Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS §13.6
much part of an Israel that needed to repent as others, more needful of the good
news of God's kingdom than most others.
In short, within the wider summons to Israel to repent and trust afresh, Jesus
seems to have made a special effort to reassure not just the poor but also
those dismissed by the chief opinion-formers of the day as 'sinners' that God's
kingdom was open to them too. That message was heard by many of the poor and
sinners in the land of Israel, and the memory of that degree of success of Jesus'
mission remains clear within the tradition.
13.6. Women
The tradition as a whole makes little effort to focus on the success or otherwise
of Jesus' mission with women in particular. As was the case well into the twentieth
century in western countries, there was no differentiation within the community
as community between men and women. If the question had been posed,
Christian women would not have felt themselves excluded even when the
preacher addressed his (sic) congregation as 'brethren'. However, the newer sensitivities
of the last generation have made students of all ancient texts more alert
to the implicit patriarchalism more or less universal within them all. 217 And the
continuing insistence of Catholic ecclesiology that Jesus' choice of an all-male
twelve retains perennial significance for Christian understanding of ministry has
made the issue of women as disciples inescapable.
Given that there is no real attempt within the Jesus tradition to highlight the
role of women in relation to Jesus, the specific references to women disciples are
all the more interesting. 218 Most noticeable is the fact that the woman who has
been given most honour within Christian tradition, Mary the mother of Jesus, is
nowhere included within the circle of discipleship round Jesus during his mission.
She features only as recipient of a rebuke by Jesus (Mark 3.31-35 pars.). 219
Within the Jesus tradition the much more prominent Mary is Mary Magdalene
(Mary of Magdala/Migdal), 220 from whom, according to Luke 8.2, seven
217. See above, particularly Schüssler Fiorenza in chapter 4 n. 143.
218. For detailed review of the following material see B. Witherington, Women in the Ministry
of Jesus (SNTSMS 51; Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1984) ch. 4. Jenkins dismisses attempts
to draw further material from the apocryphal gospels (Hidden Gospels ch. 6): 'Feminist interpretations
of the hidden gospels represent a triumph of hope over judgment' (146).
219. See further below, §14.7, and cf. John 2.4. Only John mentions her at the cross
(John 19.25-27), though she appears already in Acts 1.14.
220. Mark 15.40, 47 pars.; 16.1 pars.; Luke 8.2; John 20.11-18; GTh 114.1. We recall
that Magdala/Migdal lay on the shore of Galilee between Capernaum and Tiberias. On Mary of
Magdala see also Funk, Acts of Jesus 476-78.
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