Jesus through the Eyes of Women Quotes

“To look at Jesus through the eyes of women may seem at first like an innately modern project. But when it comes to Jesus' death and resurrection, it's precisely what the Gospel authors invite us to do. What we see through their eyes is not an alternative Jesus, but rather the authentic Jesus, who welcomes both men and women as his disciples, and who is best seen from below.”
― Rebecca McLaughlin, Jesus through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord

“Luke could've easily cut this scene between Mary and Elizabeth without disrupting the narrative. But he gives space for us to hear prophetic words from both these women--words that have echoed through the centuries--because Mary and Elizabeth are not only the biological mothers of Jesus and John. They also act as prophetesses in their own right. When it comes to women's unique ability to bear children, it's easy to make one of two mistakes: to overvalue childbearing, as if it's the primary reason why women exist, or to undervalue it, as if creating new life doesn't matter. The full-orbed picture Luke gives us of these two pregnant women helps us not to fall into either trap.”
― Rebecca McLaughlin, Jesus through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord

“The best thing he could give these siblings, whom he profoundly loved, was not immediate answer to their prayers, but revelation of himself.”
― Rebecca McLaughlin, Jesus though the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord

“The testimony of women is not just tacked on to the end of the Gospels. It's also woven in.”
― Rebecca McLaughlin, Jesus through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord

“As we see Jesus through these women's eyes, we'll see him as a Jewish rabbi like no other: a teacher sent by God to change the world. But we'll also see how impossible it is to say that Jesus is no more than that. In fact, we'll see that claiming that Jesus is just a good teacher is like saying the sun is just a source of light.”
― Rebecca McLaughlin, Jesus through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord

“Translated literally, Jesus replies, "I am, the (one) speaking to you" [John 4:26]. This word-for-word translation comes out awkwardly in English, so it's often broken up in our Bibles. But as New Testament scholar Craig Evans observes, Jesus's statement is "emphatic and unusual" in the original Greek as well. Smoothing it out in translation masks the fact that this is the first of Jesus's "I am" statements. ...This is the first time in John that Jesus explicitly declares he's the Messiah. And as he does so, Jesus makes an even more extraordinary claim. Each of Jesus's "I am" statements gives us fresh insight into who he is. At first, his words to the Samaritan woman seem like an exception. But if we look more closely, Jesus is giving us more insight about his identity when he says to the Samaritan woman, "I am, the (one) speaking to you." Jesus claims he's the Messiah and the one true covenant God. But he is also the one who is speaking to this sexually suspect, foreign woman. He could have just said "I am he!" But as we look at Jesus through this woman's eyes, we see him as the long-promised King and everlasting God, who chooses to converse with her.”
― Rebecca McLaughlin, Jesus through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord

“In moments of struggle, I've often muttered Jesus's claim and asked myself his question [from John 11]. A few years ago, in a period of intense relational turmoil--as I felt the psychological floor fall away under my feet--I stood in my bedroom clinging onto my dresser and rehearsed, "I am the resurrection and the life." "Do you believe this?" You see, if it's true, nothing that can happen in my life on earth can rob me of that everlasting life. And if it's false, nothing in my life on earth ultimately matters anyway. Either everything ends in death, or Jesus is the resurrection and the life.”
― Rebecca McLaughlin, Jesus through the Eyes of Women: How the First Female Disciples Help Us Know and Love the Lord