Her Story

In thinking about Lydia’s story, five divisions seemed to emerge. Lydia’s destiny,  Lydia’s career as a dye merchant Lydia’s desire to establish her own household The dream God gave Paul to evangelize in Macedonia And the dignity God settled on women in first century Palestine, and on Lydia, and the dignity the Apostle Paul also conferred on women and on Lydia I   Destiny, Acts 16:14 II  Dye Merchant, Acts 16:14 III Desire, Acts 16:14 IV Dream, Acts 16:6-12 V  Dignity, Acts 16:13-15 And through Lydia we learn that mature faith accepts God's crossing up of conventions--I first heard that taught in a BSF class, years ago, and I was struck with the simple wisdom in that statement. Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Tabitha’s story begins in Joppa, an ancient seaport along the Mediterranean. This is harbor city as the place Jonah fled to when he heard God’s call to Nineveh. Joppa’s international anchorage so well represented, Jonah knew he could board a ship to the farthest reaches of the west—in the opposite direction of Assyria—as soon as he arrived. Further back in its history, Joppa represented the territory allotted to the tribe of Dan in the book of Joshua. Centuries afterward, when Solomon built his palace and the temple, the massive cedar logs he conscripted had to come through Joppa’s port, the only natural harbor between Egypt to the south and Akko to the north. Again, a thousand years later at the rebuilding of the temple, the lumber needed to come through Joppa. Imagine a bustling metropolis, with thriving import-export trade, merchant families living in impressive homes, the sounds of creaking ships, gulls, languages from around the world, temples and houses of worship representing dozens of religions, wine bars and inns with an overflowing clientele of travelers and seafarers, an easy place to get lost in, to start over, to begin an adventure. Joppa also represented the meeting of many cultures, for though it was one Palestine’s most important port cities, and certainly Jerusalem’s most important, Joppa also bordered Samaria and occupied the Phoenician region. Which brings us to the unique and intriguing story of a woman with dual citizenship, as it were, a woman known for her good deeds, the only woman who was actually called disciple in the entire Christian Testament, whose death rocked her Christian community to its core, and her deliverance by being raised back to life generated widespread belief in the Lord. I Tabitha the Disciple, Acts 9:36 The Kingdom of God about the goodness of God that brings life to all who believe. II Tabitha’s Death, Acts 9:37-39 The Kingdom of God is about hope in the kindness, goodness, and power of God. III Tabitha’s Deliverance, Acts 9:40-42 The Kingdom of God is for all people. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Tabitha (Dorcas)" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Martha, Lazarus, and Mary were all disciples of Jesus, people who loved and followed Jesus, opened their home to Him, shared their table with Jesus in fellowship and enjoyed Jesus’ friendship as well as lived by Jesus’ teaching. Each had their own unique relationship with the Lord, yet together, as a family, they displayed all the aspects of a church. Especially the sisters, Martha and Mary, teach you and me about blessing God as a whole body of believers. Studying the Bible, learning the doctrines of the Christian faith, do not make a person wise, or strong in the faith. In fact, wisdom is not about knowing. Wisdom is about using what you know. In spiritual terms, the wise person is the one who lives out the truths they know, not necessarily the Bible scholar and theologian. We might say Martha brought in the importance of right doing in her service to the Lord, and in right thinking as Jesus’ developed her faith in knowing the truth about His divinity. Now enter Mary, who said few words, but whose passion and practice made a deep and lasting impact on Jesus’ heart and our understanding of discipleship. We see her first sitting at the feet of Jesus, then kneeling at His feet, and finally anointing his feet. I Sitting at Jesus’ Feet, Luke 10:38–42 II Kneeling at Jesus’ Feet, John 11:1–46 III Anointing Jesus’ Feet, Matthew 26:6–13, Mark 14:3–9, John 12:1-8 To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Mary of Bethany" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Years and years ago, when I was in a high school writing class, we were asked to write our own obituary. I remember us all laughing nervously, it sounded so macabre! But it was the teacher’s sideways device to get us to write about our hopes and dreams. What would we want to be remembered for someday? And it made me wonder what Martha would have wanted to be remembered for? Most of us remember the Martha depicted in Luke’s Gospel, the busy beaver who is reprimanded by Jesus, and chastened to be more like her spiritual sister Mary. But I don’t think that’s the Martha Jesus knew, and knows to this today. The Gospels tell three stories about Martha. In the first story she opened her home to the Lord Jesus and his disciples who were with him. The next place we see Martha and Mary is at their brother’s funeral. Both sisters were deeply hurt and disappointed that Jesus had delayed in coming. In Martha’s final appearance, she was once again serving dinner at a large celebration in Simon the Leper’s home, thrown in honor of Jesus and her brother Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead. I think the way Martha would have liked to be remembered was as a woman of bold faith and blessed service, who was able to leave the conventions of her old life and enter into the grace and freedom Jesus offers, who opened the doors of her home and her heart to Jesus and all who come with him, who is bonded in love and faith to God through Christ. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Martha of Bethany" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

The story of the woman at the well comes right after Jesus made a blockbuster statement to the Pharisee and Sanhedrin member Nicodemus: God loves not just Pharisees, not even just Judeans, but the whole world. And, to illustrate this very point, Jesus made his way to some of the most despised people in the region, the Samaritans. Now, as Jesus and his disciples arrived at Jacob’s famous well, they decided to take a break. Jesus sat down to rest, and the disciples went into the nearest town to buy food, most likely a very unsettling prospect for them as Judeans. They may even have passed by this woman with her water jug as they walked into the town of Sychar. Archaeologists show there was another well in town, but she was walking the extra half-mile out of town to Jacob’s well, possibly because of her reputation within the community. The Lord Jesus loved this mixed-race, mixed-religion woman of questionable reputation, and he respected and honored her with his own humility and vulnerability. He was thirsty for water, and knew she was thirsty for eternal life. But. There is so . . . much . . . more to this story. You may be surprised by what the Greek reveals. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Woman at the Well" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Matthew, Mark, and Luke acknowledge the women who traveled with Jesus. Matthew and Mark do not mention these female disciples until they are found at Jesus’s cross. Luke gives more details about them, describing them as ministering to Jesus, and along with Jesus, from their own resources and ability. These women received teaching and revelation from Jesus along with his other disciples and were given Jesus’s call to proclaim the truth they received.  The Gospel of John’s less formal and more detailed portrayal provides an organic view of Jesus’s call to discipleship and apostleship, supplementing rather than duplicating the Synoptic Gospels’ accounts. John took great care in showing a direct corollary between Jesus’s calling of two different women, and the calling of Jesus’s first disciples.  The high view of Christ and of the Scriptures will lead modern Christians to hearken to John’s portrayal of women and men in Jesus’s apostolic mission, and therefore support Christ’s work today in calling women and men to every level of leadership in the church.  To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Women Disciples, Conclusion" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Though Mary of Magdala is a well-known figure in the gospels, she is not introduced by name until Jesus’s crucifixion in John’s Gospel (John 19:25). John doesn’t explain who she is, or what her relationship is to Jesus or his family, but there she is, with John and Mary, Jesus’s mother. That alone says how important she was to Jesus’s inner circle. In fact, Mary of Magdala is the only other woman besides Jesus’s mother who is identified in all four Gospels. In total, she is mentioned twelve times, with her name almost always placed first, underscoring her prominence and importance among Jesus’s followers. Luke’s Gospel identifies Mary’s hometown as Magdala, an affluent Hellenistic city in the Galilee, where Josephus also lived for a time. According to Luke, there were certain women who had been healed of “evil spirits and infirmities,” among whom was “Mary who is called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone forth.” Luke 8:2 (YLT) Evidently, Mary’s earliest encounter with Jesus was as a deeply afflicted woman with a little-understood ailment. As deeply as she was afflicted so profoundly was she freed by Jesus. Imagine the gratitude and love Mary must have had for her Savior.   Mary, along with two other named women, and “many others,” left their homes and traveled with Jesus and the Twelve, as Jesus “was going through every city and village, preaching and proclaiming good news of the reign of God.” Luke 8:1 (YLT) Like the five men called to be disciples at the beginning of John's Gospel, and the woman at the well in Samaria in Chapter 4, Mary of Magdala's story includes all twelve elements unique to Jesus's call. John has put it on record that Jesus called women as his disciples and commissioned them to apostolic ministry just as he did with men, and we can do no less today. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Mary of Magdala, a Disciple of Jesus" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

This is a six-part series, and this is the fourth installment, exploring how the calling narrative found in the Gospel of John, chapter 1 is repeated in the story of the Samaritan Woman in John chapter 4, and in Mary of Magdala's story at the end of John's Gospel, chapter 20. There are twelve calling elements to Jesus's call to discipleship and apostolic mission portrayed in the calling of Jesus's first five disciples: Andrew, John, Peter, Phillip, and Nathanael. The synoptic gospels key in on twelve men, eleven of whom became apostles. But there were many more disciples than that, all told 120 women and men who received Jesus's Great Commission and watched him ascend to heaven. This podcast takes a close look at another woman, one who may not have been there for Christ's ascension (but, then again, she may have been, as Luke 8:3 indicates many women traveled with Jesus), who said yes to Jesus's call. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "The Samaritan Woman, a Disciple of Jesus" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

We don’t often think of Jesus gathering disciples together as a rabbi starting a school, but the shape of what Jesus did very much is the shape of a school. Jesus did depart from the traditional rabbinical model of his day in a few significant ways. For instance, unlike other schools, Jesus kept his table fellowship open to everyone, people in every stratum and sphere of life. And, Jesus chose as his disciples some unexpected people. Apart from the Twelve, there is evidence Jesus had women disciples, some of whom also traveled with him and ministered alongside him and the other disciples. Though evidence for female disciples is found in all four Gospels, it is John's Gospel which provides the most dramatic evidence for Jesus calling women to discipleship and apostolic ministry. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "The Twelve Marks of Jesus' Call to Discipleship" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Did Jesus call women into discipleship in the same way Jesus called men? Or did women simply start following Jesus of their own accord, with no formal call? Can we say, for instance, that Mary of Bethany was actually a disciple, or was she simply acting like a disciple when she sat at Jesus’s feet? In the same way, was Mary of Magdala only acting like an apostle to the apostles, as she is sometimes called, or was she actually sent by Jesus as an apostle? Three years ago, as I sat down to read the Gospel of John in Greek, I didn’t know what to expect. I just knew that I had always loved this Gospel, and the Greek employed in all of John’s works is at a level I could read. But as I read, the seeds of understanding about Jesus and women began to grow. I found myself often mulling over the words themselves, and the way they are phrased. I also found myself reading as a Bible student, taking note of the way the writer had arranged his material. The more I read, the more I saw something truly amazing! And that has now become a four-part video series, beginning with this one. So stay tuned, I think this is going to be pretty exciting. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Did Jesus Call Women to be Disciples" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

The debate continues as to whether Scripture endorses, or at least permits, or rather forbids women from certain roles within the Body of Christ. May women be deacons? May women be elders? May women be pastors? May women be bishops? May women teach or lead in church? At stake, of course, is how to live rightly before God, how to do what God has in mind, and to live within the space and the design God has laid out for humankind. And, questions of women's roles—whatever they may be—within the Body of Christ, as experienced in church life and among believers, also touches more broadly on what God may have in mind for women and men in marriages, in families, in communities, in the socioeconomic sphere, and in the political sphere. Years ago, I found a site that gives a basic overview of the various ways Christians have been trying to navigate these questions. These are my summary thoughts based upon that site, Adrian Warnock’s article on "Gender: Complementarian Vs Egalitarian Spectrum," posted on Patheos. This all is by way of an introduction to my four-part series on what I discovered in the Gospel of John about Jesus's call on women to discipleship and apostolic mission. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Women Disciples Introduction" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

The story of Jairus’s daughter and the woman who suffered from a bleeding disorder are told together in all three of the synoptic gospels—the gospels that more or less track with each other, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I am going to be teaching out of Mark’s gospel, who has the most detailed account of these two stories. I believe this to be a true story, but it is a story that also reveals startling truths Jesus was teaching his disciples, revealing to the crowds of people who followed him, and driving home to the religious elite. Through the stories of Jairus's daughter and the woman with the bleeding disorder, we learn that Jesus' response to faith is to release the power of his grace. When you and I feel we are at the bottom of the barrel, Jesus is saying “I have established a new kingdom without ranking systems. I respond to all who came to me in faith.” For Jesus has proven his mighty power over all evil, over every other power, even the power of death itself. Jesus is showing that no person is beyond his tender compassion and no circumstance is beyond his scope. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Daughter of Jairus" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Throughout his ministry, Jesus gathered around him men and women who became a community of 120 people joined in their love for and faith in Jesus. And one of those women was Mary of Magdala. She is mentioned fourteen times, in all four Gospels, and her name is almost always placed first, seemingly implying she was first in service, first in support. However, Mary’s most significant story appears not during Jesus’s ministry, but rather at his resurrection. In this twenty minute talk, we’ll first follow Mary through the years she was a student and supporter of Jesus, then we will spend most of our time in the Garden with Mary at Christ’s empty tomb, and end with a deeper understanding of ourselves as members of the Body of Christ. Mary’s first encounter with Jesus was as a deeply troubled, severely afflicted woman, in the grip of and suffering from seven demons. We can only imagine how desperate her family had become in their desire to see her healed and freed of her affliction. After her first, life-changing encounter with the rabbi and healer, all four Gospel accounts describe Mary’s faithfulness and courage, a major financial supporter and patron of Jesus’s ministry, one of only three remaining with Jesus at the foot of his cross until his death, and among the first to arrive at his tomb the morning of his resurrection. But Mary’s most significant story in scripture comes in her final encounter with Jesus, described in John 20, the day he rose from the dead. I Adherent of the Messiah The one who is freed from much, loves much. II Apostle to the Apostles Jesus restores the relationships of humankind—to God, to each other, and to the earth. III Among the Body of Christ If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Mary of Magdala" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Is the cross a symbol about death or life? defeat or triumph? humiliation or glory? Or all those things? As I searched for answers, I became drawn to how Christians depicted crosses a thousand years ago and more, and that search became this fifteen minute video on the ancient symbols of Christianity. From the eight-hundred-year old Batllo Majsty, now residing in in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, to the gorgeous Basilica di Sant’Apollinare, Ravenna, Italy, the fifth century, Mausoleum of empress Galla Placida, to Celtic crosses in Ireland, ringed crosses in Israel, and the secret symbols of the anchor, fish, and loaves in the first-century church, this short talk follows believers’ portrayals of the glory of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "The Cross, Symbol of Victory" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Of the several influential women in the Bible who are not given names—Job’s wife, comes to mind—the wife of Pilate is perhaps the most shadowy. All that is known of her from the scriptures is her relationship to the Procurator Marcus Pontius Pilate, and the message she sent to him while he was sitting on the Seat of Judgment in the Praetorium the morning Jesus of Nazareth was tried for treason. Yet her message, and its impact, have been felt for the two thousand years since it was delivered, and some arms of the church—the Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Oriental Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox—venerate Pilate’s wife as a saint, and some even venerate Pilate as well. Though the Bible does not give us much information about Pilate’s wife, she does appear in a number of ancient accounts that arose in the first few centuries of Christianity. I Depiction of Claudia Procula Destiny moves forward one step at a time. II Discernment of Her Dream Earthly decisions can carry eternal consequence III Development of Spiritual Import Divine revelation requires a response To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "The Wife of Pilate" The Acts of Paul item comes from "The Acts of Paul: A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary," Richard I. Pervo, Cascade Books, Eugene Oregon, 2014. Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

In the passage just before this one, Mark talked about the scribe who had asked Jesus about the greatest commandment and was impressed with Jesus’ answer. Jesus was also pleased. He told the scribe he was very close to entering the kingdom of heaven. With such a warm endorsement from a scribe, this was a rare teachable moment, the right moment, in today’s passage (Mark 12:35-44), for Jesus to talk about Messiah, and to teach His disciples the difference between a false reading, and a true reading of scripture. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "The Widow's Mite" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

We don’t know this woman’s backstory at all, whether she was young or old, her culture or clan. Some in our Bible study thought perhaps she was the woman who had committed adultery and was forgiven privately by Jesus after everyone had left (John 8:11). Maybe! We really have no information on her at all but what is given in this text. Back in 591 A.D. Pope Gregory preached an Easter sermon in which he combined the stories of Mary the Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the woman in this story, which then gave Mary of Magdala the reputation of being a repentant prostitute or a promiscuous woman. But, if you read the passage carefully you see this is not the same event as when Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus at Simon the Leper’s house. And the woman in this story is also not Mary Magdalene, who had been released from seven spirits in a miraculous healing. The woman in this story had lived a sinful life was most likely a prostitute. At the very least, she had a reputation. Whatever her growing up story, there were traumas and soul wounds. Then she met Jesus. Before we get started with this woman’s story, I’d like to say her traditional title of “the sinful woman” is very misleading. In this story, she is portrayed as the devoted-to-Jesus woman, the forgiven-by-Jesus woman, the living-portrait-of-love-sacrifice-and-bold-faith woman. Her sinful past was only noted by the Pharisee sitting next to Jesus. To Jesus, she was one who loved much, and he received her. So, I’d like to reframe her story as I The Forthcoming Woman, Luke 7:36-38 II The Favored Woman, Luke 7:39-43 III The Faithful Woman, Luke 7:44-47 IV The Forgiven Woman, Luke 7:48-50 To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "The Sinful Woman" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Most Bibles point out that the earliest manuscripts do not include this story, and sometimes it appears in Luke However, Jerome, in 383 AD, included it in his translation of the Gospel of John, right after chapter 7, where it is usually found today. Jerome noted that many ancient Greek and Latin manuscripts at his disposal had this story, in its usual position. Ambrose of Milan, and Augustine confirmed Jerome’s report, and Augustine, in 403 AD, wrote “…certain persons of little faith, or rather enemies of the true faith, fearing I suppose, lest their wives should be given impunity in sinning, removed from the manuscripts the Lord’s act of forgiveness toward the adulterous, as if He who had said, ‘sin no more’ had granted permission to sin…” We also have the Didascalia Apostolorum, circa 200–250 AD, which alludes to this incident, but the earliest possible mention comes from Eusebius, who wrote his Eccliastical History in the early 300’s, and quoted Papias, circa 110 A.D. in reference to a story about Jesus and a woman who was “accused of many sins.” Papias had said this story could be found in the Gospel of the Hebrews, which is lost to us today. Sukkot – Festival of Tabernacles John chapter 7 provides the context of the events surrounding the woman caught in adultery, which seems to have taken place during the last year of Jesus’ ministry. It was the Feast of Tabernacles, the best loved of the yearly festivals. Jewish families throughout the known world would return to Jerusalem and the surrounding area, build temporary shelters out of leafy boughs and flowers, and live in them for a week to celebrate Sukkot, the Feast of Booths. Jesus was also in Jerusalem, though it seems he and his disciples and followers were camping on the Mount of Olives. Sukkot commemorates God’s provision during the exodus, when the Israelite tribes wandered for forty years in the wilderness. It lasts seven days, beginning with the Feast of Ingathering, celebrating the harvest from all their fields, orchards, and vineyards, the months of toil on their threshing floors, and in their winepresses and olive presses. Considered a Sabbath, the Feast of Ingathering is a joyful thanksgiving of God’s largesse. It also symbolizes God’s salvation to all people one day, when God will gather in all nations to the Lord. In Jesus’ time, was the people’s favorite holiday, full of feast Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

Herodias’ story is introduced in both Matthew’s gospel and Mark’s with Herod Antipas hearing reports about Jesus’ astonishing miraculous powers. "Some were saying, 'John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.' But others said, 'It is Elijah.' And others said, 'It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.' But when Herod heard of it, he said, 'John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.'" Mark 6:14-16 (NRSV) In spite of others’ reassurances to him about Jesus, Herod was sure it was John the Baptist risen from the dead—the implication being, in haunting judgment of having been executed by Herod. And so the dark and dreadful tale begins of intrigue, seduction, manipulation, and murder, all swirling around the Hasmonean princess and Judean noble, Herodias. Listen in on this twenty minute tale that explores the world of Herodias, how she came to be who she was, and how the Lord was also at work. We’ll look at Herodias’ story in four parts: I Background and Ambitions II Bitter Rage III Blocked Goals and Unfulfilled Desires IV Blessing Lost Along the way, we’ll hear from Moses, James, and Jesus, who teach us that “The Lord is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving” Restoration begins when we “Welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.” The sobering truth made plain in Herodias’ life is that, in God’s judgment, God will often allow sin to run its course, but there is always a path that leads back to God, to restoration and life, for: Those who lose their life for Jesus’ sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Herodias" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...

There is some debate as to whether the book of Esther is historical, or possibly written as a play or allegory. Haman’s seventy-five foot gallows, the difficulty in establishing which king—and more notably, which queen—Esther’s story describes, and the depiction of a few unlikely scenes such as a massive, three-day civil war which is completely absent from Persian sources, move many scholars to suggest Esther is a dramatized story. That said, I am going to treat the story as it is presented. Whether this is dramatized history, or historicized drama, the author was seeking to convey something important about the grand narrative of heaven and earth. Haman is the depiction of evil, Esther and Mordecai portray the best of God’s own people. Vashti is the dignity of the surrounding nations, and Xerxes displays the dangers of worldliness and power. We are going to see that God prepares Esther for a pivotal role in saving the nation in Esther 1-2. Then, we will watch the development of Haman’s evil plot and Esther’s wise plan in Esther 3-7. We will end with the first joyful festival of Purim in Esther 8-10 I God Prepares Esther, Esther 1-2 II Haman’s Plot, Esther’s Plan, Esther 3-7 III Purim, Esther 8-10 Through Esther’s story, we learn that true beauty is found in a humble spirit, that God’s deliverance, though sure, involves taking risks of faith, and that the Lord is faithful to keep to keep God’s covenant with God’s people To view the original YouTube presentation, click on "Esther" Brought to you by Grace and Peace Joanne, LLC Grace and Peace Joanne on YouTube Each podcast is designed to offer background scholarship on the topic, including setting, culture, original language, and archaeology, as well as a theological study. Grace and Peace, Joanne Website Biblical exegesis from an equalitarian point of view Books by Joanne "Broken, Searching, Trusted, Powerful" "Love Feast" Forty Freebies If you would like a set of forty Bible studies on Women in the Bible, complete with fifteen study questions, commentary, a bibliograp...