The Gospel Wouldn’t Have Gotten Anywhere Without Women

Jesus Unmasked

Adam and Lindsey unmask Jesus from exclusive theology and violent cultural lenses. But, during Covid times, Jesus would wear a mask! Loving others as Jesus loves us requires us to wear a mask too. “Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” Couldn’t they just let the poor woman rest? When we hear “service” in a context like this, a woman in a house full of men, we might think Peter’s mother-in-law is making dinner. But what if it’s much more than that? Jesus came to serve. He came to show us that human community is mutual service, and that we live into our fullness as God’s image-bearers when we live not for ourselves, but others. Peter’s mother-in-law chooses to serve, not out of a sense of patriarchal duty, but because she is following Jesus. She is a disciple. She is actually the first disciple we truly see following Jesus in his way of service. This leads Adam and Lindsey to reflect on how, when it comes to following Jesus, women always get it first. Jesus also cures the sick for free. This is important, because, just like today, the need for medical care often left people in Jesus’s time destitute. And even more so than today (though things haven’t changed nearly enough), poverty was a death sentence. The point of Jesus curing for free is not that doctors don’t deserve compensation, of course. The point is that Jesus is creating a world where we serve one another, giving what we can and bringing out the best in each other by living into our best selves. This is the Beloved Community. He casts out demons and commands them to be silent. What if that means Jesus is silencing all those forces that tell us we are not enough, or that make us seek to enhance ourselves at the expense of others? What if those demons are all the lies we swim in that prevent us from living into the fullness of Beloved Community? We warmly invite you to join the conversation every Wednesday afternoon at 5 CT / 3 PT on the Raven Foundation Facebook page!