Women Rock!

Scott McKnight has some great posts here on women and thier roles in ministry/society/the home. Make sure you check it out.

A thought that occured to me this morning while reading Mark.
Mark 14:50 "And they all left him and fled." These are the twelve. All men. Ran from the Romans and Jewish religious leaders.
Mark 15:40-41 (you can read it). Mark mentions the women who were with him (even watching from a distance as Jesus hung to die). He was on the cross for SIX hours by they way.

Now I think Mark is making a point here. Though there are a few exceptions to the general statments Mark is making in the other gospels (like John being there with the women), it is clear that the point is: The men ran, the women didn't.

Do we understand really what that means?

The men, for three years, followed, loved, and risked their lives for Jesus. They gave up everything. Many wanted him to be a military leader to take down the Romans. And yet, when it all came to a head, they left, leaving their egos, and militant desires behind them.

The women, also followed, loved, and risked their lives for Jesus. They were considered second class citizens of the day. And yet Jesus elevated them to equal status. He treated them as people, not as commodities, or property.

The women who stayed with Jesus, were followers of a revolutionary with as much to loose as the men. Yet they stayed. We can speculate on the reasons, but the fact is...they stayed and stood against the odds, when the men ran and hid.

From one gender to another, thank you for being brave, standing strong, and following Jesus, leading us to do the same.