Does God Consider Men More Important than Women?

Recently, I received a question in an email from a pastor who asked:

Does Jesus Christ have any sisters? I know there is a list of his brothers in the New Testament! Are the sisters of Jesus listed in any part in the Bible? l am told The brothers are named. Did he have biological sisters who are named? For example, l am told that Mark 6:3 says, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.” Would one be making any point if he thinks boys are more important than girls in God’s eyes if the girls’ names are not listed for instance!

Actually, there are 3 questions asked.

1. Does Jesus Christ have any sisters?
2. Are his sisters named [in the Bible]?
3. Would one be making any point if he thinks boys are more important than girls in God’s eyes if the girls’ names are not listed?

Here are my answers to these questions.

1. Obviously, Jesus had sisters as the verse indicates. These were people who knew Jesus and his family. They are making an issue of his teaching and who he thinks he is. Since they know him personally and his family, they have a hard time believing that he is The Messiah. For this reason, Jesus is unable to do more than a few healings in his hometown.

I think it is important to note that Mark is quoting the people in this passage. He is not making a call on how God sees girls or women. In many cultures, women are devalued because of a misunderstanding of the account given in Genesis of the fall and the curse. Human men may devalue women, but Yahweh definitely does not.

2. Although we can read that Jesus had sisters, their names are not mentioned. An internet search will yield sites that mention their names, but this may come from historical records and may or may not be accurate. However, naming women in the Bible is only done if the women in question had important roles in the story. It is not a reflection of how Yahweh sees women.

 

3. This question requires a more lengthy answer. For one to see how important women are in God’s eyes, then first one must examine how Yeshua (Jesus) treated women. Since Yeshua is God and our primary example who we are to become like, it is how he treated women and how women related to Him that gives us the answer.

 

1. Yeshua showed mercy to the woman caught in adultery and empowered her to go and sin no more.
2. The story in Luke 7:36-50 tells of a sinful woman who “brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, and began kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.” While the Pharisee Jesus was having dinner with devalued the woman because she was a sinner, Yeshua defended her actions and forgave her many sins.
3. Mark 14 tells us “While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper, He was reclining at the table, and a woman came with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the vial and poured the perfume over His head.“ While some of the men criticized her actions, Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a good deed for Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the entire world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.” Once again, we read that Jesus is defending a woman and placing her in high value, and honoring her. Yet is her name mentioned in the account?
4. Many rich women financially supported Yeshua’s ministry. [See Luke 8] Women do not support a man unless he treats them with respect and honor.
5. In Matthew 28, we read that both the angel and Yeshua entrusted women with the message of His resurrection.

Other verses to consider:

1. In Acts, we read about women who were prophetesses and leaders of the church.
2. Revelation 19:10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he *said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brothers and sisters who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

However,  the most telling verses in the Bible I believe that show us how God sees women are:

1. Genesis 2:18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
2. The story told in Matthew 22:23-33 in which Jesus corrected a misunderstanding when the Sadducees asked him about whose wife a woman would be in the resurrection if she had been married to 7 brothers here on Earth. Jesus says, “You are mistaken, since you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”
3. Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
4. Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it.

Conclusion: God made both male and female. Woman was created because without her it is not good for man. While everything else was called good, this was not considered good in the Creator’s eyes. This alone places great value on women. However, in God’s eyes, all are equal. We are spirits in a temporary body. There is no male or female in the spirit. We are like the angels in that respect who will neither marry nor be given in marriage in the Age to Come. God values all humans the same and whosoever will come can be saved. It is not His will that any perish, but all (both men and women) come to repentance. Yeshua valued women and treated them with honor and respect, even defending them.

As Kingdom Citizens made in the image of God and instructed to obey everything Jesus taught by word and deed, I believe we also must see women as valuable and important members of the body of Christ. Can we do less than our Lord and Savior? Remember, the gifts of the Holy Spirit belong to the Holy Spirit. If He chooses to bestow them on women and use them to advance the Kingdom, then we have no right or authority to devalue women and prevent them from doing what God calls and empowers them to do. Speaking of Gifts of the Holy Spirit, in reality, it is people who are the real gifts. That makes any woman operating in the gifts of the Spirit a gift. A gift that is to be loved and treasured by men as well as other women. A gift that a husband is commanded to love with the same love that Jesus has for His church. A man is supposed to be willing to lay down his life for his wife. Now that commandment shows how much God values women does it not?

I hope this helps bring clarity and answers the questions asked on this topic.

Shalom dear ones