In Celebration of Women: An Easter Reflection
I steadied my hands on the steering wheel as I watched her in the backseat. With tears gathering in her eyes and hands lifted high, my little girl worshiped Jesus as the songs about Easter rang throughout our car. “Mom, did Jesus have a choice? Did He choose to die for us?” And so began one of the most profound conversations I have ever had with my four year old daughter. She gets it—with the childlike faith we are commanded to have, she believes everything in the Bible is true. That moment will remain with me forever—one of many faith-building conversations with my little girl. There is something truly powerful about faith and females.
Even now, days later, my heart reflects on the subject of women. I am, after all, a strong woman raising a couple of strong girls. Growing up, my childhood pastor referred to my mom and grandmother as Lois and Eunice because of their great faith and influence in my own spiritual journey. When I think of Easter, I can’t help but think of women. The biblical narrative guarantees it.
The Bible emphasizes the integral role of women in Christ’s ministry on earth. In a culture where their value was not esteemed, the elevation brought to them by the gospel message is astounding! Is it any wonder? True Christianity always seeks to elevate the status of women.
From His cradle to His cross, women gathered around Jesus. They supported His ministry financially. They lavished their worship on Him. They were physically present at His cross. When nearly everyone had fled, they remained. After Christ’s death, women arrived early to anoint His body with burial spices. On that glorious first Easter morning, the angel’s message came first to the women gathered outside His tomb.
The women were together—in their grief, in their fear, in their collective uncertainty concerning what would transpire next. It’s the same now as it was back then. Women tend to flock together in times of crisis. They are the ones mobilized with flowers at hospitals and casseroles after funerals. They provide the hugs and the childcare. They are the caretakers of society. Of course the women arrived first at Christ’s tomb on Easter morning!
Our twenty first century Western society doesn’t blink an eye over the fact that women were the original recipients of the good news of Christ’s resurrection. The irony is not lost on those of us who understand what it was like in the first century, though. The testimony of a woman was basically useless; it hardly would be considered admissible in court. In everyone’s eyes, including her own, she was considered as far less valuable than a man. She fought social stigmas and shame. She all too often felt unclean and unworthy. The culture of Jesus’ day is not unlike the culture of today’s Muslim women.
Yet, it is precisely to women that God ordained the Easter message should first arrive. The very first lips to declare the paramount fact of the Christian faith—“He is risen”—were female. The very first vocal cords to burst forth in adulation, proclaiming, “I have seen the Lord,” were female. Mary Magdalene, an outcast in her community—an unreliable witness at best—was commissioned to go forth and tell the others the good news of His resurrection.
For more than 2,000 years, women have been sharing the gospel message. Great ground has been won in His Name! Great fruit still remains to be harvested. On this Easter weekend, my heart breaks for one tenth of the world’s population, the women of Islam. They are not yet on the receiving end of the glorious Truth of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. They are still waiting. May they wait no longer. It’s time for us, Christian women, to burst forth and declare He is risen, for we, too, have seen Him. Our Redeemer lives.