The Women In The Book Of Mark
Mark wrote his account of the life of Christ to the Romans, the military minds of that day, who were more interested in action than words. Mark emphasized what Jesus did rather than what He said. In keeping with that pattern, he discussed the activity of the women who came into contact with Jesus, giving us food for thought on what Christian women today should be busy doing. It is interesting to note that all of the women in the book of Mark had great faith. Several women in the book of Mark were special recipients of His miraculous healing. And today, all women have access to the blessings Jesus offers.
Peter's Mother-in-Law
Jesus entered into the house of Peter and Andrew where
Peter's wife's mother lay sick with a great fever (Mark 1:29-34; Matt. 8:14-15; Luke
4:38-39). Obviously she was a woman who was greatly loved since "straightway they
tell Him of her" (V. 30). Jesus came, took her by the hand and rebuked the fever,
which left her immediately. Since it was accomplished by His touch, it was clear to all
that the power came from Jesus. It also demonstrated the compassion that He felt for this
woman.
This miracle gave the woman absolute recovery. A fever often leaves one
feeling weak, yet she was able to return at once to her household duties. She immediately
arose and tended to the needs of her guests. This unnamed woman was a great example of
hospitality. She had done her part to fill her home with love and kindness. Especially
poignant is that upon being healed, she immediately got up and served her Healer. Jesus
can heal our spiritual illnesses too. Are we so grateful for this spiritual healing that
we immediately rise up and serve our Master?
Peter's Wife
Peter had a wife. Although this certainly negates the idea that Peter was the first pope and was not married (1 Cor. 9:5), what do we know about this woman? She certainly had a wonderful example of a loving and industrious mother. Imagine being married to impetuous Peter! When Peter wrote about the ideal woman and wife (1 Pet. 3:1-12), could he have been thinking about his own special wife? We know that she was reverent, not a malicious gossip, temperate and faithful in all things,for she was the wife of an elder (1 Pet. 5:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-11). Was it possible that she stayed in the background, exhibiting a meek and quiet spirit, so that the greater cause of the Master, to whom both she and Peter were dedicated, could be advanced? Historians report that she was one of the Christian martyrs. If so, she was not only content to remain in the shadows, quietly serving her Lord, but to give her life for Him as well.
The Woman With the Twelve-year Issue of Blood
In Mark chapter 5, Jesus leaves an indelible impression on three women in particular. On the way to heal Jairus' daughter, He encountered a woman who had been troubled with an issue of blood for twelve years (Mark 5:25-34; Matt. 9:20-22; Luke 8:43-48). Men of medicine had failed her. She was sorely in need of the Great Physician. She had heard of Jesus' healing powers but had not yet witnessed them first-hand. According to Jewish law, she was considered unclean (Lev. 15:19-30). That, coupled with her humility, may have been why she came up behind Jesus and touched the hem of His garment. She said to herself: "If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well" (v. 28). What faith! Immediately she was healed. Jesus inquired as to who in the crowd had touched His clothes. With fear and trembling, she came forward. She fell at Jesus' feet and told Him all the truth. What courage! Her faith caused her to act, and make a confession which resulted in her being cured. Jesus responded with kind words: "Daughter,your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction" (v. 34). After suffering for so long, to be immediately healed and then to have Jesus pronounce her as one of His own must have filled her with praise and gratitude. Do we have the kind of faith and courage to seek out Jesus, to humbly and truthfully lay our life before Him and then allow Him to make us whole?
The Healing of Jairus' Daughter
In Mark 5, a messenger came with the message that
Jairus' daughter was dead so there was no need to further trouble the Master (v. 35). A
death of a loved one is so terrible, yet Jesus said: "Do not be afraid; only
believe" (v.36). Believe what? What do we have to hold on to in the face of death?
With three of His disciples, Jesus continued on to the house of mourning. There He
announced: "The child is not dead, but sleeping" (v. 39). Then they ridiculed
Him. Jesus gently raised the young lady back to life. "And they were overcome with
great amazement" (v. 42). Jesus commanded them to feed her.
Here we see a mother weeping over the loss of a child. A possible
participant of the scoffing towards Jesus, moments later she would be an eyewitness to His
power. A dead child is once again returned to her arms! She had to have been grateful
beyond words. We see a young girl tenderly brought back to life and restored to her family
and then even her immediate physical needs were met. She was the recipient of the
miraculous touch of Jesus which gave her life.
Do "we see Jesus"? (Heb. 2:9.) Does He touch our lives and
hearts enough to cause us to look daily for His nourishment found in the Bible? Do we
understand that unless we turn and become as little children, pure and willing to accept
our Master's love and instruction, we will not enter into the kingdom of heaven? (Matt.
18:3). Rest assured that Jesus is the only hope for life to those who are spiritually
dead.
The Syro-Phoenician Woman
One of the most interesting encounters Jesus had with
women was with the irrepressible Greek woman of Mark 7:24-30 (cf. Matt. 15:21-28). There,
in the region of Tyre and Sidon, this woman had a request to make of Jesus. She would not
let him go until He helped her!
The woman's young daughter had an unclean spirit. This mother did not
wait for Jesus to get to where she was. As her request was of supreme importance, she
sought Him out and fell at His feet. She wasted no time or words stating her petition:
"Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely
demon-possessed" (Matt. 15:22). This woman knew that she needed mercy from the One
who could extend to her compassion. Even though she was a Gentile, she recognized Jesus'
authority and deity. That is why she appealed to the only One who could help her daughter.
What was the Lord's reply? Silence. She persisted until even the
disciples pleaded with Jesus to grant her request so as to get rid of her. Jesus replied:
"I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 15:24).
Rebuffed again, did she give up? No! She came and worshipped him, saying: "Lord, help
me! (v. 25).
The word "worship" as used here is interesting. Apparently
she prostrated herself in front of Him, most likely out of reverence, but it also
effectively blocked His path. Considering what follows. Notice the irony of the literal
meaning of the word worship: "to kiss,like a dog licking his master's hand"
(Strong's Concordance, #4352).
The next exchange of words is among the most fascinating in the Bible,
Jesus said: "Let the children be filled first,for it is not good to take the
children's bread and throw it to the little dogs" (v. 27). This statement Jesus made
would probably have crushed most of us into giving up, but not this woman. With quick wit
and reason she replied: "Yes,Lord,yet even the little dogs under the table eat from
the children's crumbs" (v. 28).
Notice that she did not ask for a whole loaf of bread, or even a slice.
She asked only for the crumbs that fall to the floor. Her earnest determination,
intelligence, sound reasoning, daring and humor obviously touched Jesus. "O woman,
great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire" (Matt. 15:28). And from a
distance He healed her daughter immediately (Mark 7:30).
That "crumb" from the Master's abundant table of power was a
priceless gift to her and a demonstration to everyone that He is the Savior of all people.
When our faith is tried by silence, refusal and reproach, do we have the fortitude to
continue? Do we fail in our prayers, having not because we ask not? (Jas. 4:3.) This woman
broke down any hindrance that would have kept her from receiving the blessings of Christ.
This was an amazing woman!
Two Women Who Gave Their All
In a book that highlights women of great faith, Mark
tells us of two women who gave their all: Mary of Bethany and the widow who gave two
mites. Mary possessed an unquenchable thirst for all that Jesus had to offer. When we see
Mary, where is she in relation to Jesus? She is found at His feet. She would sit at His
feet to the exclusion of all else and listen to His words in order to learn His will and
truth (Luke 10:39). Later, in the hour of deep grief over her brother Lazarus' death, she
would humbly and tearfully fall at her Master's feet (John 11:32). In Mark chapter 14, a
woman from Bethany, who may have been Mary, shows her humility and deep love for the Lord
by anointing His head and feet with costly oil (Mark 14:3-9). This sacrificial service
would be recorded as a memorial to her through all time. However, far more important to
her was that Jesus felt and expressed His appreciation of that reciprocal reflection of
mutual love and adoration. She truly had done all that she could.
Likewise, the exceedingly poor widow gave all that she had (Mark
12:41-44). Imagine a heart deeply desirous to give to the Lord but, upon taking inventory,
found nothing of material value to share. A hand reached into a worn pocket and retrieved
two mites, hardly enough to exist on. Yet she put aside "self" and gave them to
God. The Lord saw how she gave: He saw the quality of her devotion.
What can we learn from these two women? We need to be practical and yet
leave room to allow our great love for the Lord to carry our practicality to a deeper
spiritual realm. Mary and the widow grasped the vision of something greater than their
physical needs: they experienced a spiritual hunger and thirst. They were willing to give
of themselves to that end. Oh, that there would be more godly women today with such
generous hearts of love, humility and service toward the Lord as these two women had!
Herodias and Her Daughter
You may be wondering where Herodias and her daughter
fit into this study (Mark 6:14-29). They also had great faith, but it was not in the one
true God. Herodias was married to Philip but she had her eyes on his brother, Herod.
Eventually she "married" Herod, causing courageous John to declare: "It is
not lawful for you to have your brother's wife" (v. 18). This woman was not a
homemaker, she was a home- breaker . Wicked people are not content in just bringing
destruction upon themselves. They want to bring others down too (2 Pet. 2:1-3). John had
made Herodias so mad that she wished him dead. Her new husband feared John. What if Herod
repented and she lost her position as queen? Women get to know their husbands fairly
quickly and Herodias used this knowledge for evil. This scheming woman waited until a
convenient day and then enticed her husband's appetite for sensual pleasure by having her
daughter dance for him and his guests at his birthday party. She was willing to place her
own daughter at risk and sacrifice her in order to exact selfish revenge for herself.
Herod succumbed to the physical delights of the dancer and swore to her
a rash oath: "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom" (v.
23). Who did the daughter counsel with before stating her wish but her wicked mother?
Herodias would settle for nothing less than the head of John the Baptist. This vile woman
desired to have the blood of one of God's greatest prophets on her hands.
Sadly, the daughter placed her faith in another human being rather than
in the Lord. She allowed the influence of the world to carry her into perdition. What a
sad and tragic end awaits these two women in eternity!
Women at the Foot of the Cross
When our Lord was crucified, who was at the foot of the
cross? Besides Mary the mother of Jesus, other faithful women were there. Jesus was buried
and some of those same faithful women arrived early in the morning to anoint His body.
They had seen to His needs during His earthly ministry. And now, even though He was gone,
their love for Him was so great that they could not stop serving. Who were these dedicated
women? Mary Magdalene, a woman of substance, devotion and character, had seven demons cast
out of her by Jesus.
Mary, the mother of James the Less (an apostle) and Joses sacrificed
her sustenance, along with her son, to serve her Master. Salome was the wife of Zebedee
and the mother of two of Jesus' closest apostles: James and John. These three were among
the women that followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem. (See Matt. 27:55--28:8; Mark
15:40--16:10; Luke 23:49--24:10; John 20:1-2, 11_18.)
Mary Magdalene was one of the most devoted women who followed Jesus.
After the Lord's death, she and Mary the mother of James and Joses watched Joseph prepare
His body for burial and then "observed where He was laid" (Mark 15:43-47). When
they finally returned home, surely physically and mentally exhausted, they prepared the
spices and ointment to anoint Jesus' body. Then, in obedience to God's commandment, they
rested on the Sabbath. Very early the next morning, these same women were the first to
arrive at the tomb and find it empty. After running to tell Jesus' disciples, Mary
Magdalene returned to the sepulchre and wept. For her faithfulness and devotion, her
reward was to be the first person to see the resurrected Christ and the first to tell
others this most wonderful news! In her, we can see what Jesus can do for a woman and what
a woman can do, in some small part, to repay the blessings which Christ affords her.
Mary, the mother of James and Joses, gives us an example of a
profitable servant and a dedicated mother. Salome, by her life and teachings, prepared her
children to follow the Lord. She had no way of knowing when she asked Jesus for a place of
honor for her two boys (Matt. 20:20-24) that James would be the first apostle martyred
(Acts 12:2) and John would suffer for Cause the remainder of his life (Rev. 1:9). What
training they must have received to have been so wholly dedicated to the Lord!
These three women exemplify the proper female leadership
role--humility, dedication and service. When the multitudes praised Jesus, these three
provided Him food and shelter. After the crowds cried: "Crucify Him! Crucify
Him!" they showed their support by their presence in His darkest hour. Then, when no
one was around, they came to anoint Him. Will we allow praise or criticism to sway us from
a single-eyed devotion to the Lord? Will we serve the Master when it is not convenient or
popular? Will we hold on to our faith and loyalty, even when it seems all is lost? We may
be rich and affluent, poor and suffering, married or single but whatever our situation is
in life we should be asking ourselves the following questions: "Am I a woman that has
a dedicated, unwavering, serving faith?" Do I love and minister to Christ to the
fullest of my ability and tell others about His life, death and resurrection?"
"How can I be more like these three women of faith?"
Conclusion
Did you know that each of us, as women, is found in the
book of Mark? Our names are not found there, but our faith is exposed somewhere in these
pages. Do we try to shake faith in the Lord, like the maids who tested Peter's faith in
the courtyard during Jesus' trial (Mark 16:66-72). Or are we women who leave all for the
sake of Jesus and the gospel? (Mark 10:28-30.) Jesus declared that we are His mother and
sisters if we do the will of God (Mark 3:35). We should be able to join the women who
praised Jesus at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem when they said: "Hosanna to the
Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Matt.21:9). Our
hearts should overflow with love for the Lord as we humbly and generously serve others.
In Mark chapter 12, the wise scribe asked which was the first and
greatest commandment of all. Jesus answered him that we have one Lord, one God: "'
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second,
like it, is this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other
commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:28-31). Are we living up to the standard?
Jesus said to the man: "You are not far from the kingdom of God" (v. 34). Where
is our faith in relationship to where it should be? Do we have great faith in the One and
only living God, or in the prince of this world--that deceiver--the devil? The choice is
ours (John 7:17).
There are a great many lessons to be learned from studying the women in
the book of Mark. Although I won't find my name written therein, it is of eternal
importance to know that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life (Rev. 21:27).
Wouldn't it be wonderful, upon meeting Jesus, to hear Him say: O woman, great is your
faith!"
Mary Martini
The Restorer, July / August 1999
Gary Workman, Editor. E-mail "RestoreMag@aol.com"
Permission granted to use this article in any manner, as long as: 1) the content is not changed, 2) the name of the author is left on the article and 3) The Restorer and its Editor are also credited.
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