A Couple of Goats… (4 of 4)

‘The Bible says a woman is worth two goats and a donkey.’ This is the comment that inspired this series of posts as well as the title. As I mentioned in part 1 of A Couple of Goats, the Bible does not in fact say anything about a woman being worth any kind of livestock. Or does it?

Wait actually it does. Now that I think about it, it say she is worth a lamb. In fact she is worth The Lamb of God. The Lamb of God, is Jesus. Jesus is God’s only Son. So a woman is worth God’s only Son.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” -John 3:16

“The World” includes women. It includes all of us, but it definitely includes women. The truth is, no other religious text in the world elevates women like the Bible does. God saw fit to include women like Sarah, Ruth, and Mary in the Messianic genealogies (the line of Christ). The Bible calls out numerous female heroes like, Esther, Deborah, Jael, and Rahab the prostitute. Consider the following verses from the Gospel of Luke:

“When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” … Then he [Jesus] turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.” – Luke 7:36-39 & 44-47

This is one of the few stories which is shared in all four Gospels. Matthew and Mark add this comment from Jesus;

“Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” – Mat. 26:13 & Mark 14:9

What honor Jesus has given this woman. He never said anything like that about anyone, not even his disciples.  Another example of  Jesus honoring women was right after He rose from the dead.  He made his first appearance to a group of women. In their culture, women could not even be called as a credible witness in a court of law, but Jesus honored them as first witness to His resurrection.
Finally, consider this verse in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible:

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27

God created woman in His own image.  He didn’t just arbitrarily make a creature; He gave her His image.  Now you can speculate as to full implications of that verse, but let me tell you one thing it definitely means.  To be born a woman is a sacred thing.  Her sex is sacred. This distinction is unique to the Judeo-Christian worldview and it’s fulfilment is only reached in the Christian.

This shared image or likeness with God means she was made for a relationship with God. Now because of her sin (for we all sin -Rom 3:23) her relationship with her Creator was broken. Because He loved her so much, He was willing to sacrifice His Son on a cross to mend that relationship (Rom 4:25). And as a sign to affirm this, Jesus was raised from the dead after three days, giving her the hope of eternal life (John 11:25). If she but believes in this, she will live forever in the presence of her loving Creator.