Children’s Sermon

Luke 7:36 – 8:3

Jesus and the Women

By Dr. Carol J Miller

Some time ago, before you were born, it used to be true that a boss who was looking for someone to work for him, could tell a woman who wanted the job that no woman could have that job. He would only hire a man. There was a time when only men in this country could vote! Women did not get to vote. Well, if you think that is bad, back in Jesus’ time, a married woman could not own property. The woman’s husband owned it. Women could not get a divorce––but a man could. There were lots of rules and laws that made it seem that men were more important than women! [If the boys think that this is a good thing, you might ask how the kids would feel if their mothers got treated like that].

So it people were surprised when Jesus treated women exactly as he treated men. He spoke with women in public. He listened to what they had to say. Many, many of Jesus’ disciples were women. One time when Judas was rude to a woman, Jesus told him to “Leave her alone!” When Martha complained to Jesus that her sister Mary was not helping in the kitchen with the women, Jesus told Martha that Mary was doing the right thing––she was listening to Jesus teach. That is what all the men were doing. And when Jesus traveled all over Israel teaching about God’s love, many women went along with him, just as the twelve disciples did.

Luke, who wrote today’s scripture, tells us who those women were: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, “and many others.” Jesus thought that every person was important. If they were people who did right things, they were important. If they were people who did wrong things they were important. If they were men, they were important. If they were women, they were important. If they were grown-ups they were important. If they were children they were important, No matter what color they were, no matter what their religion, they were important, and that’s the way Jesus treated them.

Why do you think that Jesus saw all people as important? [Accept all answers. Make sure that “because all people are God’s children” or “because we all belong to God” is emphasized]. Remember, we are here at church to learn how to be followers of Jesus Christ. So if all people are important to Jesus, we must learn to see all people as important to us. We need to think about the ways we treat people. Do we treat everyone as someone important? We must be like Jesus!

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible