Why All Women Speak With The Same Authority As Jesus

The religious patriarchy has existed for thousands of years. It is not native to Christianity, but it has always hated anything that undermines its power. Today that is women, but first it was Jesus.

Photo by Kalea Morgan on Unsplash

The religious patriarchy is not a new thing, nor is it limited to Christianity or any denomination within Christianity. The religious patriarchy is a group of (predominantly) men that have found ways to monetize and capitalize on their positions as the “Voice of God.” Positions which they have largely established by themselves, for themselves. While the patriarchy loves to convince everyone that they hold their positions because “God ordained it” the truth is, they are usually just highly charismatic individuals that know how to get people to (literally) buy what they are selling.

Long before there was a Christian patriarchy, however, there was a Jewish patriarchy and all the same rules applied. Everything that we see happening in the modern day Evangelical church was happing in pre-1st Century Judea as well. Sexual abuse, religious slavery, pastors using tithes and offerings to enrich themselves and amassing large followings to give themselves political power are nothing new. All the things you’re reading about happening in 21st century churches, Jesus was speaking out about more than 2,000 years ago and they were happening thousands of years before that as well. The religious patriarchies of Jesus’ time were no less angry about him outing them than today’s patriarchies are about people calling them out.

The great irony is that if Jesus were to come to earth today, in 21st Century America, it would likely be the Evangelicals and Catholics trying to get Trump to take him out. The reason the Jews did not believe Jesus was the Messiah was that the religious elite always expects Jesus will come and put the smackdown on all their enemies and place them in a position of power. Today’s Evangelicals believe in the End Times or what they like to call premillennialism because they just love to make up big fancy impressive-sounding name for things.

You may have heard of the Rapture, when Jesus will take all the “good” people (basically White Evangelicals) to Heaven and let all the “bad” people (Blacks, gays and single women that are overeducated or like sex too much) run amok as things just get worse and worse because God took away all the good people. Until one day things get so bad God just smites them all (religious people are always hungry for a good smiting) and then all the White Evangelicals will reign forever at the right hand of God. At that point, who exactly they think they are going to reign over is a question they never seem to answer, but they sure do like the part of reigning alongside God.

I believe, if I recall correctly from my time in Mormonism, they have a very similar belief and, quite frankly, this is pretty similar to what the Jewish patriarchy had in mind 2,000 years ago, which is why they didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah they were waiting for. Instead, Jesus came to free people from them (the religious elite) and they were none too pleased about that. For thousands of years now, true followers of Jesus have risen up against power and restored freedom to the people. Not with guns or knives or weapons, but with truth. And not always in the name of Jesus.

It should come as no surprise then, that the religious patriarchy was always trying to trip Jesus up. He was a threat to their dominance and power because he was constantly undermining the authority they had somehow managed to convince everyone they had. Jesus woke people up to the fact that the only reason the religious elite had power was by convincing people they did. When you stop believing they have power, they stop having power. By changing your thinking, you change your life and by changing your life, you change the world.

The greatest threat to the religious patriarchy of Jesus’ day is the same threat to today’s patriarchy: people waking up or “getting woke” as we like to say today. When you actually start to realize how little control the patriarchy has over you except that which you give it, you begin to set yourself free from it. They stop having power when you stop giving it to them.

The reason the religious right constantly mocks “wokeism” is that there is literally no greater threat to their power than people simply waking up to the fact that they have no power except that which you give them.

The thing you have to remember about Jesus is that he was basically a nobody. In American terms, you might think of Jesus as a poor Mexican construction worker who maybe only had a high school education. Yet, he had hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter, the elite were constantly inviting him to their houses, yet he also chose to regularly hang out in the projects and was just as well-received by the gang-bangers as the billionaires. He hung out with prostitutes but always treated them with dignity and respect. He also gave women the courage to leave abusive relationships or simply not get in them in the first place. Jesus was probably the first man to teach women that they didn’t actually need a man. Which made the patriarchy pretty mad.

But here’s the most confounding thing about Jesus. If he came to America today, he wouldn’t have attended an Evangelical church or a Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian or Mormon church - although he might make an appearance at all of them. For that matter, he might also have attended Temple or even pray several times a day facing Mecca. And that is what the religious elite simply could not tolerate. The thing about religion is that every religion (and denomination) believes they are right and all the rest are wrong. If Jesus picked one, then the one he did pick could gloat and all the rest could denounce him as a heretic. Because he never picked a side, he essentially implied they were all wrong.

The religious elite could not stand that Jesus never picked a side.

The patriarchy tried numerous times to attack his theology but he always managed to instead point out the holes in their own. Several times, they tried to attack his character, but he never confirmed or denied their accusations, which just kind of took the wind out of their sails. If you’ve ever spent much time in religious communities, you may have heard the phrase “under authority.” Religious men are very, very big on making sure everyone is “under authority” - and who is that authority? They are.

So, when they couldn’t shake Jesus’ following on the basis of his theology or character, they decided to go after his authority.

Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

I found a pretty good interpretation of this specific instance, but this passage is also indicative of a larger double-bind for the religious patriarchy. This larger picture is important to understand, because it is the same double-bind that exists for today’s religious patriarchy as well. The religious elite is very keen on making sure that no one feels they have the right to preach or teach the Bible without their authority. But the reality is their authority is and will always be man’s authority. It doesn’t mean anything.

Ultimately, they want everyone to believe that they speak, teach and lead because they have been given God’s authority to do so and thereby anything they say is as if it is from God Herself. (Which is also why they love calling the Bible the Word of God.) But if they claim to speak, teach or lead by God’s authority, well, anyone can make that same claim and they really have no way of refuting it because they are not God. The religious elite only have power if people believe they are speaking for God or on God’s behalf, so if people stop believing they are speaking on God’s behalf, they lose all their power. Or, more accurately, their power becomes no greater than anyone else’s. That is what they just cannot stand. The religious patriarchy needs to be above everyone else. That’s the point of being in the patriarchy.

At the moment that Jesus died on the cross, Matthew, Mark and Luke all mention in their gospels that the veil in the temple was torn in two (Matt 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45). This significance of this is that the veil was the “curtain” that separated man from the “Holy of Holies” or the place in the temple where ostensibly God resided. Prior to Jesus’ death, the idea was that man needed priests to intercede for them with God. Although, it’s pretty interesting just how often God seems to have interacted with men in the Old Testament, so it’s also possible people really didn’t need priests even back then but the priests just made sure everyone thought they did.

Bottom line, however, is that both the authors of the Bible and modern day scholars all seem to agree that the significance of the veil spontaneously ripping in half is that we no longer need a priest to intercede for us. Which is literally just a fancy way of saying we no longer need a man to tell us what God’s will is. But you can see where this would be kind of problematic for men, right? If we don’t need them to tell us what God’s will is, then we can just kind of all run around willy-nilly figuring out God’s will for us ourselves and that kind of means they are no longer in control.

And this is what it is important for women to understand.

You do not need a man’s permission, approval or “authority” to speak, teach , lead or preach the gospel.

The Bible is chock full of examples of men and women who were not trained, did not have fancy theology degrees and in some cases (like Moses) could not even speak well.

Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” (Ex 4:10-13 NIV)

More than anything what God looks for is just a willing heart. Over and over again, however, the Bible says She calls the weak and the foolish to overcome the mighty and strong.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

See, when people have big fancy degrees, they often think that makes them smarter, stronger or more powerful than others. It doesn’t. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with getting a degree but the problem is in either thinking you need one in order to be a teacher, preacher or leader or in thinking that having a degree gives you some kind of authority over others. It doesn’t.

The other thing that is very important to keep in mind is that you don’t even have to be a Christian (or claim to be one) nor do you necessarily even have to use the Bible. Just remember, Jesus was Jewish and the Bible didn't even exist yet. Yet somehow all those 1st Century believers managed to spread the gospel, all without organized religion or a Bible. You see, man is always very concerned about who is an “us” and who is a “them” - who has authority and who does not. Man likes very clearly defined roles and badges to determine who is “authorized” and who is not, and who has the highest authority. (Just look at military uniforms.)

If you look at most Christians today, they are very proud of their Christian T-shirts and bumper stickers and keychains and their giant well-worn Bibles with the handmade or leather-tooled covers that all prominently identify them as an upstanding member of the flock. But Jesus said to be wary of the “clothes” people wear or the symbols or labels they use to identify themselves with.

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matt 7:15-20 NIV)

Ultimately, Jesus said all of those labels and badges are meaningless. Usually, the reason people are most keen on using badges and labels to identify themselves as “fitting in” is because they don’t. The people that do fit in don’t need the badges and the labels. In modern vernacular it’s called TWTH or Trying Way Too Hard. The one and only thing you can look at to determine who is “in” and who is “out” is the fruit that they produce. And what is this “fruit” we’re supposed to be looking for?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Gal 5:22-23 NIV)

There are always going to be gatekeepers, people that place themselves in charge of determining who is authorized or not, but Jesus himself said to pay no attention to them.

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.

All you need to worry about is whether there is something you feel “called” or compelled in some way to do. Whether it’s teaching, speaking or leading, whether it’s from the Bible, the Q’ran, the Torah or maybe just a book with a spiritual message. You don’t need anyone’s permission, nor do you need a fancy degree or a title. Those things are fine and there’s nothing wrong with them, but they will always be man’s authorization, not God’s. They’re fine to have, but don’t make the mistake of believing that you need them.

On the other end, we are all called to let God do the gatekeeping. If you see someone teaching a message you think is wrong, you can certainly speak out if you feel so inclined, but you can also go about your own business and leave the gatekeeping to God. Whom God calls, God equips and whom God calls is none of anyone else’s business.

Ladies, you have the same authority as Jesus, so lead, speak, preach and teach away and don’t let any man (or other woman) tell you you can’t.