Year of Mathew

Women and Jesus in Matthew

Still, one should not make too much of that fact in itself. For this is a Gospel that takes special delight in how the Kingdom of Heaven begins in the most unlikely and smallest ways: a tiny seed, a speck of yeast, a single pearl, a hidden treasure in a vast field. Reading texts relating to women in Matthew’s Gospel may be like planting one or two seeds in good soil for yields of a hundredfold. Or hiding a bit of yeast in flour that can make enough bread to feed a hundred people. Small is exactly how Matthew envisions the Kingdom of Heaven beginning (13:23,33). For example, the curtain-opener for Matthew’s story of Jesus is a genealogy filled with men’s names. But the rare references to four women in the genealogy are so perplexing and intriguing that they often get the most attention. Scholars continue to debate their significance since the women seem to represent an important key to understanding, not just the genealogy, but also the Gospel itself.

The first healing of a woman in Matthew is Peter’s mother-in-law. Again Matthew’s text of 8:14-16 is extremely brief. Yet it captures the essence of Christian life. Jesus saw her lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and served him. Its all there: death, resurrection and service to Jesus. 

In Mark’s version of this cure, the first four disciples called (Peter, Andrew, James and John) alert Jesus that she has a fever. After she is cured, Mark notes that she served them — proof that she was healed. But Matthew restricts the interchange to the woman and Jesus. No one tells Jesus about her; he sees her himself, heals her, and is served by her in response. In Matthew, the cure of Peter’s mother-in-law becomes a story of discipleship: conversion, healing, and a new life marked by ministry. The story of Peter’s mother-in-law is brief in both Matthew and Mark. But two other healing stories of women are dramatically shortened in Matthew compared to Mark. They involve a ruler whose daughter has just died and a woman who has suffered a hemorrhage for twelve years. In Mark, the daughter is identified as being twelve years old, providing a strong connection between the woman and the girl. 

But Matthew omits the girl’s age and compares rather the father who approached Jesus with authority, asking for his help, and the hemorrhaging woman who approached Jesus from behind, speaking to herself. In Matthew’s version, Jesus responded to both the ruler’s request to lay his hands on his dead daughter so she might live (9:18) and to the woman who touched the corner of his prayer shawl. Both the father and the woman had faith in Jesus’ power. The man’s daughter is raised from the dead and the woman is made whole. But only the woman is lavishly commended by Jesus. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has made you well” (9:22). 

In a similar way Matthew draws attention to the young girl herself. In Mark, Jesus took the child’s father and mother and those with them into the room where the girl had died (5:40). But in Matthew, only Jesus entered her room. The focus is on Jesus and the girl. He took her hand and, like Peter’s mother-in-law, she arose. Hers is the only story of Jesus raising someone from the dead in Matthew’s Gospel.

In each of these condensed stories, Matthew portrays women in direct relation to Jesus. No man stands between the women and Jesus or speaks for them. The women encounter Jesus alone, on their own. Sometimes shorter texts deliver stronger messages. 

ML

Karen A. Barta, Ph.D., is an associate professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Seattle University. She is author of The Gospel of Mark (Glazier: 1988).

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