In an attempt to pay permanent homage to the women for their strength and sense of initiative, the Religion of God, of the Christ, and of the Holy Spirit1 offers you this Biblestudy on the value of women in the Holy Bible, based on the teachings of Jesus, the Ecumenical Christ, the Divine Statesman.
This is a just recognition of women, as the President-Preacher of the Religion of the Third Millennium, José de Paiva Netto, wrote in his article Women in the Repair of Nations:
"Women’s role is so important that, even with all the obstacles offered by a chauvinist male culture, no organization that wishes to survive—whether it may be religious, political, philosophical, scientific, business or a family—can dismiss her support. Now, women, when graced by the Divine Breath, are the Soul of everything, the Soul of Humanity, the good root, the basis of civilizations, the defense of human existence. What mother wishes to see her son or daughter die at war? Woe to us, men, if it weren’t for elucidated, inspired and enlightened women!"
The Divine Example left by Jesus
In the Good News of Christ, we see that during His Sublime and Spiritually Revolutionary Mission on Earth, Jesus showed how women should be valued, as should all people, because they are a Divine creation. He did this by emphasizing that each human being’s worth as an Immortal Soul.
In His first visible coming to Earth, the Divine Master was in a social context where cultural challenges resulted in segregating people and generating violence against children, women, the sick, and immigrants. While this scenario may have already undergone major changes, in view of what still needs to be improved, let’s study His Divine examples together.
For more than two thousand years, the Heavenly Professor has been saving lives, enlightening minds, and re-educating our Eternal Spirits. On His Divine journey on Earth, He broke down barriers of exclusion and extinguished all forms of violence and intolerance from souls, in addition to leaving us with so many other teachings of deep spiritual re-education and, consequently, of social renewal for the Goodness of all.
Check out some examples in the photo gallery below:
Jesus Heals a Woman and Resurrects a Girl (The Gospel according to Mark 5:25-34). A certain woman had been suffering from a serious illness for 12 years; but when she touched Jesus’ robe, she received His blessings. In other words: she did her part and sought Jesus. Then Christ said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (5:34). Jesus, therefore, inspires all of those who are sick to combine spiritual treatment with the necessary medical and/or psychological treatment. The power of Prayer, for example, helps medical procedures significantly. (Foto: Yongsung Kim)Women Accompanying Jesus (The Gospel according to Luke 8:1-3). This passage tells us that women used to work hard both at home and in the fields. They used to plant, harvest, cook, fetch water from springs and wells, spin and weave clothes, care for their families, and educate their children. From the little they got for themselves, in view of their obligation to give what they earned to their husbands, many of them “ministered to Him of their substance.” Others—wives of authorities or men of great wealth—did not allow personal resources to become greater than the faith they had. Therefore, with joy in their hearts they contributed to Christ’s cause in taking Peace to hearts. (Foto: James Tissot)The Widow's Offering (The Gospel according to Luke 21:1-4). “Jesus said: Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (21:3 and 4). Widows at that time lived in poverty. They were cared for by family members, who, if they were fair, would make their existence less bitter. But Jesus exalts the greatness of her simple gift before God and all those present. (Foto: Divulgação)The Faith of a Canaanite Woman (The Gospel according to Matthew 15:21-28). Jesus was going through the lands of Tyre and Sidon and among the crowd that followed Him, there appeared a Canaanite woman crying out for Him to cure her daughter. At the time there was a historical separation between Israelites and Canaanites, because the former disregarded the latter socially and called them “little dogs”. At first, Christ didn’t respond to the woman’s call, but He didn’t send her away as the apostles asked Him to: "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us” (15:23). (Foto: Divulgação)The Faith of a Canaanite Woman (The Gospel according to Matthew 15:21-28). In this passage, Jesus uses the courage of this woman and responds: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel" (15:23 and 24). However, when Jesus questions her in front of everyone, He is not rebuking her, but giving her the chance to publicly say who she was. In her reply, the Canaanite woman affirmed her dignity in also being able to receive something from the spiritual feast served by Christ, even if they were crumbs. We are moved by His words: “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted” (15:28). (Foto: Tela: Benjamin West (1738-1820))The Woman Caught in Adultery (The Gospel according to John 8:1-11). The accusation of adultery levelled against a woman was extremely arbitrary. Any small slip in the rigid codes of social reclusion, which became even more intolerant if the young woman was engaged to be married, could cost her life. This is not to mention that they were harassed in a much more incisive way than today (although this is still unacceptable, regardless of the intensity of the violence, whether by words, insinuation or abusive action) and men did not suffer consequences to same degree. In the moral force of the statement “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (8:7), Jesus saved that woman from a public stoning. Then Christ offered her a valuable lesson for her material and spiritual life: “Go now and leave your life of sin” (8:11). (Foto: Divulgação)Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman (The Gospel according to John 4:1-30). Jesus broke down barriers by talking to a person from Samaria and speaking publicly to a woman and revealing to her the extraordinary spiritual knowledge He had of His own mission and the essence of the Heavenly Father: "God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in Truth. The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called the Christ) ‘is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you–I am He’” (4:24-26). (Foto: Divulgação)The Wedding at Cana: Jesus Changes Water into Wine (The Gospel according to John 2:1-12). The fact that women were destined for a life of social obscurity did not erase their entrepreneurial initiatives and their opinions about what happened around them. Mary was not a mere spectator of the extraordinary Mission of Her Son and Master. She was at His side and took part in His journey. One of several examples is found in this passage in which Mary asks Him something, and Christ answered her: “Woman, why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come” (2:4). He needed to affirm that it was not yet the moment of His Mission. This is how He reveals to mankind that in performing the miracle, He was fulfilling the request of His mother’s heart. May Mary’s sentence always guide our Accomplishing Faith: “Do whatever He tells you” (2:5). (Foto: Divulgação)The Crucifixion of Jesus (The Gospel according to John 19:17-37). Jesus sanctified the sublime concept of motherhood beyond the bonds of the flesh. In His Gospel according to John 19:25-27, we read: “Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.” (Foto: Divulgação)
Peter’s Mother-in-law and Many Others Healed (The Gospel according to Matthew 8:14-17). When Jesus entered Peter’s house, He came to know about the health problem of his mother-in-law and He healed her. After that, something even more impressing occurred: “she got up and began to wait on Him” (8:15). In a scenario in which women could not serve at table, she waited on them and took part in a meeting with the Master. Can you imagine her joy because of the respect He had for her? (Foto: Tela: James Tissot (1836-1902))
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1 – Religion of God, of the Christ, and of the Holy Spirit — also called the Religion of the Third Millennium, and the Religion of Universal Love. This is the Ecumenical Religion of Brazil and the world.
