Baptist Women in Ministry (http://www.bwim.info/index.php/welcome)-see Resources
Carolyn Goodman Plampin (http://home.netcom.com/~cplampin)

It is pertinent to this study to explore the New Testament Gospel writers' accounts, as well as Luke's history of the early church practices recorded in Acts, to discover how God called and used women in New Testament times.

Questions need to be answered. How were God-called women used? Did Jesus include women in his ministry? What did he promote, permit, and practice? Did he release women from the narrow, culturally limited role of their day in the church he came to establish? Did Jesus reinterpret the role of the woman as his Sermon on the Mount reinterpreted the Law? Did Jesus expand the woman's ministry and its significance? What was Jesus' attitude toward believing women? Did the early church follow his example?

Let us search the Scriptures.

Clearly the New Testament reveals that God's continuing call and use of women was to be within the parameters revealed by Old Testament prophesy (Joel 2:28-29). In the first recorded Christian sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter proclaimed a continuation of this fulfillment of Joel's prophesy (Acts 2:17-18).

To accomplish his purposes, God would use ALL Christians. As the New Israel, "neither male or female, …one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28), as recipients of salvation (Acts 2:21), both men and women were identified as some of those upon whom the Spirit would pour out the gift of prophesy:

But this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' GOD SAYS, 'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT UPON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, …EVEN UPON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY.' (Acts 2:l6-18)¹

Biblically this is in keeping with the divine action of calling inspired women as well as men for specific ministry responsibilities during the Old Testament era. Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah were each called "prophetess": "one upon whom the Spirit of God had descended, ... the instrument of conveying to the Israelites the knowledge of the Divine will."² The roles of these women varied, Miriam, sister of Moses and Aaron, participated in a joint leadership role (Micah 6:4). She acted as worship leader of the women after the experience of the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:20). Deborah, also a team leader, was the God-inspired wife of Lappidoth, both spiritual and civil leader to all Israel, mightily used as prophet and judge to bring victory to her people (Judges 4:4f) -- men, women, and children.

Deborah's prophesy that the Lord would hand Sisera over to a woman was fulfilled through Jael, wife of Heber (Judges 4:9,21; 5:24-27).

Undoubtedly the most unusual mission of a prophetess in the Old Testament is that of Huldah, wife of Shallum, as recorded in 2 Kings 22:14f. Though Jeremiah and Zephaniah were prophets of the time of Josiah, the fact remains that they were not chosen to authenticate the Book of the Law found when the temple was being repaired during his reign.

At King Josiah's request the high priest Hilkiah, the scribe Shaphan and others went directly to Huldah's Jerusalem address, given as the Second District (also 2 Chronicles 34:22), inquiring of the Lord concerning what was written in the book which had been found. This prophetess had the proper credentials. She was willing to be used as God's instrument to instruct what "the Lord, the God of Israel" had to say to his people. Huldah identified the inspired Scriptures.

What was the result of Huldah's ministry? King Josiah renewed Israel's covenant relationship with God. He carried out reform. He based his action upon the sole testimony of the prophetess that, in reality, this was the Word of God.

These Old Testament examples, according to Acts 2:16-18, are indicative of continuing participation of women in living out faith in the Christian church, whatever time or setting.

God-called women were used to authenticate Jesus as the Christ, as well as his resurrection. They became active proclaimers and reapers. While on earth Jesus gave them this mission, leaving no doubt as to the woman's place in his church, Jesus included the believing women as reliable leaders in the Gospel's proclamation.

God sanctioned his Son (Luke 9:35) and his ministry. Likewise, God himself sent angels to make women competent witnesses (Matthew 28:4-7; Mark 16:5-7; Luke 24:4-8).

Notably Pauline theology reaffirms the Pentecostal message of Peter. Women "through faith in Christ Jesus," "one in Christ Jesus" with all believers (Galatians 3:26-29), are called to the ministry of praying and prophesying, a gift given specifically to women as well as men (1 Corinthians 1l:5,41).

The Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 14:3 defined the gift of prophesy as speaking for "edification and exhortation and consolation" in the context of public worship.

Adam Clarke, born in 1762, wrote in his commentary, first published in Enqland in 1810 and in America in 1824:

Whatever may be the meaning of praying and prophesying, in respect to the man, they have precisely the same meaning in respect to the woman. So that some women at least, as well as some men, might speak to others to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. This kind of prophesying or teaching was predicted by Joel 2:28, and referred to by Peter, Acts 2:17. Had there not been such gifts bestowed upon women, the prophecy could not have had its fulfillment.^3<

Specific examples of God calling and using women as proclaimers in New Testament times have their beginning in God sending his Son into the world through a woman, in direct fulfillment of Scripture (Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 7:14). The angel Gabriel communicated God's specific call to Mary, the favored one, endued with special honor (Luke I: 26-38).

Blessed above all women, Mary was chosen to be the one who, through the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit, was to bring forth the very body and blood of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:16, 18-25; Luke 1:26-38). She accepted her call, believing God would accomplish his purposes through her (Luke 1:45). She received the gift of divine utterance (Luke 1:46-55). Later she would be included in the group praying in the Upper Room along with other women (Acts 1:14), asking for and receiving the filling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4).

Mary's praise song (Luke 1:46-55), saturated with Old Testament language, resembles Hannah's prayer. Possibly she was reflecting on God's great revelation of the promised Messiah, the Anointed One, first enunciated by this woman Hannah (1 Samuel 2:10). Mary pondered the miraculous act of the Holy Spirit within her and focused on God's holiness, power, and mercy as he fulfilled his long-awaited promise through her.

As the prophets of old, Mary recites in her Maqnificat the mighty works of the Lord in the past as indicative of the present and future. She predicted radical change to occur in individual hearts, through God's redemptive act, as the Word would become flesh (John 1:14).

Elizabeth, a relative of Mary (Luke 1:36) was also chosen to bear one "filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother's womb" (Luke 1:15). "Righteous in the sight of God," (Luke 1:6) "Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit" (Luke 1:41). She was empowered with prophetic utterance to echo the words of the angel (Luke 1:28) revealing an understanding of the mystery surrounding the birth of the promised Messiah (Luke 1:42,45).

Focus falls on yet a third woman called to recognize the Messiah's arrival. The widow Anna, remnant of the tribe of Asher, called prophetess (Luke 2:36) ⁴, thanks God as she joins Mary and Joseph at the moment Simeon blesses Jesus, then she testifies of the advent of Christ to those longing for redemption (Luke 2:25-38).

Not only were women used as some of the first to proclaim the birth of the Christ-child; God also used them as first to announce the reality of the resurrection.

Actually they were the first witnesses of the risen Lord. Hurrying away from the tomb, experiencing fear mingled with joy, carrying out the mission the angel had given them; they met Jesus (Matt. 28:9-10).

Two of the three Synoptic writers include this specific fact that the women were commissioned by an angel to carry the news of Jesus' resurrection to the disciples -- with Mark adding Peter's name (Matt. 28:4-7; Mark 16:5-7: Luke 24:4-8). Luke affirms that the women did as they were told, speaking to the eleven as well as to the other believers in the vicinity (Luke 24:9). The instruction was also given to tell the disciples that the risen Jesus would be going ahead of them to Galilee. They could see him there, confirming Jesus' own prediction (Mark 14:28).

When they encounter Jesus, he amplifies the angelic message by showing them that he is risen, re-emphasizing that they need not have fear, yet they need to tell the disciples (whom Jesus called "brothers") to go to Galilee where they would see him. So Jesus deems them worthy to be the first proclaimers of his resurrection.

Mark 16:9-10 explicitly states: "Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene … and she went and told them … (See also Matt. 28:1; Luke 24:10; John 20:1). Peter … ran to the tomb (Luke 24:12).

The women were effective witnesses. The disciples did as the women instructed; they went to Galilee as Jesus had indicated (Matt. 28:16). They found Jesus there. According to Scripture:

God raised Him up on the third day, and granted that He should become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God (Acts 10:40-4la).

It should be noted that the women were chosen beforehand by God himself to be the first witnesses of the risen Lord. They were the first to see Jesus visibly (Mark 16:9).

The women God used and continued to use were believing women, fearlessly witnessing of their faith.

The angelic spokesman recognized the women's purpose in coming to the tomb: "I know that you are looking for Jesus (the Nazarene), who has been crucified" (Matteus 28:5; Mark 16:6). He verified their motives.

Adam Clarke again states:

Speaking after the manner of men, these women deserved to be the first witnesses of the resurrection of Christ: during life they ministered to him, and in death they were not divided. They attended him to the CROSS, notwithstanding their attachment to him exposed them to the most imminent danger; and now they come to watch and weep at his TOMB … These faithful women proclaim the Gospel to those who were afterwards to be the teachers of the whole human race. Behold what honour God puts upon those who persevere in his truth, and continue to acknowledge him before men. ⁵

The women are not included in Paul's listing of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, he appeared to me also (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

That women are not included in Paul's listings of the appearances of the risen Lord Jesus does not preclude the fact that they were chosen by God himself to be the first witnesses of the resurrection.

This is the testimony of the New Testament: God honored believing women whom he himself had chosen to proclaim the reality of the risen Lord to unbelieving disciples (Luke 24:9-lI, 22-24; John 20:1-3,8-9), just as he chose certain of them to be participants as the 'Word became flesh" (John 1:14), in fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy (Isaiah 7:14; Joel 2:28-29).

Who were these chosen God-fearing women?

Mary Magdalene is mentioned in all four Gospels. She is included first in all the Synoptic accounts (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10). John 20:1 speaks of her as the great witness of the resurrection as she encounters Jesus alone. (As apostles Matthew and John were participants during the 40-day period after the resurrection.)

Also listed is Mary, the mother of Joses (Josaph) (Mark 15:47) also "the mother of James the Less" (Mark 15:40; Matt. 27:56) -- the other Mary (Matt. 28:1), a Galilean follower and financial supporter of Jesus (Mark 15:40-41; Luke 8:3). She had been at the Crucifixion (Mark 15:40,47; Matt. 27:56,61; Luke 23:49,55) and the burial of Jesus. Also she prepared spices and perfume to embalm him (Luke 23:56).

The writer of the Gospel of Mark, accepted as John Mark, the son of Mary of Jerusalem (Acts 12:12,25), closely connected with Peter (Mark 16:7) lists Salome third. She was probably the wife of Zebedee, the mother of James (the older) and John, and aunt of Jesus (Mark 16:1; Matt. 27:56; John 19:25).

Luke, who researched his facts so diligently, adds Joanna (the wife of Cuza, the steward of Herod Antipas (Luke 8:2-3), and the others (Luke 24:10).

Notably some women did not wait until after the resurrection to proclaim it as a fact: God honored their faith as he used them to announce the coming of the resurrection.

While Jesus was yet alive, Martha was used to proclaim the power of the resurrection dramatically as well as Jesus' Messiahship. When she declared: "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world" (John 11:27), her prophetic utterance was much like Peter's at Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:16-17).

The circumstances surrounding her confession are striking. After Lazarus' death Martha went to meet Jesus, "when she heard that Jesus was coming" to Bethany (John 11:20). She did not understand Jesus' delay; she did trust him explicitly, knowing that whatever he ask of God, God would respect. She was unafraid to dialog publicly with Jesus, believing it to be permissible for her. Jesus did not chide her for having done so.

Jesus honored Martha's trust. He assured her that Lazarus would rise again. She had no doubt: "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day" (John 11:24).

Jesus rewarded her faith openly by declaring his purpose:

I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? (John 11: 25-26)

Martha was assured a place in Christ's future kingdom. She is an interpreter of who Jesus is and an authenticator of the place of any believing woman in that kingdom. She was not the sister who was regularly sitting at the feet of Jesus. However she was an active believer, given divine insight when unashamedly pondering the great truths of the kingdom. What Jesus said recorded in Matthew 16:17 would also apply here to Martha: " … flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven."

That she did not understand fully did not disqualify her as a witness. Others had reacted similarly.

When the women had told the disciples Jesus was alive, "these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them" (Luke 24:11). To the two on the road to Emmaus, Jesus said, "0 foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken" (Luke 24:25).

As Hannah, mother of Samuel, was the first to prophesy of the Messiah, and as Elizabeth was the first to recognize the Messiah in the womb of Mary, then Anna, who was widow and prophetess, recognized that the baby Jesus was the promised Messiah, so the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well was the one to whom Jesus revealed: "I who speak to you am He (He who is called Christ)" (John 4:25-26).

That the Samaritan woman was privileged to be used cannot be over looked. By earthly standards she was not the type of woman to be chosen. An outcast Samaritan, living outside the moral codes of her day, she was honored to be the one to whom Jesus revealed his Messiahship. Jesus' attitude toward her was consistent with his character and purpose to seek and save the lost, then having forgiven the sin, to include the saved sinner in active service.

Recognizing Jesus to be who he said he was, she brought a city to hear Jesus proclaim the Gospel: "And many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, 'He told me all the things that I have done' … And many more believed because of His word" (John 4:39,41).

She was uniquely used to bring the lost to Jesus then and to prepare for the later revival in Samaria as the church spread into all the world empowered by the Spirit (Acts 8:5,12; 1:8), She shared with those who openly rejected her, putting her new-born faith into action, speaking the truth revealed to her.

When Phillip, the deacon turned evangelist, was led by the Spirit to Samaria, he reaped what the woman with Jesus had sown in the hearts of the Samaritan people. It must be assumed that Phillip moved his family with him to Caesarea. Later we read that God used his unmarried daughters in the ministry to that city. Luke's eyewitness history of the early church includes a visit to this home, without noting Pauline challenges:

And the next day we that were of Paul 's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy (Acts 21:8-9).

God has said through his word:

I will pour out my Spirit on all people, Your sons and daughters will prophesy (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17).

As believers in Jesus Christ the Messiah and in the resurrection, it is crucial that we all face the critical question "Did God continue to call and use women in the New Testament?" within the context of Jesus' words and actions:

• How were God-called women used?
• Did Jesus include women in his ministry?
• What did Jesus promote, permit, and practice?
• Did Jesus release women from the narrow, culturally limited role of their day in the church he came to establish?
• Did Jesus reinterpret the role of the woman as his Sermon on the Mount reinterpreted the Law?
• Did Jesus expand the ministry of women and its significance?
• What was Jesus' attitude toward the believing women?
• Did the early church follow the example of Jesus?

Continue to ponder these questions as you study other works relating to the New Testament message.

End Notes

1. The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, with an English Translation, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, p 1083, uses the Greek prophehteusousin "shall prophesy" (Joel 2:28) for the Hebrew nib be'u ''and will prophesy'' (Joel 3:1 in the Hebrew text). Today's Parallel Greek-English New Testament, Richmond, COMMISSION, I976, p. 338, uses the Greek prophehteusousin "shall prophesy" (Acts 2:17-18). The TheoIogical Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by Gerhard Friedrich, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, translator and editor, Vol. VI, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, fourth printing, August 1973, p. 812, states, "In the LXX navi' 'prophet' is always transl. prophehtehs there is not a single instance of any other word.

2. Adam Clarke, Clarke's Commentary, The 0ld Testament, Vol. Il-Joshua to Esther, Nashville, Abingdon, 1810 (England), 1824 (USA), p. 116.

3. Adam Clarke, Clarke's Commentary, The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Vol. II-Romans to the Revelations, Nashville, Abingdon, 1824, p. 250.

4. Friedrich, op. cit. " … the following points may be made concerning the use of the word group prophehtehs ktl in relation to the Greek oracle. (a) It denotes appointed men and women and their work, which is to declare something whose content is not derived from themselves but from the god who reveals his will at the particular site," p. 791, "prophehtehs ktl … simply expresses the formal function of declaring, proclaiming, making known. … There can he no doubt but that prophehtehs belongs to the religious sphere, where it denotes the one who speaks in the name of a god, declaring the divine will and counsel in the oracle," p. 795. "By and large the NT understands by the prophet the biblical proclaimer of the divine, inspired message," p. 828. "Prophehtis 'prophetess' occurs only twice in the NT. Though some women in the primitive community had the spirit of prophecy (Ac. 2:17f; 21:9; I C. 11:5), they were not given this title, … The Jewess Anna, however, is called a prophetess in Luke 2:36 … and Jezebel the temptress bears the same title in Rev. 2:20," p. 829, the one "who calIs herself prophetess."

5. Adam Clarke, Clarke's Commentary, The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Volume I-Matthew to the Acts, Nashville, Abingdon, 1824, p. 282.

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