Jesus had complex relationships with the women in his life that provide insights into his character and values. His mother Mary played a traditional maternal role, though Jesus rejected family ties in favor of spiritual kinship. Women disciples, like Mary Magdalene, displayed greater faith and understanding of Jesus than the male disciples. While Jesus helped the downtrodden, he did not explicitly advocate for women's rights, showing equality was not a top priority. Portrayals of Jesus having romantic relationships are modern attempts to make him more relatable, though medieval women saw themselves as spiritual brides to express devotion to Christ.

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Kenneth Plank
11/17/2016
Rel 3350 Final
Women and Jesus
In order to understand any person in history, it helps a great deal to understand how he
treated and viewed others, and how others treated and viewed him. As this is a very broad
concept, it helps to be more specific; to break the “others” down into relevant categories. How
did the king treat his subjects? How did the wealthy man perceive the poor? Was the artist
respected by his peers? The answers to these questions shed light on the life and philosophy of
the historical figure.
The relevant categories varies from person to person. One thing, however, is relevant to
understanding every man in history: his relationship with women. The letters between John
Adams and his wife Abigail are some of the best primary sources we have about either
individual. Stevie Wonder’s mother Lula Mae Hardaway co-wrote “Signed, Sealed Delivered
(I’m Yours)” with him. Walt Disney ran many of his creative ideas by his wife Lillian. The
relationship between famous men and the women in their lives gives can show us how those
men’s ideas and values were shaped.
Jesus is no different. By taking a look at the relationship between Jesus and the women
who followed him--both in life and after Resurrection--we can learn about Christ’s ideas, his
values, and what impact he had on the world. Jesus’s relationship with women can be broken
down into three broad categories: his mother, his followers, and, more controversially, his lovers.
Mary, as far as we can tell from the Gospels, was at least a competent mother to Jesus. In
Luke’s Gospel, Mary appears to be honored to be the one chosen to carry and birth the Savior.

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She goes so far as to sing a song of praise (​New Revised Standard Version​ , Luke. 1.46-56).
When an angel ordered Joseph to flee from Jesus’s pursuers, the angel specified to take both
mother and child, which suggest that Mary was of some importance to Jesus’s life (Matthew.
2.13-21). According to Luke, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the Temple, as was the tradition
(2.22-40). Luke also tells us that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Jerusalem every Passover
(2.41). We can therefore presume that Jesus had an at least somewhat traditional upbringing.
Furthermore, Mary expressed worry when Jesus had stayed at the temple. Jesus then went back
home with his parents and “was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her
heart” (2.48, 51). All of this paints Mary as a typical mother who cares about her son.
Jesus, in turn, does not consistently show the same caring towards Mary. As stated above,
he was obedient to his parents as a child. However, as an adult, Jesus rejects his mother and
brothers. While speaking to crowds, Mary and her other sons attempted to get Jesus’s attention.
When someone attempts to bring them to his attention, Jesus replies “‘Who is my mother, and
who are my brothers?’ And pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my
brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and
mother’” (Matthew. 12.46-50). In most canon Gospels, this is the last we see of Mary, the
mother of Jesus. Though much art depicts Mary at the Crucifixion, only John’s Gospel places her
there (John. 19.25).
John’s gospel differs in another way, but let us first discuss Jesus’s rejection of Mary in
the other Gospels. Jesus’s rejection of his mother could suggest a few things. One is that it is
simply part of Jesus’s entire rebellion against the old ways. Jesus’s new way of thinking about
faith brings with it a new way of thinking about family. It may also be Jesus practicing what he

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preaches. As he states, in Matthew, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy
of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does
not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (37-38). The parent that Jesus values
above all others is the Father. Thus he rejects traditional views of kinship in favor of kinship with
God and His followers.
Returning to John, the other way in which John showed a different relationship between
Jesus and Mary was the Wedding at Cana. At the wedding, when the wine runs out, it is only at
Mary’s insistence that Jesus helps (2.3-5). As Cleo Kearns, writer of ​Mary, Motherhood, and
Sacrifice in the Gospels puts it, “Mary plays an instrumental role in this story both by seeming to
preempt or jump-start the maturation and emergence of Jesus as a man of power” (172). Mary in
John has a much more active role in Jesus’s life. She births him, is with him for his first miracle,
and is there to lay him to rest. This results in slightly different Jesus; a Jesus that is obedient to
his mother even in adulthood.
This Jesus sounds more like the who said to “render unto Caesar,” while the Jesus that
rejects his family sounds more like the one who cries “hypocrites” at the Pharisees. Thus the two
together shows us how complex the image of Jesus is, and how that image changes over time and
under different authors.
Next are the women who followed Jesus. Few are named, but those who are include
Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and Mary, mother of James. However, some unnamed
worshippers are also noteworthy.
A woman anoints Jesus as Bethany, for which the disciples scold her. Jesus, however,
corrects them: “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. For

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you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. By pouring this ointment
on my body she has prepared me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is
proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her”
(Matthew. 26.10-13). In this way, a woman shows that she understands Jesus’s values more than
his disciples do.
In ​In Memory of Her, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza details how this is a consistent theme
in the Gospels, particularly Mark’s. “Judas betrays him,” she writes, “Peter denies him, and all
the male disciples abandon him and flee into hiding.” The women, however, display “true
discipleship” (319). Fiorenza notes that “women disciples have followed Jesus from Galilee to
Jerusalem, accompanied him on the way to the cross, and witnessed his death...found under the
cross, risking their own lives and safety” (320). In John, Jesus even reveals himself after his
Resurrection to Mary Magdalene before anyone else (20.17-18).
In this way, women are shown to be special disciples of Jesus. What might this tell us
about Jesus himself? This could suggest that Jesus valued a certain level of equality between
genders. This wouldn’t be terribly shocking, as standing up for the downtrodden was jesus’s
entire philosophy. Jesus sought to help the poor and the sick, those left behind by society.
Women would be a natural extension of this concern.
However, the fact that Jesus didn’t more explicitly speak in favor of women in general is
also telling. Jesus was clearly not against speaking in a way that angered those in authority, so it
is unlikely that he feared to speak favorably of women. Why be coy about women while
explicitly saying that the rich man has little chance of ascending to Heaven? While there is
nothing to suggest that Jesus would oppose better treatment of women, the fact that he says little

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in their favor may be telling about Jesus’s priorities. Helping the poor and the sick was top
priority, while addressing the patriarchal leanings of society was a lesser concern, if it was a
concern at all.
In more contemporary media, Mary Magdalene's role is emphasized. However, her role
is not just as follower, but also that of a potential romantic partner. As Bart D. Erhman notes in
his book ​Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene, the musical ​Jesus Christ Superstar depicts Jesus and
Mary’s relationship with “more than a little sexual tension going on, and not far below the
surface” (180). The film ​The Last Temptation of Christ, meanwhile, depicts Jesus and Mary
Magdalene’s relationship as explicitly romantic and sexual. It is no coincidence that these are
both relatively modern depictions of Jesus, from the latter half of the 20th century. In fact, all
media depictions of Jesus with a lover come long after the Gospels were written. This suggests
that giving Jesus a lover is an attempt to fit Jesus into ideas of modern storytelling. Countless
stories depict the main character saving the day and getting the girl. Giving Jesus a lover fits him
into this storytelling device. It modernizes Jesus in hopes of making him more relatable to a
modern audience. Jesus’s relationship with female lovers makes Jesus relatable to us. It brings
him down from the pillar he has been placed upon for two-thousand years, and allows a modern
audience to feel a common connection with him.
However, there is also another way in which we see Jesus with lovers. In ​Medieval
Writings on Female Spirituality, we find the revelations of Bridget of Sweden from the 1300s.
Bridget envisions herself as a bride of Christ, utterly and completely devoted to him above all
else (146-148). In this way, a female worshiper of Christ sees herself as a romantic partner as a
means of showing that devotion. Bridget is a widow, but she does not remarry. She gives all of

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her love and attention to Jesus. This is another way for a woman to frame her devotion to
Christianity. A way that, from the common point of view of the time, could only be practiced by
a woman. In this way, for women, Jesus can be worshiped in a special way. This offers women
an opportunity to have to their own unique path to spiritual enlightenment. Though the path that
Bridget offers is a rigid one with strict rules, the fact that she can offer a different path shows
how Jesus is a figure that people can find their own path to. The image of Jesus is flexible by
nature.
Through Jesus’s relationships with women, we can learn a few things. Through his
relationship with his mother, we can see his commitment to his new way of life. However,
John’s depiction of that relationship shows us how he wasn’t inclined to throw away all ties to
the old ways. Both depictions together show us the mutability of the image of Jesus; how he can
represent more than one way of thinking.
His relationship with his female followers gives us an idea of Jesus’s values. Women are
welcome, so much that they feel loyal enough to risk their lives to honor him. However, his lack
of direct vocal support of women in society may be a concerning oversight for some.
Lastly, Jesus’s lovers modernize him, making him a figure that can not only be
worshiped, but related to. Much like his relationship with his mother, this shows us how Jesus
can change between time and authors. At the same time, Jesus as a lover also provides a different
way to frame the path to the Kingdom of Heaven. It shows that Jesus is a flexible figure, and that
the path to him is somewhat customizable.
All of these different relationships contribute to the ever-growing history of Jesus, and to
the different ways Christians and others view that history.

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Works Cited
The Bible, New Revises Standard Version, ​https://www.biblegateway.com/
Bridget of Sweden. Extracts from the ​Liber Celestis. ​Medieval Writings on Female Spirituality,
edited by Elizabeth Spearing, Penguin Publishing, 145-174.
Erhman, Bart D.. ​Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and
Legend. Oxford University, 2006.
Fiorenza, Elisabeth Schüssler. ​In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of
Christian Origins. Crossroad Publishing Company, 1983.
Kearns, Cleo McNelly. ​The Virgin Mary, Monotheism, and Sacrifice. Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
The Last Temptation of Christ. Directed by Martin Scorsese, performances by Willem Dafoe,
Harvey Keitel, and Barbara Hershey, Universal Pictures, 1988.