CHAPTER TWELVE: SISTERS OF THE LORD JESUS
"My handmaidens" ... "Ministering unto him”
In Christ all are one
Two principles are to be recognized in the position of sisters of the Lord Jesus. The first is laid down in the Letter to the Galatians: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female : for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3 : 28). Because one believer was a Jew of Jerusalem, well-versed in the law of Moses, whilst another a philosopher of Athens, or an uncultured Macedonian working in the mines near Philippi, it was not to be supposed that one was of higher spiritual status than the other. Because one believer was an affluent Corinthian merchant and another a slave at Laodicea, one was, on that account, no higher in Christ than the other. Because Timothy was a man, he ranked no higher than his faithful mother Eunice. In Christ all are one.The gifts of the Holy Spirit were not bestowed solely upon men : "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel ; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy” (Acts 2 : 16-18). An initial fulfilment of this prophecy was accomplished on and after that epoch-making Day of Pentecost. Just as in the Old Testament, Deborah and Huldah had been mouthpieces of the word of God, whilst Anna, an aged prophetess, is mentioned as being at the presentation of the child Jesus, so in the new Dispensation Philip has "four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy", whilst Paul recognizes that some of the Corinthian sisters are similarly gifted: “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head” (1 Cor. 11:5).
Doubtless it was and is the lot of many sisters of Jesus to be keepers at home, yet the New Testament indicates that a number of sisters played a leading part in the early propagation of the Truth of the Gospel, and the building up of ecclesias of the Lord. Paul himself, often unjustly regarded as unfavourable to women, pays warm tribute to their help in the work. It has already been remarked how thoughtful the ecclesia at Philippi had been to him on a number of occasions (Phil. 4 : 14-18). The first convert there had been a woman, Lydia. She was a seller of purple, a native of Thyatira, some 200 miles to the south-east in the old country of Croesus, also called Lydia, and in the first century part of the Roman province of Asia. An active, capable and fairly affluent woman, her immediate extension of hospitality to Paul supporting this estimate of her character, she would play an important part in building up the new Philippian ecclesia and in continuing to attend to Paul's practical needs, whether he was in Thessalonica or Rome. We can imagine the Philippian brethren and sisters making up a parcel for their apostle far away, and then Lydia telling them they must do better than that for Paul, and seeing to it that it was a really delightful parcel, to please her old guest. She knew what he liked, and also what he needed.
There were other faithful sisters at Philippi, who did not always get on too well with one another. Euodia sometimes said and did things Syntyche did not like at all, and perhaps they snubbed one another on some first days: “I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord” (Phil. 4:2). The helpfulness of these Philippian sisters is then recognized : "Yea, I beseech thee also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life" (Phil. 4:3, R.V.). Their “names are in the book of life". Here is an assurance, perhaps the most gladdening in Scripture, to modern sisters who work for their Lord.
A similar story comes from the Roman ecclesia. In the personal sixteenth chapter of his letter to the saints there, the first person Paul commends is a sister from Cenchrea. As the port of Corinth, Cenchrea would provide many opportunities of service for a thoughtful worker such as Phebe : "I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea” (Rom. 16:1-2). The very next person mentioned is another sister, one whose praise was in the ecclesias of two continents, Priscilla, wife of Aquila. Paul had lived with Priscilla and Aquila at Corinth (Acts 18:1-3). They had travelled with him thence to Ephesus, where they had been of great help to a notable Jew already instructed in way of the Lord (Acts 18 : 18-21, 24-26).
Aquila and Priscilla did not forget their brethren and at Corinth; their greetings are included in the first letter to the Corinthians written from Ephesus: "The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house" I Cor. 16: 19). Evidently Aquila and Priscilla had a house ecclesia at Ephesus, just as later they had one at Rome : "Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus : who have for my life laid down their own necks : unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house” (Rom. 16 : 3-5). Later still, they are found at Ephesus again, one of Paul's last recorded salutations being addressed to them (2 Tim. 4:19).
With yet another sister commended in Rom. 16:6, three of the first five names in this chapter are those of sisters. The twelfth verse provides an interesting little exhortation : "Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord”. After quoting inscriptions of these two and their household, discovered at Rome, Sanday and Headlam remark : “Attention is drawn to the contrast between the names which imply delicate', 'dainty', and their labours in the Lord”. In verse 13 Paul not only remembers Rufus' mother, but pays tribute to her motherly care for him. Finally, Julia is mentioned, and the sister of Nereus. In the letter to Philemon, the second person to be greeted is the beloved Apphia.
On this evidence it is indisputable that a number of first century sisters were distinguished for their faithful work in the Gospel, and that Paul was glad to recognize their unremitting labours.
Temporal Subordination and Head Coverings
The second principle to be recognized in the position of sisters of Jesus is also laid down by Paul : “But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God” (1 Cor. II:3); and in particular connection with the relation between husband and wife : "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the thead of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church : and The is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject wwmto Christ, so let the wives be to their husbands in everything” (Eph. 5:22-24).This relation between man and woman was not new with Paul. It goes back to the beginning of history, and is part of the legacy of the Fall : “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children ; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee" (Gen. 3:16). The suggestion of subordination is not absent from the record of the creation of woman : “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Gen. 2:18). The subordination of woman to man does not infringe the oneness of their standing in Christ. It is a matter of temporal relationship rather than spiritual status : "Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man ... nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord” (1 Cor. II:9, 11). The subordination of woman to man in their temporal relationship is reflected in ecclesial order : "Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head : for that is even all one as if she were shaven" (1 Cor. II : 4-5).
It was then, as now, a custom among the Jews to pray with covered heads, whereas the Greeks performed their religious sacrifices with uncovered heads. At Corinth, where there were both Jews and Greeks among the members of the meeting, it was particularly desirable that the Christian attitude should be defined. The decision that the brethren should worship with uncovered heads was not so much a concession to the Greek believers as a ruling based on Christian doctrine, in particular, freedom in Christ as contrasted with Jewish blindness. The matter has its roots far back in the Old Testament: “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai ...that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all of the people saw Moses, behold the skin of his face shone… and they were afraid to come nigh to him… And Moses talked with them… And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out. And he came out and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him” (Exod. 34 : 29-35).
On this the apostolic commentary is : “But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away : how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious ?”
“Seeing then that we have such hope. we use great plainness of speech. And not as Moses. which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could pot stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: but their minds were blinded : for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament : which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit : and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:7-8, 12-18).
The main thoughts of the Holy Spirit here are these :
- When Israel fix their eyes upon Moses, as they did personally at Sinai, and have done since in their stubborn regard for his law, a veil prevents their seeing the glory of God. At Sinai the veil was upon Moses' face. Later it settled upon the heart of Israel.
- When Moses came before the Lord to speak with Him, he took off the veil. If the Jews of the Christian dispensation would but turn truly to God, to true communion with Him, that is, through Christ, this veil would be away.
- The great operative power in the discover winning of this freedom is the Spirit of God, which repla Law of Moses as the directive of godly action in the Chris life and the destroyer of the shackles of sin.
- In 2 Cor the R.V. makes clear a further apostolic interpretation of Mosaic veil when it renders: “And not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly on the end of that which was passing away". That is, that Israel might not see the glory fading away, as it did the longer Moses was away from the presence of God. The Mosaic veil still prevents Israel from seeing that the glory of God in the law of Moses is a fading glory. If only Israel would turn directly to God with the veil of the old covering done away in Christ, they would discern not a glory which faded, but one which was changed from glory to glory through the power of the Spirit working now and in the exceeding greatness of its work at the last Day.
Reverting to our text in I Cor. 11, for a man to approach God with a veil or covering is to dishonour Christ, his head, by the implication that he has not opened the way to God, that a barrier still remains, that one cannot see God by seeing the Lord Jesus. There may be a reference to the man's own head, which, as belonging to Christ, he dishonours by humiliating, especially in the visible presence of the subordinate sex. An additional reason why men should not worship with their heads covered is given in verse 7: "For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man" (1 Cor. 11 : 7). The man represents God Himself, being made in His image ; he is the Creator's highest handiwork. As God is supreme in heaven, so is man upon earth. Woman, on the other hand, not being supreme upon earth but subject to man, cannot properly represent God who is supreme in heaven. It is not fitting that the highest representative of God upon earth should cover his noblest part in public worship.
At last we come to the position of the woman in particular "But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head : for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered let her also be shorn : but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven let her be covered" (1 Cor. 11:5-6). Leaving for the moment the question of the public prophesying of women, it is becoming that in the visible presence of man, her head, woman should signify her subordination by covering her head. There was an additional reason for such a covering in a first century ecclesia, especially one like Corinth. Widows cut off their hair in sign of mourning. Prostitutes went about with uncovered heads and in many places an adulteress was shaved as a mark her disgrace. If, says Paul, the woman flaunt the oneness of her spiritual standing with man, by appearing with uncovered head she may as well go the whole way and dishonour her husband by regarding him as non-existent or herself as faithless to him.
If such local and passing customs had been the apostle's only reason for requiring that Christian sisters should be covered at worship, they could not be regarded as binding upon modern sisters of Jesus. But the fundamental apostolic reason, the headship of man over woman, constitutes an abiding sanction for past and present ecclesial practice. Startling or scanty headgear, whilst coming formally within the apostolic injunction, is more a revelation of character than a becoming way of covering the head.
A further and somewhat obscure reason for the covering of woman's head is given by Paul : “Neither was the man created for the woman ; but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels” (1 Cor. II: 9-10). Of three or four possible interpretations of this Scripture, the following appear the two most likely : (1) In the first century, when angels actually appeared to notable men and women of God, such as Zachariah, Mary, Peter and Paul, not to mention the Lord Jesus himself, the brethren and sisters had a more vivid consciousness of their reality and presence than we have to-day. (An enquiry into our inability to discern their presence or even their ministrations might yield interesting results. Are our spiritual perceptions at fault? Are our eyes, like those of Elisha's servant in beleaguered Dothan, "holden” that we should not see them? Have we a right view of their nature and work? What is the relation of the work of God through them and through His Spirit, or has God, in this dispensation ceased to work perceptibly through angels ?) (2)"Because of the angels” can refer to the angelic arrangements at the foundation world when the woman was placed in subjection (Gen. 3:16). This explanation has some support from the context.
In the first centuries of the faith, angels were regarded as present at the worship of the brethren and sisters. In a Script in Timothy (1 Tim. 5:21), it is likely Paul has in mind the angels commissioned to be with the ecclesia in its worship. As late as the beginning of the fifth century, Chrysostom comments on our text: “Open the eyes of faith, and thou shalt behold a theatre of spectators : for if the air be filled with angels much more the ecclesia ..."; and again, "Knowest thou not that in the company of angels thou standest? With them thou singest, with them thou chantest ...” The seraphic attendants of Deity in the inaugural vision of Isaiah stood before the Lord with covered faces and feet, and, as H. L. Goudge remarks, "as models of reverence, the angels expect it of us”.
In verse 13, the apostle adds a further and compelling reason for the covering of a woman at worship. "Is it seemly to pray to God Himself in an attitude in the least savouring of disrespect ?" Modern freedom and fashions are not without their good points, but they should not govern the approach of sisters to their Maker. Again, “If a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her : for her hair is given her for a covering" (verse 15). God Himself has indicated woman's proper attitude. Her hair has been given to her as a primary covering. It is well that in her dress she should be in harmony with her Creator. Any obduracy on the part of awkward Corinthians is now silenced by a final ruling. Their licence is contrary to apostolic as well as general ecclesial practice (verse 16).
In his treatment of this personal matter of propriety in Christian worship, Paul introduces a correction to any inclination on the part of brethren to use his decisions to emphasize their headship : "Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman, but all things of God" (verses 11-12). The mutual dependence of man and woman is not removed but ennobled by their new relationship in the Lord. Moreover, man is not creator of woman; man, woman and their relationship are all of God.
Women, the gift of prophecy, public speaking
In considering the question of public speaking by sisters in the ecclesia, it has already been noticed that the gift of prophecy, whilst doubtless granted principally to men, was not absolutely confined to them in either Old Testament or New Testament times. At Corinth there were sisters prophesying in the ecclesia (1 Cor. 11 :5). The teaching is not that sisters should not prophesy, but that they should do so with propriety. Three chapters later, however, Paul prohibits public speaking by women in the assembly of the ecclesia: "Let your women keep silence in the churches : for it is not permitted unto them to speak: but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church" (1 Cor. 14 : 34-35).There were a number of matters at Corinth requiring apostolic correction and rulings. One was the attire of women when at worship. This is dealt with in chapter 11. Another was the confusion resulting from disorderly use of the Spirit's gifts. Measures to eliminate this are set forth in chapter 14. One of these measures was that sisters should keep silence, not exercising any vocal gift they might possess, in the assembly. The ruling was confirmed in ecclesial instruction to Timothy : "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence" (1 Tim. 2:11-12). It is unfitting that woman should teach her head. The nature of woman is such that it is better that she should remain in quietness during the public assembly of the ecclesia ; unseemly drawing of attention to herself during public worship and regular publicity would be injurious to her well-being. In a local sisters' class, woman does not teach her head, nor is such a class an assembly of the ecclesia. In large sisters' gatherings, it is the ideal of the wise modesty of sisters which is likely violated.
The Spirit's restriction applies only and naturally to public speeches in the assembly of the ecclesia. Private teaching by sisters is commended and encouraged: "The aged women likewise, that they be ... teachers of good things” (Titus 2:3). Timothy owed much to his mother, not least his knowledge from a child, of the Word of God. Priscilla helped Aquilla in expounding the Way of God to Apollos (Acts 18:26). Less than a hundred years after the death of the apostle John a mother and her young son used to recite together the Psalms of David in the original tongue. When he was 17, the lad's father was martyred in the persecution under Severus, and his devoted son's intention to share his fate was only frustrated by his mother, who hid his clothes. So well had he been taught that he was immediately able to support his mother and younger brothers and sisters by going out to teach himself; whatever may be thought of the views of Origen, he was undoubtedly a man of outstanding virtue and intellectual capacity. One of the most attractive of the later "fathers", Basil of Cappadocia, owed much to his mother Emmelia, whilst the famous Augustine speaks with gratitude of the tender care and Scriptural instruction of his mother Monica. We can be sure that a number of first century sisters taught the principles of the Christian Way to many besides their own children, assisting the apostles and later following up their work. When Paul mentions the women who laboured with him in the gospel (Phil. 4:3), it is unlikely that he is only thinking of succour in material things, important and acceptable though such has always been in the work of the Truth.
Women Deacons
When the work of the deacons was being considered, it was observed that in a general sense all believers are deacons, their lives being a diaconate, or ministration, to God, to the Lord Jesus and to their brethren and sisters. The narrower, more official use of the word was then noticed, the particular office of deacon being mentioned in the letters to the Philippians and Timothy, and in the non-canonical works of the last years of the first century, the epistle of Clement and the Didache. It was deemed necessary, in the interests of ecclcsial order to appoint brethren and sisters to attend to essential duties of ministration. "I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: that ye receive in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also" (Rom. 16:1-2).Phebe was a deacon (servant) of the ecclesia at Cenchrea certainly in a general sense, and probably in the particular sense of the term. She was evidently visiting Rome on business, whilst the word "succourer" carries with it a suggestion of patroness". Wealthy converts, of whom there were some (at Thessalonica not a few of the chief women believed Acts 17:4), would take a legitimate pleasure in looking after the needs of their meetings in general and their less fortunate brethren and sisters in particular. Phebe would have the opportunity of assisting many visiting brethren, for Cenchrea was the port of Corinth. Love and capacity were Phebe's characteristics, in fact she was the bearer of Paul's Letter to the Romans, the little footnote at the end of the Letter being borne out by Paul's warm yet formal introduction of her to the ecclesia at Rome in the first words of the personal sixteenth chapter. The apostle's choice of Phebe for this responsible duty (there was no postal service for private letters in those days) is worthy of reflection by any who still think the role of sisters is to sit in the meeting and live in the kitchen.
Woman deacons, in the narrow sense of the word, would be needed to assist, their sex at baptisms and in illness, and there is no reason to suppose they did not work with the brethren deacons in attending to the needs of the poor. Paul was quite evidently grateful to his first century sisters who delighted in ministering to his needs and doubtless to those of lesser ministers of the Word of Life.
The Office of the Widow
The main works of love of an early ministering sister are set out in the apostolic indication of qualifications required for enrolment on the widows' roll : "Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work (1 Tim. 5 : 10). Disqualifications are then listed: “...wandering about from house to house ... tattlers also... idle, busybodies, speaking things which they ought not" ( 1 Tim. 5:19). Not the mischief-making which springs from idleness, but the ministration which springs from Christian love mark the true sister of the Lord Jesus.These citations from 1 Timothy introduce us to the widows of the first century ecclesias, to the ecclesias' duty to them and to their duty to God and to their meetings. The care of widows is enjoined or cited in the Old Testament, notably Deuteronomy and Job, though references are not lacking in the Psalms and prophets. In the New Testament it is no surprise to find as many references to widows in Luke as in all the rest of the New Testament, if we omit 1 Tim. 5, for of the four evangelists it is Luke who refers most to the poor, to the right use of riches, and to Christlike gentleness to the sinner.
The care of widows dates from the very beginning of the Christian faith, as is implied in the record of the complaint that in the daily ministration widows of Palestinian Jewish believers were receiving priority over those of Jews of foreign birth (Acts 6). Dorcas was outstanding for her ministration to the widows (Acts 9). Paul imposes no harsh ban on the remarriage of widows: "The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth ; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord" (1 Cor. 7:39). In fact, if with the R.V. the natural sequence of 1 Timothy is followed, the apostle encourages young widows to remarry: "I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, give none occasion to the adversary for reviling" (1 Tim. 5:14, R.V.). The original, translated by the A.V. younger women, and by the R.V. younger widows, is "younger ones" : the entire section, verses 3-16, has to do with widows, and it is unlikely that in verse 14 Paul is suddenly interposing a command for Christian maidens.
The first duty enjoined in connection with Christian widows is that those without relatives, those who are alone in the world, are not to be left alone by the ecclesia: "Honour widows that are widows indeed" (I Tim. 5:3). It was the duty of any children or grandchildren (a better rendering than nephews) to show true kindness to a widow, to repay her in her need for her previous care of them. This is good and acceptable before God (verse 4). A "widow indeed was quite possibly an honourable technical term in the early ecclesias, though she was not so called only because she was absolutely alone. She must have certain other qualifications and perform certain duties: "Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day" (I Tim. 5:5). In some hard-headed circles this injunction may be suffering some neglect, especially in harassing times, but it is there as a reminder of what was expected of widows in the early years of the Truth.
Of course it is Luke who tells us of the widow of 84 who served God with fastings and prayers night and day, and of how she came into the temple at the moment when the infant Jesus was there, and then gave thanks to God and testified of Jesus to all who were looking even then for the day of redemption (Luke 2:36-38).
In return for ecclesial support, the "widow indeed" was expected to intercede regularly for the ecclesia. It would be a churlish mind who would suggest that widows having children need not so pray for their brethren and sisters; it is a Christian duty of all to pray for one another. But in the case of modern widows supported by the ecclesias, either directly or through the Central Benevolent Fund and the various Homes, it is now seen to be an apostolic ordinance that they should spend a not inconsiderable time in supplication to God for the welfare of those who are caring for their wellbeing.
Gay widows are briefly dismissed : they are dead (verse 6). Then there is a warning for those who whilst doctrinally impeccable, do not show their faith by any works. A brother who does not support his widowed mother or grandmother, if they need support, is worse than an infidel (verse 8).
Two views may be taken of the ninth verse : "Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man..." It may be held that up to verse 8, Paul is speaking of the care of widows in general from verse 9, he is referring to the particular order of and qualifications for enrolment in this order. It may held, and this appears the more likely, that the entire verses 9-16, has to do with the support and duty of widows that the expression "take into the number" does not mark the beginning of a list of qualifications for entry on the roll, but occurs quite naturally in the middle of the particular connection with the age limit for entry.
The question has been raised what happened to "widows indeed” under sixty. The reason for the rejection of widows desiring enrolment is given : "But the younger widows refuse : for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith" (I Tim. 5:11-12). Enrolment as an ecclesial "widow indeed" with its accompanying duty of continuance in prayer and supplication, virtually meant dedication to the service of Christ and his ecclesia in an estate of life deliberately acknowledged and officially accepted. To leave this estate to seek marriage again would have been a renunciation of faith, and as the possibility was a real one for younger widows, it was better to refuse their application and leave them free. In fact, they are advised to remarry (verse 14).
It may be added that "widows indeed" under sixty who were not likely to remarry, would usually be able to work to support themselves, and normal individual Christian charity would take care of those not able to do so. The apostle did not wish to impose too great a burden on the ecclesial funds. Finally, it is clear that the duty of supporting widows appertains not only to children and grandchildren, but to sisters, brothers or any other relatives in the faith : "If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged ; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed” (1 Tim. 5:16).
Conclusion
The Lord Jesus was born of a woman, Mary, chosen of God and blessed by all subsequent generations of believers. Women ministered to Jesus through his life; the last glimpse of Calvary reveals Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sitting by the sepulchre. It was these two and Salome who were the first witnesses of the Resurrection. The women are particularly mentioned among the first believers who were waiting in prayer and supplication prior to the great day of Pentecost (Acts 1 : 14).Christian women were among the victims of Saul's persecution (Acts 8.3) and after his conversion his Christian sisters vied in devotion to him and his fellow ministers in the truth of the Gospel. The great apostle was foremost in his tribute to them. The first Epistle in the New Testament, that to the Romans was conveyed by a sister, and the last but one, 2 John, probably written to a sister. These honoured names have come down to us with the ecclesias they adorned : Dorcas of Joppa, Lois and Eunice of Lystra, Mary of Jerusalem, Lydia of Philippi, Damaris of Athens, Priscilla of Rome, Corinth and Ephesus, Apphia of Colosse, Phebe of Cenchrea, and Mary, Persis Tryphena and Tryphosa of Rome.
It is true that certain natural eccclesial restrictions are placed upon the activities of sisters. These are accepted without demur in the spirit of ready obedience which springs from true love and Christian humility. The ecclesias of Jesus today abound with faithful and loving women spending their lives in following their Lord. God is not unrighteous to forget their work and labour of love, which they have showed toward His name, in that they have ministered to the saints, and do minister (Heb. 6:10).
Endnotes
- SANDAY AND HEADLAM, Romans (I.C.C.), page 426.
- CHRYSOSTOM, Homilies.
- MILLAR, Christian Education in the First Four Centuries, chapter iv, is interesting reading here.
