Jesus, Restorer of Women

As you questionnaire you know your answer and began to change it.

I did. I just know there's no option for you with this question you been all around the country you been all around several different countries in the world what your favorite country now is to visit why am I even asking Israel welcome to family life today where we want to help you pursue the relationships that matter most and Wilson and Dave Wilson and you can find us@familylifetoday.com or on our family life's family life today. We had traveled all around the world will worsen and it's not that where these rich people vacationing were really doing mission work all around the world, which is been even better to me because were really living in the midst of people around the world. But there's something about Israel and teary just talking about it. I think it's weird when I go there I feel like I'm home. It's the weirdest thing I felt like the first time I went and I've only been four times, only four times I've been there once. What's wrong with that picture you get to go flying over more. That's true yeah, but why because it's where Jesus walked in there something about kite you get teary. There's something about reading the Scriptures there and you know this is what happened then it comes alive like the Scriptures came alive and when you're at the place where Jesus did.

The sermon on the Mount you thinking it really happened or when you're on the sea of Galilee here imagining Peter walking on the water in Jesus walking on the water and so it really did make Scripture come alive in a way that I've never experienced. Did you feel that when you went on it was life-changing for all the same reasons that were done talking about because we have not explained. I'm so excited.

I know you are as we have a expert scholar guide to McClellan with those who's going to bring this to life what we've experienced in Israel is really because of people like you that know the history know the culture and can just give insight in the stories we read our whole lives and obviously standing there is one thing but to understand things we don't we just can't understand just by reading it. So Chris will reside at all. Welcome to family life to thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be where excited to your speaker, your teacher, your college professor on and so you've made several trips to Israel. How many times have you been I've been taking teams to Israel for 14 years. Multiple times a year and is it one of your favorite places. It is my absolute most favorite place in all the earth, always tell my students the Bible is not only the best story that's ever been told it's also the truest. These things happen yeah and you can actually go there. But not only is it that you met the people there and why is that changed you. You know when you're walking down the street at your Arusha line game Jerusalem about if you hear that Yahoo! shall I dream I don't think I could do that I can the say city why God's name dwells is the epicenter of the earth for the Jewish people and when you're walking down the road in Jerusalem and you're looking at the Jewish people and always had this thought in all see a Jewish man. Unlike you could be related to Nehemiah Garcia woman you could be related to castor light. You are the lineage of the Bible is actually your heritage, your story gives into the world the way that God is blessing the nations through Abraham and through his descendents, and why is it important to you like what's your story. Why do you go over there so many times this not just because you love it that you have more of heart and a passion for what in 2007 the Lord opened up the door for me to go study the Bible in Egypt and Israel, and I was already teaching Bible at the college wad now been for 16 years and I love adventure I never say no to an adventure and I went really in a spirit of professional development. I'm a college professor. I teach Bible for a living so going to Israel and Egypt and studying the Bible. There seemed like a really beneficial thing and I had no idea that the living God was going to fundamentally change my life. I remember being on the plane flying home and just knowing I will never teach the Bible the same way again my whole life's about to look different. I don't exactly know how, and for the past 14 years. It's really taken on kind of that highbred teaching at the college starting to teaching churches and taking teams multiple times a year. You know there's a difference in reading saints and beholding saints and we read the Bible when you go to the land your beholding the story and it's a different thing, man.

It's a rich thing and I love just serving as a bridge between the Western church and the world's and lands in the Bible help the people can't see you, but your tongue to be a professor, and you've been doing this quite a while.

Was that your dream. I climb to be a Bible professor. Someday you know that's a great question. I grew up in rural Mississippi and I accepted Christ when I was nine years old and my parents were people of faith. My father passed away when I was 21. My mom is still alive. She just turned 85 years old and I'm one of those kids that came out of the womb singing amazing Grace all 91 verses of it because they took me to church and my love of the word comes from my parents and when I accepted Christ at age 9. The spirit of God just gave me a curiosity for the Bible my love story. I'm a nerd. I like to read it so I was reading the Bible and drive in my pastor crazy with questions and things like that young woman as a child. The child starting at nine. My parents will talk about. They saw a change in me and now I understand it was just part of my calling that I feel like the Bible is an adhesive. It binds me to the living God. It combines the living God to me and so I didn't really know I'd never seen a female Bible professor before I didn't know that could be a thing so I had DeLillo been journey my way into that and you went to Dallas theological seminary. Yes yes phenomenal experience in so your you teach Bible Old Testament and New Testament. But your video series in your workbook study guide is Jesus and women so walk us through that journey.

How does it become something so passionate he said I've got to get this on on video really to help men and women understand Jesus you know one of the things I really came home with in 2007 was getting to know Jesus and his Jewish world eating the foods he would've eaten looking up and saying the stars in the sky that he would have known I like you mentioned the Sea of Galilee. I will never forget the first time I ever saw the sea of Galilee. I just started crying because he bats Jesus is world. He is all around, and on that lake during his earthly ministry and one of the things I really learned as I was studying there was just how different Jesus was in his world. 2000 years ago when it came to his posture toward his attitude about in his ministry to women that really set him apart.

It made him very distinctive from the other rabbis, sages, Pharisees, teachers of the law of the day and being a female myself, it just lit me on fire. I tell people all the time I went to Israel and learned that God is better than I ever knew, and I thought he was awesome when I went, and so getting to know Jesus and Jesus. And when men I came home and I really just wrote it sort of is a Bible study just the overflow of my heart. I felt pregnant with it. I just need to get it out and get it on paper and I started teaching around my city at different churches, and the next thing I knew life way called and said we would really love to know for women well outside of the city to be able to access this teaching and to get to know Jesus and his posture with my men is so we took that adventure and it came out in March of last year and I've spent this past year. Obviously with COBIT have not been able to go to Israel is of so much of what I've been doing is zooming with women all over the world who are getting to know Jesus in his first century Jewish world, Jesus and women who walk us into some of that because of units. Obviously gold that you like you said you felt like I have to get this out and you talk about a cultural shift happening. So walk us through that as well. Yes is important to understand what Jesus is doing when it comes to women. 2000 years ago. He's actually repairing something he's restoring something that something good had been marred and he was bringing it back to good women in Judaism have a very good history and a very good beginning. I know you guys are a family and marriage show. You know the first man and woman in the story of the Bible, idem, which literally means land dart soil. He's the dark man the dust man and Eve, and her name means life man when you're reading the Bible to that he bring it glands the story goes like the living God created the dust man, and brought life to him in a woman has a very clear that I like that it is Valentine's Day just don't ever call me this, but I will call you life will absolutely and when you look at even things like Sabbath for the Jewish people.

Shabbat sundown Friday night to sundown Saturday night. They like to Shabbat candles to welcome the Sabbath and in their home like a bride is what the rabbinic say and interestingly enough, in a patriarchal world where men lead and rule there's only one member of the family that's allowed to like the Shabbat candles and it's the mother that honor goes to the my chair to the matriarch and if the mother's not home.

It's a grandmother it's a sister it's an auntie. It's a Nice it's a daughter, but it has to be a girl. It's always a woman. It's always a woman Shabbat candles. I think my most memorable time in Israel was we were at a Shabbat dinner, and so families home. Yeah, and I was astounded at the value of family and the Scripture talks about that and we hear that, but to see and the honoring of the mother of the father. Even then going through part of Proverbs 31 and honoring her and then kissing the children. I was in tears speaking life to the children.

Children yes there was power for me is one of those things is an American you know in the in the church where you haven't captured what they have understood and live in you come back thinking we have to capture that. Yeah, you know, again, it's what you spent your life understanding, but talk to us a little bit about that because as I watch the patriarch of this family and again as a family we didn't know were divided into their home for Shabbat and just watched him honor his wife. The wife light the candles and begin the Shabbat that was just so beautiful. I'm guessing it was a sense of what Jesus is done to elevate the view of women, but this this patriarch had that and it modeled for us like I don't think I treat my wife that good will and what a difference in going to the American church where we sit in pews.

We don't talk to one another or just listening to one man.

This is the entire families involved and I think it shows God's love for the family. That's right. And so you fast-forward from Adam and Eve to Jesus's world 2000 years ago and woman had lost that sense of honor and the culture.

I always say the Middle East is an honor, shame, society, honor, shame, culture, and so being honorable is everything being shamed or shameful is everything. So Jesus is born into a world where one man has been located and lowered into shame. And so what I talk about throughout the Jesus and women series is that in every interaction we have in all four Gospels of Jesus and a woman he's bringing two things in her life.

He is adamant persistent and consistent to bring two things into her life. It doesn't matter if it's the Samaritan woman.

The spiral Phoenician woman, Mary. It doesn't matter he's bringing justice and righteousness to her mesh pot and Zedekiah.

In Hebrew, and so we think and what way is he bringing justice and righteousness what happened. Like why that fall. What happened I trace that in week two of the series but we see it really began to happen in the inter-testament will. The 400 years between Malachi. The last book of the Old Testament and Matthew the first book of the New Testament that little white page in our Bibles and light whether a lot went down islands for 400 years whole lot happened during that 400 years and there were various teachers that came on the scene that started teaching things like women aren't safe don't really trust women you know, if you give her money.

You better count all of it before she goes to market. She may not bring the right change back. You know you have rabbis saying things like, don't talk a lot to a woman even your own wife that's not really good for marriage is like.

I remember reading one of the officer. The truth yeah and I remember reading one Hebrew scholar said that there was a time that they doubted that a woman had a soul and you know I was like absolutely. When you look at Adam and Eve.

Nine. Think how could you think that we are both made in God's image like and you know one distinction in the way we understand the biblical terms here in the West versus in the Middle East is when we think of justice.

We think lady justice and we think the scales and we usually think of justice in terms of equality but biblical justice is vertical. It's not horizontal and biblical justice happens when the Hon. reaches down to the shameful lifts them out of their shame restores their honor and sends them forward and show this is Jesus, and this is Jesus, and women just that image when you said Jesus brings two things.

One of them justice. Now you explain justice.

This vertical thing as a man and as a husband and as a father hits me right in the face like we will wait so so fungal of and like Christ loved the church. Visions five.

That's what I'm gonna do a little lift up my wife from the lips of my daughters actually any woman in our church, you name it should have a sense of me as a Christian man does the same thing to use those that that she feels honor. She feels lifted up, we would probably never use the word justice because that's how we think of it Mr. but that's what real justice is that's what I'm called to do as a husband is a dead right, absolutely. Well said this is a great interview is an I really get we have even we just barely touched the service but I'm thinking have you felt that with me.

Of course I do good because I was thinking is not very only do I feel like you're always cheering me on your always pushing me for your always speaking life into me. I feel like you are very much like what Jesus would say like you can do this in ICU and I think that's what women are longing like dad, you see me do you see what I'm going through God do you believe in me, do you think I have what it takes to live out the call that you put on my life like I look at you Christy. I think Jesus put that in you that desire for his word for truth you're a teacher you're a scholar and look what you're living like he's brought that and now you're spreading that all around the world and so I love hearing that. I don't know half of what you're going to tell us know a little bit but I haven't studied will like you have but I've studied enough to know that Jesus really did change he was radical in the way he approach in an elevated women in the culture that I remember seminary days some of your born yet but this is early 80s there was a show on TV and we lived in LA it was called LA law.

The red hell yeah that I don't remember the actress but she was very famous and did a great job and I remember reading a quote by her who I sort of.

You recognize, like oh she's on LA law sees few so you know known actress and she said never become a member of a church because of what Jesus did to women. That was her quote. I may begin exactly but but but the second half is exec which is a because it would use did the women I remember if I had five minutes I would go. You may make other choices. Why don't become a Christ follower but there's no way that is true you don't understand what you're saying because you would want to follow him. If you understood what he's gonna say the churches represented that are we as miniver represented that well, but your helping us understand man just what he did vertically for justice to raise the shameful and the culture up to honors minutes would use this right so let's go back to that we have these 400 years where all the sudden the culture shifted and women are being dishonored there not being seen.

And now Jesus comes onto the scene and is so important just to begin with the fact that Jesus was never okay with women being anchored in shame. And so part of why he came was to do something about it that from the this from the very beginning from the very genesis, you know, we envision Jesus growing up with Mary lighting the Shabbat candles in his home. He's growing up in that sense of the Hon. woman, a hot bath of Eve and you start to see that justice and righteousness. We can't unpack justice a little bit in this vertical world that Zada costs the Hebrew word for righteousness and we often think righteousness means clean or pure or something like that.

So we want to hold that, but Hebrew words they are there rich Hebrew words like a suitcase full of meanings you can just pull out a lot of different meanings and Zada, also carries the meaning of generosity of being generous. So a person of Zada, the Middle East, to this day means they are a generous person. So Jesus is not only bringing justice to women he's bringing generous justice to women.

Jesus is not okay just the left woman a little bit out of her shame.

He is adamant persistent and consistent to lift her all the way out of her shame restore her honor and send her fourth and shalom. Think of the stories the Samaritan woman and by the way, Jacob's well is still there in Israel. It's 180 feet deep. It has never run dry and still pull up water from it. It's phenomenal. When we take teams there. We have the women surround the well and we read John four out loud in every woman gets to read a verse, a part of the story where it happened. So we have the Samaritan woman and we understand historically and culturally.

The Jews and the Samaritans didn't get along. There's a 700 year rift between now and when Jesus comes on the scene that beef is already 700 years growing and we see Jesus and the Samaritan woman in the heat of the day and she's alone and the Middle East is there not an individualistic culture there a communal culture. So the very fact that is a woman that she's coming to the well alone bells and whistles are going off for us in the story.

Where are her friends wears her community so you're already getting the tinge of shame that she's coming along. No one will come with her to the well. So Jesus begins to interact with her and one of the first things he ask her for is for a drink and it's interesting.

He's already there where the disciples of gone to get food and he's alone almost waiting for her.

I think absolutely waiting for her and even in rabbinic literature, the spittle of the Samaritan woman is unclean that is in rabbinic literature. So when Jesus is a holy rabbi of Israel looks at her as the Samaritan woman and says give me a drink. What he saying as I'll drink after you meeting he'll be unclean.

Now I'll drink after you absolutely, and then for Jesus in that world of clean and unclean. You know, in Judaism you're just trying not to touch something to make you unclean.

And Jesus comes on the scene and radically reverses that because he who is clean is never afraid to touch unclean because when he touches unclean unclean becomes clean is the exact opposite of everything they had known and experienced in the way that they were relating to God to the laws and commandments. And so we have this holy rabbi of Israel offering to drink after a Samaritan woman that's unheard of holy rabbi of Israel talking to a woman alone at a public well in the heat of the day that's unheard of and we don't have time to just unpack the whole story, but he begins discussing feel her. She starts talking about you guys say we have to worship in Jerusalem. We worship up on this mountain mount dear Azeem and rabbis in that day they weren't really talking with women.

They definitely weren't talking theology because women they didn't have that right even think they had it in them to have that discussion type and then we had this huge moment is watershed. If it's a movie that… Comes and when Jesus looks at her and he says go, call your husband and she says I don't have a husband and he says you are right what you say is right. You had five husbands and the man you're now living with is not your husband and one of the things that I liked unpack as we understand Jesus in his historical cultural world. In this moment is at that time divorce was the exclusive right of the male only men could divorce their wives women could not even legally that just wasn't even a thing. So we've often thought of her as having five husbands.

It means that she's a man eater. She's a perpetual sheet or something like that.

Yes Lou bad morals but there's absolutely no way that's what the text is saying because she would be dead. They stone adulterous is in that world. We have a story in John chapter 8 that tells us that so she's not lascivious so she's had five husbands what's going on and I always say Jesus was not naming her sin in that moment he was naming her shame because she had been left 5×5 man had married and left her. And it's different is that she felt like what is wrong with me that all these men would leave me. I must be broken. Shame yeah that's her shame. So Jesus grabs her back to our definition of justice.

From the moment he said that to her. Go read the narrative he starts lifting her out of it and in the Gospel of John, and she is the first person deep first person that he ever explicitly admits that he is the Messiah. You can only do a thing for the first time one time for all of human history. From Genesis 1 until the end of it all. She will forever always be the one that holds the right that she was the first one that he told that he was the Messiah. I always joke within a recognizer in heaven. She's going to be wearing a pink T-shirt that says I was the first got MLR and so just to even give her that honor. And you know the rest of the story she comes to the well alone and shame. Jesus is the shame Keller. He is the honor restorer and he's the shalom bring her and so she goes back she tells her village. Come meet a man told me everything I ever did. That's pretty incredible and by the end of the story. She's the missiology just for her village is now the first evangelist is the woman incredible and you have to just know they're all looking at her saying thank you we would have missed him. If it weren't for you we wouldn't know if it wasn't for you and the text doesn't say it so this is a Christie is on his. I like to say the Bible does not say this but you know Jesus as a Galilean. Rabbis always coming through Samaria down to Jerusalem for the feast in the festivals and I just imagine is there making those tracks up and down after that moment, and after that trip, what if they stopped off at that town every time. What if he made friends in that village what you know just what time beyond even that moment yeah what he had spent with them and so we don't know we may get to heaven and find out.

She started out this woman by herself at a well and by the end of it once a year Jesus and the disciples came through and spent four days with them, all men honey can you just even imagine now that now and I just love Jesus. I may not tell us back to the lady are talking about from the LA law show.

It's like if you understand Jesus in his historical cultural world that he's not okay with a woman going to a well alone in the heat of the day and he knows he can bring change. He knows he can bring transformation he can change a life you can change a village through a life and I just want to I want to talk to women. I get teary thinking about it because I mean my stories I have abuse.

I have done a lot of things that I regret a lot of things have been done to me that have brought so much shame and condemnation, and yet Jesus. This same Jesus has lifted me up. He's freed me from those bandages of sin, shame of regret and I'm amazed that he uses me liking all my brokenness and he has the same thing for you. I don't know where you are or what's happened or where you come from, but I do know this. Jesus wants to meet you right where you are.

If it's at the well, if it's in the carpool line if it's your shower on the floor is your crying Jesus as of right there and he wants to bring you hope he wants to bring you healing and he wants to lift you up and bring you to that place of your mind daughter I see you I love you and I will make all things new Bible makes it clear the book of Genesis that men and women are created equally in God's image with equal value equal dignity equal worth, David and Wilson have been talking today with Christy McClellan who has created a video series called Jesus and women in the first century and though there is information about that video series available on our website@familylifeto.com or if you have questions about the series. Call us at one 800 FL today will see how we can help you again, go to the website family life to day.com for more information about the video series Jesus and women in the first century and now or call one 800 FL today. If you have any additional questions you we live in a culture that is pressing us hard on every side to think differently about Mary Jo Bob family about men and women about gender and sexuality, and the Bible tells us we are not to be conformed to the thinking of this world were instead to be transformed by the renewal of our mind.

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