Living Hope Boldly: Women in Scripture

 This was written and originally published for The Holy Ruckus on March 29, 2021

This past Advent, I was contemplating a lot on hope and joy. In the midst of the pandemic, it seemed to be one of the few things that was keeping me afloat. I have never considered myself an optimist, but in times of crisis, I have learned that I have to keep my eyes fixed on the goal of hope. 

As I was meditating on hope in these times and reading Scripture daily, it occurred to me that women have often been the ones standing boldly with hope when our male counterparts questioned or hid in fear. Not to create an “us versus them” mentality, but we hear so much about courageous men throughout history. Less often do we hear about courageous women; not because they don’t exist, but because feminine courage is often seen as a “behind the scenes” type of hope. 

Except when it’s not. There are more than several moments in Scripture when women boldly stand out and take the stage. I wrote a paper when working on my Masters in Theology about Deborah and Jael in the book of Judges. Deborah boldly directed Barak and commanded the Israelite army against the Canaanites. Jael helped the cause by driving a tent peg through Sisera’s (one of their enemies) head! Judith, in a deuterocanonical book of her own name, similarly helped the Jewish people later in their history by bringing an enemy to his demise in an unseemly way. (If you google her, plenty of paintings with the scene will come up!)

Now, there is surely no joy in violence. That is not what I am advocating. But there is a joy and hope in seeing women delivering their people from harm with God’s help and fighting for their beliefs. We hear about patriarchs doing the same and worse in Scripture. In my opinion, men’s boldness is often celebrated whereas women’s boldness is often downplayed or discouraged.  It is altered to fit the mold that is acceptable for a woman in our society.

I feel like the rare example that breaks the mold for me is that of Mary Magdalene. As we prepare for Easter, she is a figure that is generously placed before us to admire and uphold. It is she that boldly goes to attend to the Lord’s body in a contentious time when her own life could have been in danger for doing so. The other disciples and apostles were in the upper room hiding. She is one of the first evangelists. It is she that goes back to tell the men that Christ has risen. She is the first one to bring that Good News of the Gospel to others. And she was at the foot of the Cross with Him when many of His male friends had fled. 

While we uplift Mary Magdalene, the narrative that has more often been told about her is that she was a prostitute who changed her ways after encountering Jesus. While this conversion is certainly admirable, there is no specific mention of this in Scripture. She is often thought to be one of the women that Jesus drives demons out of or who is caught in adultery, but that woman is not named. Mary Magdalene IS called by name, however, by Christ at the Resurrection, yet that seems to only be secondary when many think of her. 

Another favorite bold woman of mine in Scripture is the Samaritan woman in John’s Gospel that Jesus encounters at a well. Here is a woman who is truly bold. The conversation that she has with Jesus is cutting and sassy and yet He commends her for it. Why don’t we commend women for their wit as much as we do their behind the scenes stability? Jesus certainly commended and surrounded Himself with women that were bold. Not only that, he sought them out. 

There is hope in being free to live in whichever ways God has made us. For women, that hope has often been stifled or asked to fit a specific, strong-silent type. It is our right and our joy to embrace the way that God made us- whether that be loud and vocal or soft-spoken and strong. Society has come a long way, but it still seems like we tend to roll our collective eyes when a strong woman takes a stand. We don’t like it when she is too loud.

I think that the women in Scripture tell us a different tale. They were women who lived their faith and hope out loud in different ways. Our faith is always counter cultural. Christ was counter cultural by reaching out and spending time with so many diverse women. May we continue to live out our call no matter how society might frame us. And may we feel the joy that comes with the hope and freedom of living out-loud; for we are all made in His image- male and female He created them.