Seeing Christ

Thoughts from Beckie Garrison

As I toured the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, I was struck by the sight of so many
monks giving me the eagle eye. How did the site of the crucifixion
and resurrection become so serious and scary? Don’t these holy men
realize that the gilded crucifixes they display on their chest
peacock style symbolize that through Christ I am deemed equal in his
eyes? They seem to have forgotten how Jesus redeemed those who were
created human in the book of Genesis but were now being treated in
the first century as chattel.

While slavery still remains
a sordid stain on our collective humanity, the extreme vast majority
of us cannot comprehend growing up in a culture where women were
treated like property and accorded the same status as the family
donkey. How threatening that must have been for a highly patriarchal
culture to be faced with such potential financial losses should their
female property be set free. Yet today, these visible signs of his
death and resurrection remain under lock and key, guarded by these
monks in black.

As I exited the church, I
almost tripped over a few women, who were ceremoniously wiping down
the alleged table where Jesus’ body was laid. Why are they
relegated off to the spiritual sidelines yet again? I pray for the
day when we can get all biblical and let these contemporary women
take their rightful place as guardians of his cross and the empty
tomb.

After all, who was the very
first person to witness the Risen Christ? To those who claim the
resurrection is a fanciful faith fairy tale, consider this. If the
disciples cooked up this Christian concoction, they wouldn’t have
their Messiah make his first risen appearance before to two women.
Heck, even the disciples dismissed the women’s first hands account
as nonsense. (See Luke 24:11) Their initial lack of respect for these
their stories demonstrates how women were perceived in first century
Judea.

But all throughout his
ministry, Jesus embraced women as equals in the Kingdom of God. He
showed mercy to a woman about to be stoned for adultery. (See John
8:1-12) After he hung out a bit with a Samaritan woman at a public
well, his unclean acts made the front page of The Pharisee Post. (See
John 4:4-26) He embraced a female sinner who crashed a dinner party
because she wanted to anoint his feet with oil. (See Luke 7:36-50) He
invites Mary to join the all boys’ theological discussion instead
of washing dishes. (See Luke 10:38-42)

This is why I never get this
twelve manly disciples business with women relegated to the role of
suitable helpers a.k.a. 1 Peter women. Frankly, I find this line of
exegesis to be outright unbiblical, as such moves seem to go directly
against the life and ministry of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.