Women

WOMEN IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

by GLENN PEASE
02/26/21
Free to Share

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

Dr. Luke is the only Gospel writer who tells the stories of
Mary and Elizabeth who was the mother of John The
Baptist. He alone tells of Anna the prophetess. At the end of
Christ's life He alone tells of His words to the daughters of
Jerusalem who lamented as He was led to the cross. He tells
more of the story of the women's role at the empty tomb. In
Acts He gives women a major place; more so than many of
the twelve Apostles. Mary at Pentecost and then Saphira,
Priscilla, Drewsilla, Bernice, Tabitha, Mary the mother of
John Mark, Rhoda, Lydia, The Slave Girl, Damaris of
Athens, the four daughters of Phillip, and Paul's sister as an
incidental reference in Acts 23:16.

Dr. Luke might well be called the Father Of Women's
Equality. His Gospel is an example of a marvelous balance of
men and women. It was so different from other Jewish
writings that were dominated by men. In his Gospel God
deals directly with women and not just through their fathers
or husbands as we see in 1:25 with Elizabeth. If we survey
the book we see this emphasis on women.

1 & 2 Largely about Elizabeth and Mary, but with a
balance of Zechariah, Joseph, and the shepherds.
2:36-38 Anna the prophetess balances the story of Simeon.
4:25-26 The widow balances out the male leper story in
verse 27.
4:38-39 Peter's mother in law is healed balancing the
healing of the man.
7:11-17 Story of the widow of Nain right after the story of
the Centurion.
7:36-50 The sinful woman balancing the story of the
Pharisees.
8:1-3 Women balancing out the 12 disciples.
8:43-48 Healing of woman right after healing of demoniac.
8:40-56 Healing of daughter showing female child of equal
value.
10:38-42 Women learned and became disciples as well as
men.
13:10-17 Healing of woman in synagogue where they were to
be silent.
15:8-10 A woman's loss to balance out the shepherds loss.
17:32 Lot's wife.
17:34-35 Female image balancing male image.
18:1-8 Widows need.
21:1-4 Widow honored.
22:54-57 A woman brings shame on Peter.
23:27-31 Women at the cross in a positive role.
23:55-56 Women at the tomb balancing the role of
Nicodemus and Joseph.
24:1-12 Women play a major role in resurrection story.

Luke begins and ends his Gospel with women in a major
role with a generous sprinkling of female involvement along
the way. The Speaker's Bible says, "St. Luke's Gospel has
been called the Gospel of womanhood. The word "woman"
occurs in Mark and Matthew 49 times, and in Luke alone 43
times, almost as many times as in the two others put
together."

E.M. Blaiklock writes, "Macedonian inscriptions bare
witness to the respected and responsible position of women in
the Northern Greek communities," and suggestions that the
exaltation of womanhood in the Gospel of Luke and the book
of Acts fits well with the tradition that Luke was a
Macedonian." Here is another way of seeing the balance of
men and women in Dr. Luke.

Zachariah 1:5-22,26-38 Mary
Simeon 2:25-38
Naaman 4:25-27 Widow
Demoniac 4:31-39 Peter's mother in law
Centurian 7:1-17 Widow of Nain's son
Pharisees 7:36-50 Public sinner
Twelve 8:1-3 Women followers
Demoniac 8:26-56 Woman with hemorrhage and
daughter of Jairus
Samaritan 10:29-42 Mary and Martha
Men 11:31-32 Queen of South
Dropsey 13:10-17 Crippled woman - 14:1-6
Mustard 13:18-21 Woman with yeast
Shepherd 15:4-10 Woman with ten coins
Sleeping 17:34-35 Women grinding
Pharisees 18:1-14 Widow
Scribes 20:45-21:4 Widow's mite
Joseph 23:50-56 Women from Galilee
Disciples 24:1-35 Women at tomb

In the book All We Were Meant To Be, Letha Scanzoni
and Nancy Hardesty wrote, "In speaking of liberation for the
Christian woman, we are not thinking of an organization or
movement, but rather a state of mind in which a woman
comes to view herself as Jesus Christ sees her-as a person
created in God's image whom he wants to make free and
whole, to grow, to learn, to utilize fully the talents and gifts
God has given her as a unique individual."

Let's look at the passages where women stand out.
2:36-38
36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of
Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, having
lived with her husband seven years from her virginity,
37 and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not
depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer
night and day.
38 And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to
God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the
redemption of Jerusalem.

Dr. Luke no doubt had a practice that brought many
widows to him, for we see a special interest in his Gospel
toward widows. Matthew uses the word widow only one
time; Mark uses it three times and John only once. Luke,
however, has 12 references to widows, and this even
surpasses Paul who refers to them 7 times in ITim. 5, as he
gives instructions about them. James had one reference also.
Luke has more to say about widows than all the rest of the
New Testament put together. It is of interest that in all 12
references of Luke the widow is always pictured in a positive
light. Luke, of course, always puts women in a positive light.
Jesus pointed out how widows were taken advantage of in
his day, as has always been the case, and he blasted the
Pharisees for devouring widows houses. He used the widow
as an example of great faith. A widow by persistence made
an unjust lawyer take her case, and a widow's mite put the
Pharisee's gifts to shame. Luke tells us in Acts that it was the
needs of widows that led to the appointment of deacons in the
church. Widow's have played a major role in the church
from the beginning.

It is good to keep in mind that widows are not a unique
type of person in a category by themselves. They are every
kind of personality, and their needs vary greatly. That is
why we see Paul giving instructions about the differences in I
Tim. 5. Do not stereotype widows. Some need to remarry;
others need to remain single and serve the Lord in special
ways. God does not expect all to follow the same pattern.
Anna became a widow only 7 years after her marriage, and
she lived a long life of service without ever remarrying.
There are about 8 million widows in the United States,
and only 2 million widowers. This shows clearly that the
basis for so many widows is that men die younger. It is of
interest to note that just as meeting the needs of widows was
the first social problem of the early church, so the first
national public program of subsidy in this country was the
Widows Pension Act of 1914. In the Old Testament they also
had a social security system as we see in Deut. 14:28-29.

The name Anna means grace or gracious. She was a
prophetess. This means she was a spokes person for God.
The female had a role in Israel's religion, for God could and
did speak through women as well as men. Matthew Henry
writes, "The spirit of prophecy now began to revive, which
has ceased in Israel above 300 years." We see in Acts 2:17
the equality of the sexes as channels of prophecy. Anna was
one of the last of the old, and first of the new. As a
prophetess she would pass on to others the truth of God. It is
likely she did so just with devout women. In the Old
Testament, however, we have the example of Huldah who
spoke to men. II Chron. 34:22f and II Kings 22.

Anna was very old. Old age is magnified by Dr. Luke. He
rejoices in old people, for long life was his aim in the medical
profession. They were a neglected group, but not by Luke,
and not by God. The old were the first to know. The first
two people not directly connected with the birth to recognize
the reality of the incarnation were old people. God honored
the faithful aged who looked for his promised king. These
old lay people were not pictured as retired saints, but as
faithful servants to the end. Wesley wrote, "Let the example
of those aged saints animate those whose hoary heads, like
theirs, are 'a crown of glory,' being found in the way of
righteousness." These old saints were not weary in well
doing.

Anna had labored long in the field, but could not be
persuaded to retire until her labor bore fruit. Faithful to the
end, and God rewarded her with this experience of seeing the
Christ child. There is no retirement from serving God. Here
was a godly woman who had great sorrow. She lost her
husband after a very short time together. She had a long life
of loneliness, but she was not bitter, but ever faithful in her
prayers. Suffering either makes us harder or softer, bitter or
better. She was old and alone, and yet sympathetic, hopeful,
and faithful.

She never missed, but was ever loyal, and every day she
was in the temple fasting and praying. Had she missed this
one day, this event would have been missed, and she would
never had been heard of, but she was there. She was an old
faithful among the people of God. New people are often a
greater blessing and more exciting than those who are just
always there. You don't have to worry about them or
wonder where they are. They are just there. They are often
taken for granted, but they are a real blessing in any
organization.

The reason she was privileged to see the Messiah was
because of her faithfulness and eager anticipation. Aged
Anna is one of the unique people in the Biblical record. She
apparently never left the temple, and so she stayed in one of
the dozens of outbuildings scattered about the various courts.
She would have to live off of the alms given to her. It doesn't
sound like much of a life, but she plugged away day after day
with the hope that the Messiah would come in her life. Talk
about a nobody, and yet, she was selected to be named in the
Word of God. Luke could have skipped this little detail, and
left her in oblivion, but he did not, and this nobody became
a somebody in the life of Christ.

Calvin in referring to Anna and Simeon wrote, "These
two persons are entitled to greater reference than an
immense multitude of those whose pride is swelled by nothing
but empty titles." Calvin also says of her being there night
and day, "It deserves our attention, that the same rule is not
enjoined on all, and that all ought not to be led
indiscriminately to copy these performances, which are here
commended in a widow......Silly ambition has filled the world
with apes, from superstitious persons copying, with more zeal
than knowledge, everything that they hear praised in the
saints." Calvin is simply saying, most are not called to a life
like that of Anna. She was unique and that is why she is
being honored by God in this unique way.

In verse 38 we see Anna giving thanks, and so she is the
first person on record who thanked God for the gift of His
Son. Christmas to us was thanksgiving to her. How could she
know what was going on without a special revelation? So we
see here a balance with Zechariah who also received special
revelation on John the Baptist. Anna's song would have
been, mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the
Lord. She was old, but she was not looking back to the good
old days, but forward to the coming better days. The best
was yet to be, and she bore witness to God's best coming in
the Christ child. Here was one of the first preachers of the
good news. A woman was used by God to be one of His first
communicators of the Gospel.

Anna spoke about the child to all who were looking
forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. It would be
wonderful to know just how much she knew about the child,
but the fact that she knew enough to tell others means she
was one of the most informed people on the planet. God was
using a woman first to tell the good news of Jesus. Adam
Clark writes, "As Daniel's 70 weeks were known now to be
completed, the more pious Jews were in constant expectation
of the promised Messiah." John Wesley wrote, "The sceptre
now appeared to be departing from Judah, though it was not
actually gone; Daniel's weeks were plainly near their
period..."

Anna, like Simeon, was a waiter and a witness to other
waiters on God. If people were not looking, there was no
point in telling them. Those who looked for and waited for
salvation are a select group of people. Noah and his family
were an example of those expecting God to do something in
the world when everybody else went about their business as
usual. Those who expect God to act, and look for it,
experience more than those who do not. Waiting is not the
same as being idle. It means to be faithful in God's service
knowing His promise will be fulfilled, and thus, you are ready
when it is. Anna was a Widow, a Worshiper, and a Witness.
We see clearly that there is room in the kingdom of Christ, as
there was in the kingdom of Israel, for the service of a
woman. Women are able to render equal service to Christ,
for the gifts of the Spirit are not divided into male and female
gifts.

Anna was the pioneer of women preachers. Many no
doubt would merely humor the old gal knowing she was not
long for this world. "Sure you saw the Messiah. You see all
the 8 day old babies coming to be circumcised. I'm sure you
could tell which of these little 8 day old tykes was the
Messiah." After departing they would have a good laugh at
her strange conviction. What is strange is that old people,
foreign people, like the wise men, and the lowly shepherds
were the people in on this great event. The so called wise and
religious leaders did not have a clue.