Jamin Bradley

Why did God come to earth as a man and not a woman? Either gender could have been theologically possible since the Old Testament presents Jesus in the masculine form of the Angel of the Lord (Gen. 32:24–30; cf. Hos. 12:3-4)¹ and the feminine form of Woman Wisdom (Prov. 8:22-31; cf. Luke 11:49-50; Matt. 23:34-35).² Some might suggest that he needed to come as a man or no one in the ancient world would have listened to him, but the Spirit’s miracles and signs and wonders would have certainly drawn a crowd regardless of God’s incarnate gender. Likewise, the Messiah’s exousia (Matt. 7:29)could have stunned and captivated any ancient audience even if God came as a woman—perhaps even more so! So then, why did God come to us as a man?

This question has been running through my mind for the past few months. There are, of course, many theological and socio-historical answers we could propose to this question, but ultimately only God knows the real reasons behind this decision. What’s important is that we work with the story as it happened and allow the Spirit to speak to us not only through Jesus’ humanity, but also through his manhood. This is where my mind has been directed as I’ve meditated on this question. 

Carolyn Custis James points out that Jesus’ “maleness was integral to the completion of his redemptive task, for it facilitated his ability to expose ‘the radical difference between God’s ideal and the social structures of his day.’”³ I suggest that this is a major reason for Jesus’ maleness and that he had much more critique to offer men than women. By leaning into the old adage that “actions speak louder than words,” Jesus challenges his audience and captivates the minds of his disciples. 

Jesus’ treatment of women would have turned heads. He broke racial and gender paradigms by talking with the woman at the well,⁴ and he talked to her in a way that didn’t belittle her, but invigorated her (John 4:1–42). He rescued a woman from bad religion (John 8:3–11). He called religious leaders out on their sinful treatment of widows (Luke 20:47). He brought women in as his disciples (Luke 8:2–3), including Mary Magdalene, whom the community would have stigmatized for having had demons. Jesus even went so far as to send Mary out as the first apostle to proclaim the good news of resurrection (John 20:11–18).⁵ He made friends with women and loved them (John 11:5), taught them (Luke 10:39), and ministered to them no matter how far down the social ladder they went (Luke 8:42–48). And it’s not just Jesus’ treatment of women that would have spoken volumes to issues of gender—it’s also Jesus’ treatment of his own manhood, which defied his patriarchal culture.⁶

The early church must have caught on to Jesus’ exemplary countercultural treatment of women, because the rest of the New Testament is filled with empowered women. Despite Paul’s many confusing statements about women (many of which were actually progressive for his time),⁷ his actions show that he worked with women in ministry consistently.⁸ He worked alongside Eudia and Syntche (Philip. 4:2-3), Mary (Rom. 16:6), Tryphaena and Tryphosa (Rom. 16:12), and church leaders like the minister Phoebe (Rom. 16:1-2), the evangelist and church host Priscilla (Acts 18:26; Rom. 16:3-4), and the apostle Junia (Rom. 16:7).⁹

Discipleship is built around our commitment to mirroring Jesus. What is communicated through Jesus’ actions is as important as the red letters themselves. If the church today were to pay closer attention to Jesus’ examples and listen more deeply to the Spirit of Jesus (Philip. 1:19) in their everyday lives, we would be much further along in dismantling patriarchy and elevating women today. Instead, we’ve doubled down on certain verses in the Bible and created a church that is often oppressive toward women. Indeed, we miss Jesus’ character entirely, and we use the words of Scripture to demean and belittle women—even subjecting them to abuse in the name of the same Jesus who came to liberate them! This is the antithesis of Jesus’ example, who is the actual Word of God (John 1:1) that we must read and listen to with special attention.¹⁰ We must be convicted by the Spirit and change our ways quickly, lest we continue to bear the Lord’s name in vain to our own detriment.¹¹

The Culture of the Church

The modern church is built around the subjection of women. Male pastors use the Scriptures in their messages to strongarm women into what they think is “biblical womanhood.” There is a certain way that pastor’s wives are expected to act.¹² There is an expectation on how women dress and behave in church. There are unspoken rules about what women can and can’t do, even in egalitarian churches.¹³ Churches may claim that they are safe spaces for women, but that does not make them safe in actuality. We teach our congregants about the subjection of women in both our spoken and unspoken rules. It’s as though our gender beliefs can be felt in the very atmosphere of our gatherings. 

This being said, it’s no wonder that abuse is found inside the church. In fact, it may be found practiced to a more severe degree within the church because male abusers may ground their abuse in the misuse of Scripture and church culture. As C.S. Lewis once said, “Of all bad men, religious bad men are the worst.”¹⁴

If churches want to curb bad behavior toward women, they need to stop creating church paradigms where women are inferior to men. Women should stand out as queens, not servants. They were not created inferior to men or designed to serve them while men completed God’s work, but they were made equal to men and appointed by God to the same mission.¹⁵ If a church can preach this message, establish this kind of leadership, maintain this kind of atmosphere, and disciple congregants to elevate women to the same level that Jesus did, then no man will be able to attend church and create a theology of abuse. They will discover not only that Jesus defied cultural manhood, but also that he was nonviolent and treated women with the highest respect.¹⁶ These truths leave an abusive Christian with no defense to lean on. The anger, violence, and authority they thought were masculine find no place in their savior, and they are left needing to recognize not only their lack of fruit, but a deficit of fruit—or a rotten and demonic kind of fruit.

As churches practice the elevation of women, Christians will begin to cultivate a different atmosphere and call out subjective behavior when they see it. As congregants are further discipled into the image of Jesus and educated about abuse from their pastors, the kinds of mannerisms that come with abusive behavior will begin to stand out more. Congregants will begin to see Jesus as he is in Scripture, not as we picture him when we contextualize him in our own patriarchy. This will affect our churches globally as our larger denominational gatherings prioritize the same efforts, and bishops educate our pastors from the top down and require them to attend conferences about abuse. The church should be leading the charge against abuse and not be trailing so far behind the United Nations’ efforts in the late 1900s to stop violence and discrimination against women. That was already far too late for the world to start discussing the issue, let alone Jesus’ followers.¹⁷

Conclusion

Men are not always the perpetrators in abuse cases, but because they make up the bulk of the issue, I’ve focused my attention on them in this post. There is much more to be said about abuse than can be addressed here, so I’ve focused on the church’s culture and behavior in this paper. If the space allowed, I would write quite a bit more on the importance of taking both the victim, the victimizer, and any of their children through inner healing to bring about restoration and redemption, which would hopefully help to shut down any future cycles of abuse from happening.

Likewise, there is so much more the church can and should do on this topic. First and foremost, pastors and congregants need more education on the topic, as most are out of touch with the issue and would not know what to do if they came in contact with it. Many also tend to think abuse is an issue outside of the church, and they need to start noticing it in their own circles. We must also partner with local abuse shelters and experts to see how our churches might fit into their fight.

We can do better than this. We must do better than this. As we all come awake to this issue, we must intentionally shift to address it, or nothing will change. May we mirror Jesus and elevate the women around us.

---

Footnotes

¹ For more information on the Angel of the Lord’s identity as Jesus, see: Michael Heiser, Angels: What the Bible Actually Says About God’s Heavenly Host (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018) 57-68.

² For more information on Woman Wisdom’s identity as Jesus, see: Sally Douglas, “Chapter 3: Jesus and Sophia in the New Testament,” Jesus Sophia: Returning to Woman Wisdom in the Bible, Practice and Prayer (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2023).

³ Carolyn Custis James, Malestrom: How Jesus Dismantles Patriarchy and Redefines Manhood (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Reflective, 2022), 139.

⁴ Gerald L. Borchert, “John 4:7–9,” The New American Commentary: John 1–11, Vol. 25A (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996).

⁵ N.T. Wright, “Why women should be church leaders and preachers // Ask NT Wright anything” Premier on Demand (YouTube, 2019), https://youtu.be/os8M9ln2cM0, 00:50.

⁶ For more on this, see: James, “Chapter 8: The Manhood of Jesus,” Malestrom.

⁷ Craig S. Keener, Paul, Women, and Wives: Marriage and Women’s Ministry in the Letters of Paul (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), Kindle Location 75-108.

⁸ I address this topic more extensively in my book: Jamin Bradley, “Excursus: Women in Ministry,” The Rush and the Rest: The Holy Spirit and the Supernatural World (Independently Published, 2018).

⁹ For a deeper look into Junia’s identity as a female apostle, see: Eldon Jay Epp, Junia: The First Woman Apostle (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2005), Kindle Locations 868-869.

¹⁰ I go deeper into this point in my book: Jamin Bradley, A Taste of Jesus: Growing the Fruit of the Spirit (Independently Published, 2017), 37-43.

¹¹ For more on this topic, see: Carmen Joy Imes, Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2019).

¹² A young pastor once told me that my wife really changed his understanding of what pastor’s wives could be like. How did she do this? By being herself. “Pastor’s wife” was not her job title, and she had no desire to fit the mold that many pastor’s wives had filled before her. She didn’t need to lead the children’s ministry or a women’s ministry. She didn’t need to create special events for women, attend all the events I created, or be my yes-man. Instead of pretending to be someone she’s not because of my job, she is herself.

¹³ For example, a large egalitarian church had many female pastors on staff, but many men and women left once a woman was chosen as the lead pastor. Some stayed annoyed about this all the way up to her departure when she was promoted to the role of bishop—the highest position in their denomination. Some felt good about this departure, which was pure lunacy as she was now the official boss of all pastors in the denomination within North America. There is no higher position above her.

¹⁴ C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms (New York, NY: Harcourt Brace, 1958), 28.

¹⁵ James, Malestrom, 11-15. See also my book: Jamin Bradley, God’s Grand Framework: Finding Our Place in God’s Story (Independently Published, 2020) 11-15.

¹⁶ For more on Jesus’ nonviolence and pacifism, see my book: Bradley, “Chapter 4: Peace,” A Taste of Jesus.

¹⁷ Elizabeth Gerhardt, The Cross and Gendercide: A Theological Response to Global Violence Against Women and Girls (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014), 70-75.