Women figured importantly in Jesus’ ministry. Many of them we know by name–Martha and Mary Magdalene, for instance–but often the women who appear are unnamed. And yet they are unforgettable.
1) The Widow with Two Mites
All those rich people who gave large sums at the temple–and hoped everyone would notice–were nothing compared to the widow who gave only two copper coins. They gave out of their abundance, and she gave abundantly from what little she had. Jesus calls her out because true generosity can only be measured by the heart.
2) The Woman Healed by a Touch
Jesus was surrounded by a crowd but when this woman touched His cloak he felt it. For 12 years she had suffered from a hemorrhage. All at once the hemorrhage stopped. Jesus looked to find her and said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well…”
3) The Woman Caught in Adultery
To test Jesus, the Pharisees brought Him a woman who had been caught in adultery. According to the law, they said, she should be stoned. “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,” Jesus said and then bent down and continued writing with His finger on the ground. When He looked up they were all gone. No one had condemned her. Neither would He.
4) The Widow of Nain
The status of a widow was perilous in Jesus’ time. She would depend on her children for support. This widow in Nain was in dire straights, weeping because her only son, her only means of support, had died. Jesus took compassion on her. He touched the bier where the young man lay and said “Rise.” The young man did rise, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
5) The Woman at the Well
Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink, at a time when Jews would have nothing to do with Samaritans. They talk about water but not the sort that could be found in a well. “Those that drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty,” Jesus says. She wants this water. He tells her to call her husband. When she says she has no husband, Jesus points out that she has spoken the truth: she has had five husbands and that the current man is not her husband. It is a mystical meeting that must have changed the woman’s life. Is Jesus the Messiah? Jesus answers, “I am.” The woman went back to her town and told everyone she saw about Jesus, the One who knew everything about her.
