Did you see the pictures of the women in Afghanistan on the evening news recently? They were literally covered head to foot by heavy gray veils. Even their faces were covered because their country has fallen under the control of a militant Islamic group. These women have lost all of their basic human rights: they cannot have a job (only beg) and they cannot have any health care. This horror is brought about by a religion. In Saudi Arabia, a woman who had seven babies was not allowed to come home by her in-laws because a western reporter had photographed her. She is the victim of her religion. These cases made me think about how our Lord treated women while he walked with us, what he offers in this life, and for eternity. Why should women come to the Lord?
Compassion – “And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of his garment” (Matt. 9:20). On his way to raise a little girl from the dead Jesus turned to this woman and said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” Jesus healed Mary Magdalene of seven demons (Luke 8:2). She (along with other women whom He had healed) provided for his sustenance and Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Lord (Mark 16:9). Our Lord had compassion for the illnesses and spiritual problems of women while he was here. He stopped to heal them and earned their devotion throughout his travels, even to the cross.
Honor – At the time Jesus visited the earth, there was a terrible enmity between Jew and Samaritan. The Jews considered the Samaritans impure and unclean because of their mixed bloodline and unlawful religious practices. A Jew would travel north by crossing the Jordan to the east side in order to bypass Samaria. It is remarkable that a Jew would purposely go to Samaria to teach as Jesus did in John 4. It is even more remarkable that he would stop to teach a Samaritan woman, since women were considered inferior and not spoken to in public. Notice in John 4:27 the disciples marveled that he spoke to a woman saying, “Why are you talking to her?” Here Jesus laid down the principle that “as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ… there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Under the law of Christ, women are held in honor and are equal to men in the true equality of eternal life (John 4:13-14).
Friendship – Jesus had friends at Bethany with whom he liked to stay. He loved Martha and her sister, Mary (John 11:5). When he was there, Mary sat at His feet and heard His word (Luke 11:39). When their brother died, Jesus came, wept with them and raised Lazarus from the tomb. The Lord was close to these women. He cared about the routine of their daily lives and the tragedy of their loss. He didn’t hold himself aloof from women. He was a friend to them.
Having heard of him, we must believe. “For without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6). You must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who came to earth to be the perfect sacrifice for sin that you may have eternal life.
On believing this gospel, you must repent of all Your wrongdoing: “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Jesus said in Luke 13:3: “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” The Lord is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).
One must also confess that Jesus is the Son of God: “Now as they went down the road they came to some water. And the eunuch said, ‘See here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’ Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God’” (Acts 8:36-37). In Romans 10:9, the scripture says to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus.
Those who have believed and repented are eligible to be baptized. “Then Peter said them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’ And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation.’ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized: and that day about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts 2: 38-41). Even as the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8, these people were baptized immediately and salvation was dependent on it. It is the way we put on Christ (Ga1. 4:27) and how we receive the benefits of his death.
“Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).
We are “buried with him in baptism, in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col 2:12).
When we have followed this pattern of salvation given in the word of God, we are added to the Lord’s church (Acts 2:47). If we are “faithful unto death” (Rev. 2:10) we receive the crown of life and may know that we have the “fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14)
