Worksheet: Here is worksheet for this study. Respecting Women Worksheet
Men’s Bible Study:
Respecting our Moms, our wives, and other women we are blessed to know
Introduction: We are living in a culture today in which Christian and secular men do not know how to treat and respect women; we have lost sight of men being the leaders of both church and family life and day to day living. When we turn to the Savior, we see how He lived life among them and was always a blessing.
1. How Jesus respected His earthly mother
2. How Jesus loved women
3. How we are to act to all women
1. How Jesus respected His earthly mother
A. He respected Mary’s relationship to Him.
“And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.” Luke 2:51
B. He respected the wishes of His earthly mother. [In turn, she encouraged others to trust Him]
“His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” John 2:5
C. He took care of His mother, entrusting her care to other believers.
“When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.” John 19:26-27
2. How Jesus loved women
“The book of Luke is unusual among the ancient books of the world. Luke took to great care to record the emotional and physical responses of a woman in her pregnancy ... I know of no other book in ancient history that is concerned about and cares for the feelings of a woman as she is carrying her child or cares for her child. But God thought these things were important enough to include then in His eternal word ... Jesus’ sense of manhood was never threatened by the tenderness of a woman.” - Doug Clark
A. A woman knelt at Jesus’ feet and washed them in repentance. He never made her feel embarrassed, nor was He Himself embarrassed. Luke 7:36-50
B. Unlike rabbi’s of His day, Jesus was the only one who included women as His disciples. In fact, they ministered to Him when the mobs got crazy. Luke 10:38-42 - “38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.”
C. Jesus was sensitive to and lifted the burdens of women with social and religious handicaps.
- Even sick women, in middle eastern culture, would have made sure to take care of guests; but Jesus healed Peter’s mother in law first, caring for her needs. Luke 4:38-39.
- When a woman became a widow in the Middle East, it was tragic because there was no one to take care of her; Jesus realizing that during a funeral procession, a widow marched behind her son’s casket - He raised her son from the dead. Luke 7:11-17
D. Jesus calls women into equal relationship and discipleship and healing with Him. Luke 13:10-17 [we studied this passage a few weeks ago for Wed night service]
- Jesus was teaching the scriptures on the Sabbath, yet He put that aside for a sick woman; he interrupted the teaching time.
- Whereas the synagogue was a man’s place to worship, yet He called the woman into the sanctuary of the men
- He spoke to her (a no-no culturally).
- He laid hands on her to heal her
- He neither look at a woman to lust after her nor followed the traditions of the Pharisees who avoided women; instead, He had the utmost respect for them in terms of their relationship to God.
3. How we are to act to all women
We can honor women by showing them the same love and respect that Jesus, through His life, and example showed.
Doug Clark, in his article “Jesus and women” has written:
“We live in a world that sentimentalizes mothers and women in general.” He writes that after Mother’s day is over, do we continue to treat women in high esteem? He says of the culture over all, no: “The United States has one of the highest rates of violence against women and abuse of young girls. We are one of the world’s deepest cesspools of pornography. In many ways, we have little room to criticize or condemn the Muslim. ... But Jesus is the perfect man, the man God wants every man to emulate. This is the kind of man God wants ever woman to know in her life.”
Here are some overall guidelines:
1. Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”
2. Matthew 5:28, “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
3. 1 Timothy 5:3, “Honor widows that are widows indeed.”
