Jesus to a bully: Leave her alone!

 

 

 

Jesus to bully: Leave her alone!

Written by Amy Coyne Bredeson

The Gospels make it pretty clear that despite the social and religious norms of his time, Jesus had great respect for women. He confided in them. He validated their suffering. He honored them. He empowered them. And he was quick to defend those who were being mistreated.

Many people, even non-Christians, know the story from John chapter 8 of the woman caught in the act of adultery. When her accusers told Jesus what she had done, he said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

The men snuck away one by one until only Jesus was left with the woman. 

He asked where her accusers were and if any of them had condemned her. She responded that they were all gone and that none of them had condemned her. 

“And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I. Go and sin no more.’”

There are a couple of other stories in the New Testament about Jesus defending a woman who was being criticized and judged by men one day. Both of these men ridiculed her in front of a group of other men, sitting around at a table. 

In John 12, Jesus was visiting some friends in the town of Bethany a few days before the Passover, when a woman named Mary poured expensive perfume on his feet. One of Jesus’ disciples, Judas Iscariot, the one who later betrayed him, scolded Mary for wasting money on perfume and then pouring it on Jesus’ feet instead of giving the money to the poor. 

Jesus defended Mary, saying, “Leave her alone," explaining that he would only be with them for a short period but the poor would always be with them. 

We all know that Jesus was all about helping the poor. In normal circumstances, he would’ve been on Judas’ side in this scenario. But he knew he was about to be killed and that Mary wanted to worship him in this way. He also knew Judas wasn’t really concerned about helping the poor. 

I think Jesus knew in that moment that he should speak up for Mary and tell that bully to leave her alone. I don’t know about you, but I love the way he defended her! Jesus knew Mary’s heart. He knew this was her way of worshiping him and giving him her very best.

Judas should’ve minded his own business! 

If you look back at Luke 7:36-50, you can see another story about Mary.

“When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.’” (Luke 7:39)

Jesus responded with a parable about two men who were forgiven debts. Which one would love the money lender more - the one who was forgiven a small amount or a larger amount? His point was that this woman had many sins that needed to be forgiven, and Jesus forgave all of them. Mary just wanted to show Jesus how much she loved him. 

He turned to Mary and told her that her sins were forgiven.

Mary had been rebuked by at least two men at that gathering. Judas criticized her for wasting money, and the Pharisee basically called her a prostitute. 

I wonder if Jesus was really frustrated when he said, “Leave her alone.” I wonder if he said it in a casual manner, like, "Hey, buddy, can you just let it go?" or if he said it in a stern, "You're in BIG trouble" kind of voice. 

If you think about how women were treated back then, I wonder how many Jesus had defended just that day. He was kinda big on speaking up for "the least of these," and women were in that category in 1st Century Israel.

Given how often Jesus challenged the way women were dismissed or judged, it's reasonable to believe he would have confronted those who abused their power over us.

I wonder what Jesus would say today to anyone—religious leaders, politicians or ordinary people—who use their power to demean women, dismiss their voices or treat us as less than the people God created us to be.

Whether it's the leader of the free world, your boss, husband or some random person on the street, it's never OK for a man to treat a woman with such little respect, and I imagine Jesus would say to all men who publicly humiliate women, "Leave her alone!"

I think he'd also want his followers to defend women who are being picked on. If we are supposed to be like Jesus, if we are supposed to do what he did, then we should speak up for "the least of these." Jesus' reaction to Judas should be an example for all of us. 

If we want to be like Jesus, we might also have to speak up and say, "Leave her alone."