that who bequeathed this initial testimony to the world? It was women. Women were there at the cross. Women were there at the grave. Women were there and got the first announcement of the resurrection. Yes, subsequently verified by the disciples, but it was women that were there.

Charles Spurgeon said this, and just think about this, beloved. Let me just step back for just a moment to set the stage for what the dear brother Baptist pastor has to say to us. You read the gospel accounts of those sham trials that were conducted of Jesus. Pilate, the high priest. Herod was involved. The Jews stirring people up. It was all men that were stirring up and that laid their hands and certified the execution warrant, as it were. It was all men that were doing that.

Spurgeon, picking up on that fact, says this. In all the gospels, there is no instance of a woman that had any hand in the death of Christ. As far as they are connected with the matter, they are guiltless.

They rather oppose his death than promote it. Woman was last at the cross and first at the grave. The women at the time gave careful attention to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. In our day now, a godly woman is marked by her careful attention to the gospel, which is premised on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. This means that the godly woman is going to have an interest, is going to have a pursuit of the atonement, the doctrines of the atonement, of redemption, of forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Everything that the death and resurrection of Christ produced, the godly woman is going to be interested in that, pursuing it within the opportunity and the time that the Lord allots her according to her position in life. Careful attention to the gospel today, careful attention to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ today is marked by an interest in the things of the gospel message.

We can't go back to the cross, literally, but we go back to the meaning of the cross and find that these are the things and these things alone that ultimately satisfy our hearts. And so, beloved, what have we seen from this brief survey of the women around the time of Christ? They manifested a humble faith in the promise of God, a teachable spirit under the word of God, careful attention to the gospel of Christ.

This is the manifestation of the high dignity of true women. And so, all of that informs the way that we will receive Ephesians chapter 5. But for all of us today, men and women alike, having seen this faith in the word of God, this trust in what God says, this teachable spirit that says, speak Lord, your servant listens, hear am I, send me, total resignation to the will of God and careful attention when the word of God is proclaimed and taking opportunity of it.

Beloved, it's so much higher, so much loftier, there's so much more to it than these other things that we've mentioned here this evening. Not to the neglect of those things, but just that those things are not the heart of it all. Devotion to family is not the same thing as devotion to Christ.

And that's what we want to see, ladies. Christ confers nobility on you, dignity on you. Christ is the source of your identity and your purpose, not your most imperfect husband. You are to desire Christ even above a happy family life. I fear lest ladies stop short, say right now my family's happy and that's all I need.

That's not a good place to be. For us men, let me just say it this way, the dignity of women informs your eyes and what you do with your eyes. It informs your mouth and what you say and how you say it to your wife and to women in general. It affects your heart desires because men, godly women are noble and they are precious in the sight of God. And the humble man of God will recognize that and conform his life and heart accordingly. So that even if the ladies in your life fall short of the ideal of high dignity, you still embrace and obey the call of God on you to love and honor them. And you love and honor them not as, watch this, you love and honor them not as unworthy inferiors to your high throne as the head of the household.

No. No, not as unworthy inferiors, but as fellow heirs of the grace of life. And you honor them with the dignity that God has conferred upon them as much as it is in your power to do so. May God conform each one of us to the image of his dear son.

Amen. Well, my friend, thank you for joining us for yet another podcast from The Truth Pulpit. And we wanted to let you know that in addition to these audio resources that you are enjoying, that there are also written resources from my ministry. The Lord has given us opportunity to put some of the things that I've taught over the years in print.

And I have one book in particular that I would want to call your attention to. It's the most popular book that I've published so far called Trusting God in Trying Times. It's a book born out of deep personal sorrow and is brought into context, you might say, through the Word of God. How to trust God when you are going through the deepest valleys and the most sorrowful things in life. How do you trust God through those times when you can't see your way forward?

I've been there, my friend. And the book Trusting God in Trying Times speaks to that spiritual experience in the life of the believer. You can find all of my books at thetruthpulpit.com. That's thetruthpulpit.com. Just click on the link there.

You'll find links to different books and you will find that they take you to an easy place to purchase them for your reading enjoyment. So thank you once again for joining us on The Truth Pulpit. We'll see you next time as we continue to study God's Word together. That's Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thank you so much for listening to The Truth Pulpit. Join us next time for more as we continue teaching God's people God's Word.