Can Women Relate to a Male Savior?
*Post by Sharon Hodde Miller*
Have you ever wondered if men have a special connection to Jesus because he was a man?
Not all Christian women ask this question but some certainly do, which makes it a question worth considering. After all, Jesus represented humankind though there are some experiences he clearly never had. He wasn’t a woman.
What does this mean us ladies?
The Bible tells us that, from the standpoint of salvation, Jesus represented us all, not just one particular gender. Hebrews 4:15 explains, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Likewise, church theologians have historically affirmed the fullness of Jesus’ humanity and the representative nature of his human experience. In St. Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man) he famously wrote of the debt that humanity alone owed but God alone could pay.
Inherent in both Scriptural and traditional statements about Christ’s humanity is the belief that Jesus was fully human and fully able to represent us. And yet, Jesus’ human experience was not like that of many humans. For one thing, he never married, a distinction that separates his human experience from a large bulk of the earth’s population. But even more significantly, Jesus’ male gender means he did not share in the experience of a half of the earth’s population.
That said, there is a question behind the question of how women can relate to a male savior. While few women doubt that they can be saved by a male savior, they do want to know if they are fully known by him. When Jesus was on earth, did he really get women in the way that he got men?
The short answer to that question is yes. Jesus did understand women on the most personal level because he created us. Jesus knows each one of us intimately because he was there at our conception and he knit us together. He knew who we would be and where our lives would take us.
But over the last three months I have learned an additional way in which woman can relate to Jesus, in a uniquely female way.
This winter I became pregnant with my first child and began to experience the symptoms of first trimester sickness. My body’s changes came as quite as shock! As someone who has had NO major health issues my entire life, it was rather jarring to experience such extended nausea and fatigue. My body has always done what I wanted it to (except in the realm of athletics!) so those three months represented a loss of control that I did not readily embrace.
This pregnancy has taught me, in a way that I did not understand before, that bringing new life into this world entails the laying down of my own body. To create new life, I must sacrifice my own comfort and well-being. But out of that sacrifice springs forth a new body and a new soul.
In this way, pregnancy is a beautiful analogy of Christ’s sacrifice. Though the pains of pregnancy and labor are nothing compared to the pains of crucifixion, it is nevertheless one of the closest pictures we have of what happened on the cross. In both instances, a physical body suffers in order that a new birth can occur. While there are plenty of other ways in which Christians can model this analogy (ie. laying ourselves down in sacrificial ways to bring about the salvation of others), it is rare that one’s physical sacrifice literally breeds new life.
Now, I don’t think that mothers have a monopoly on understanding the sacrifice of Christ anymore than married people have a monopoly on understanding Christ’s relationship to the church. However, I do think this is one area of womanhood in which we have a unique connection to Jesus. As I continue to endure the hardships of pregnancy, I can hear divine echoes amidst the illness. When I feel tired and cranky or nauseous, I can remember the sacrifices that Christ made to give me new life. As I experience my morning sickness and fatigue, I get to participate in a faint reflection of the same life-giving sacrifice modeled by Christ, all the while praying that my sacrifice leads not only to a new child, but one day a child of God as well.
"Not all Christian women ask this question but some certainly do, which makes it a question worth considering." I have not experienced Christian women asking this question. I have heard it posed from non-Christians. Can you please elaborate. It seems if someone is Christian they are already relating to our Savior who came in the form of a male…otherwise they wouldn't be Christian.
I have experienced God uniquely as a church planter who happens to be female. I am glad to grab the hand of that guy and GO.
Maggie, thanks or asking!. The question tends to come more from Christian women with feminist sympathies, although it can also be a struggle for women who have been profoundly hurt by men in their lives. For some women who have a fear of men, the Father and Son language can be a bit daunting.
Whether or not the title question is one you struggle with personally, I still think it is a question worth considering. To explore this question is not, to me, a matter of doubting God's perfect plan but a matter of understanding God more intimately. The more we know about God and his ways, the better. Even the truths that come easy to us are worth exploring if we want to know Him well.
Great addition to the discussion on this you started at She Worships, Sharon! The role of Creator is exactly why I think God understands us completely, even before Christ's incarnation. I have two questions, though:
1) How do you think this plays into the gaia/goddess worship that is being introduced in some historically Christian denominations?
2) Have you entered the golden trimester yet (where, I'm told, morning sickness usually subsides, strength returns, etc.)?
Tim
P.S. Aimee Byrd just posted another guest piece this morning. It came out of a recent visit home from my son and a few of his college friends. I hope you get a chance to read it: http://www.housewifetheologian.com/the-best-laid-…
This is a lovely post. I'm five months pregnant with my first child, and I hate it. It's been one of the worst physical experiences I've experienced, and it's certainly not been anything close to what was described – I heard "glowing" a lot. And no, as yet, no golden trimester (it's meant to be the second trimester, which I'm currently in, and there's been nothing golden about it). I do appreciate that I can have children, and I am growing in love for the little baby inside, especially after seeing the ultrasound, I am not enjoying the process at all and have been struggling with this. While I've not ever considered the question that inspired this post, I really appreciate your conclusions about pregnancy and childbirth and it's given me a new way to view my pregnancy. Thank you for your insight and your unique view on this.