Luke’s gospel was written at approximately 80-90 CE; he then goes on to write Acts where he tells the story of the beginning of the Church in Jerusalem and the perish of the gospel in Rome by Paul. Luke was a sophisticated author and through the study of his gospel, it has been assumed that Luke was Greek and that he was quite highly educated most likely a doctor, which allowed him to show a higher level of understanding and empathy towards the poor and in need. Around 66 AD (before Luke’s gospel was written) there was a war in Palestine between the Jews and the Roman forces, where the Romans surrounded Jerusalem and then went on to destroy the city and the Temples in 70AD. A result of this war was that most of the places where Jesus had visited had been destroyed, resulting in people having no real witnesses or evidence of Jesus’s coming, which brought up concerns in Christian's faith. Luke’s gospel was intended to present a solid belief and understanding of the lasting Christian faith and to inform people of when Jesus arrived and all of his teachings and life accounts. Luke’s intended audience would most likely have been for recent converts, Greek speakers and Gentiles who were willing to learn about Jesus. Luke’s gospel focuses on spreading the life and teachings of Jesus and to spread the message that the, Good News of Jesus was meant for everybody in this world regardless of their gender and wealth. Luke’s gospel is known by many as the “Gospel of Mercy,” this is due to Luke’s gospel containing many of Jesus’s acts of compassion and forgiveness towards the poor and vulnerable and Jesus being merciful to all, which are not found all throughout the other gospels. For Luke was most likely a doctor his gospel stories contain a higher level of compassion and a higher literary level than the other gospels. Luke’s message throughout his gospel was that the works of Jesus and the love and acts of Jesus wasn’t just for men (who were thought very highly of during the time) and the rich and healthy, but for everyone in the world regardless of their wealth, gender and health status. Luke presents this message throughout his gospel where he displays many acts of Jesus showing mercy, compassion, love and forgiveness to those who were thought of as poor, unimportant, sinners and the sick (who were thought to have committed a great sin.) This message is shown throughout Luke’s gospel in many of his writings of the acts of Jesus, strongly believing that everyone in this world was included in God’s works. Luke’s strong belief in this message would have been what inspired him to show such a high regard towards women (because during this time woman were thought of to have a very low status and were regarded as unimportant and in superior towards men) throughout his gospel and including them as a significant place in the Good News about Jesus and his ministry on earth. Luke presents his respect and understanding of the importance and significance of women throughout his gospel by including them as an important part in his gospel and acknowledging how they are to be treated equally, for we are all children of God and his works are for everyone, this understanding of the significance of women is not shown throughout the other gospels. An example of this is shown when Luke writes in the gospel about the act of, “Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath,” (Luke 13:10-17) where Jesus goes up to a woman who is sick and crippled over, on the day of the Sabbath and regardless of everyone’s complaints he tells her “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity” and the woman is healed. This act helped to show that women are all of importance to God and that God loves and heals everyone in need. This act that Luke included is only found in in his gospel and is not found in any of the others and is a great example of Luke’s message that we should forgive and show mercy to everyone and everything regardless of their gender. Luke’s aim to keep up the Christian faith after the war and to spread that the works of God were for everyone, would have helped to inspire Luke to include women as a prominent part in his gospel for God believed that everyone was of importance and women were being treated as insignificant during that time which wasn’t God's message, so Luke chose to show the importance of women and spread God's true message to be merciful to everyone and thing, (LK verse 36) Jesus says 'Be merciful, just as your father is merciful'.
When the New Testament was written during the mid-first century CE the role of Jewish women was very poor throughout the Jewish society and women were thought very little of and had a very low status. Women were thought to be of the lowest rank in during the New Testament times and would have been rescued last in any life threatening situation. Women were more of an object to their husbands, they were to follow all of his orders and be honourable towards him through being silent and obedient. Women during this time were restricted in the things that they could do in life, they weren’t allowed to lead in public events and were restricted in public prayer. When a women was to visit a synagogue to pray she would have to go behind a screen, this was so that the females would be separate to the men who were in the main area, to show where women’s places were inside the synagogues and with men. The roles for women during this time largely, housekeeping, raising children, cooking and cleaning and tending to their husband’s needs. Many Jewish believed that women weren’t adults if they weren’t married. Daughters for their families would become economic assets and would be married off for a payment, without any choice or say. If a woman were caught looking at another man she would be accused of adultery and the most likely punishment for her would have been that they were stoned to death. Men were allowed to have more than one wife and were allowed to have sexual relations with all of his wives and their servants. Women were very easily shamed and thought of as disappointments, sinners or outcasts. If a woman could not prove her virginity on her wedding night she would be sent back to her family shaming and disgracing them and if a woman did not produce a son she would also be bringing shame to her family and disgrace on herself. Women in Jewish tradition in this time were considered to be unclean while they were menstruating and that anyone that she touches will be unclean until the evening and anything she lies on or touches will be unclean until her cycle has finished. Women would have to wait for seven days after their cycle had finished until they would be considered ceremonially clean and then they would have to get a purify them by a priest before she would be allowed to enter the tabernacle. During this time women were thought of as a very low status and were not thought of to be a great value and that God would have wanted them to be respected and they were in superior towards men.
Throughout the life of the Christian Church very few women were mentioned in the bible or had a significant place in it. Each of these women are included by Luke describing their strong significance with the Christian Church and the life of Jesus, showing that women are to be treated equally and respectfully for God is there for them all.
Mary In the gospel of Luke, the birth of Jesus tells us of Mary's different reactions and acceptance towards the announcement that she was to give birth to Jesus. It shows us a great understanding of Mary's faith towards God, which other gospels do not go into great detail about or only rarely recognise Mary in it at all (Mark's gospel only uses Mary's name once). In the town of Galilee Mary, (the wife of Joseph) was come upon by the angel Gabriel who was sent by God to tell her that she was to give birth to the son of God and she was to call him, Jesus. Mary had replied to the angle, “How can this come about, since I am a virgin,” (Luke 1:34). Luke’s gospel is the only one that shows us Marys true acceptance and surprise that she had being announced to be mother of Jesus and portrays Mary as prayerful and thoughtful. Luke then displays Mary's patience and then goes on to show her true faith and acceptance of the Lord and the task that he has sent upon her as she tells him, “I am the Lord’s servant,”- “May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:26-38) Mary is shown to display many virtues of strong faith and blinding obedience towards God and his wishes for her. Luke’s gospel is the only one that includes how while Mary was pregnant she then goes to stay with her cousin Elizabeth (who was to be the mother of John) for three months where as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's voice the baby inside her womb had leapt for joy and Elizabeth had been filled with the Holy Spirit telling Mary, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil his promises to her!” (Luke 1:39-45). This is showing the great faith and significance that Mary has towards the lord and it displays Mary's great anticipation and love towards God through singing the magnificent. Luke’s gospel shows a great detail of Mary's emotions and stories throughout her pregnancy and Jesus childhood in a greater amount of depth than in the other gospels. Mary gives birth to Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem, she describes throughout Luke’s gospel in great depth her emotions and stories throughout her pregnancy and Jesus childhood in a greater amount of depth than in the other gospels. Through this we are shown Mary's strong bond between herself and Jesus and her strong faith and love towards him, where she sticks by him and helps him through everything he goes through right up to his death on the cross. Mary displays many of the Christian virtues throughout Luke’s gospel. Mary's displays the virtues of great faith and love towards Jesus, having faith in everything he did through always believing in him and never doubting him, Mary always stuck by her faith and Jesus, providing him with all the love she could give and showing great love for God and his works. Mary's displays a large amount of trust, courage and acceptance in God and Jesus, accepting and trusting everything that they asked of her. She shows a large amount of courage in accepting the tasks that God asked her to do without hesitation and trusted in the future that he would provide for her. Mary is very significant throughout the gospels and these stories as she is displayed as a strong, courageous woman that raised Jesus to become the great man he was. She shows that she is a strong significant woman in the time of the Church and significantly becomes Jesus’ first disciple being his mother through always having such strong faith and believing in him. Mary is significant and courageous for she opposed the normal Jewish tradition of being an obedient, silent house wife who rarely expressed their opinions about religion or their beliefs, for through accepting God's requests and raising Jesus, Mary was significant through being very active in Jesus’ faith and stood by him. Mary helps to show the significance of standing by what you believe in regards of what others think and to never give up in what you love, many women in today’s world are too afraid to stand up for others and themselves and need the inspiration and encouragement to do so, which Mary inspirationally provides by example.
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene is mentioned throughout all of the gospels at being at the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus’. It is only in the gospel of Luke that she is mentioned in earlier stories where she is one of the several women that accompanied Jesus and his disciples when they travelled in Galilee. Mary Magdalene was a close friend and follower of Jesus and followed him throughout his journeys, standing by him. Mary Magdalene was there for Jesus at his crucifixion and his resurrection and was one of the woman mentioned in Luke to have discovered his empty tomb and believing that Jesus had resurrected. In the gospel of Luke Mary Magdalene was named as the woman who had been cured of her demons, “and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out,” (Luke 8:2). In later Christian tradition it was considered that the unnamed women who had many great sins who had washed Jesus’ feet at the Pharisee's house was to be Mary Magdalene, (Luke keeps the name of the woman unamended,). Jesus forgives her and releases her of all of her sins, and her tells her “Your sins are forgiven.”- “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7: 48-50). Jesus had forgiven Mary Magdalena for her sins and had cured her of her ‘demons’ and she set out to be a great follower and showed great discipleship towards him. The “Parable of the Lost Coin,” in (Luke 15:8-10) is the parable that Jesus tells about a woman who doesn’t give up on searching for her coin that is lost and once it is found she rejoices and praises the Lord and celebrates with all. This woman is similar to the story of Mary Magdalene for Mary was lost with sin but she kept onto her faith and searching for forgiveness until it was found. This woman showed the virtue of great faith like Mary Magdalene in believing in God to help them get through their troubled times. Mary Magdalene showed the virtues of courage, and great faith and belief in the Lord in going forth to Jesus and asking for her sins to be forgiven, and for following her faith in standing by Jesus and believing in all of his works even when times were hard, she stood by him. This also shows great love of the lord for she stood by Jesus and followed him through even when she did not know what was to come of it. She was there for Jesus witnessing his crucifixion on the cross and never gave up belief in him even at his death and his resurrection. Jesus shows forgiveness and human dignity towards Mary Magdalene curing her sins and accepting her without judgement, for he sees faith and love in everyone. This shows the message that the Lord will forgive all for their sins and will accept and love everyone. The significance of this message is that regardless of your gender and sins, your faith can save you and if have strong enough faith and acceptance of your sins you will always be forgiven by God.
Mary and Martha
Mary and Martha of Bethany are presented in the gospel of John with Lazarus but in Luke’s gospel in the story of Mary and Martha there is no mention of him. Jesus and his disciples were passing through a village when a woman called Martha invited him into her home. Martha began prepping for a meal and tidying the house for Jesus’s arrival while her sister Mary sat at Jesus’s feet, rubbing oils into them while listening to Jesus amongst his disciples. During this time, it was expected of Jewish women to be doing what Martha was which waiting on men and attending to the household chores and preparing meals. It was not thought highly upon for a woman to be listening and contributing to religious teachings. Martha was doing what had been expected of her during this time and had been annoyed at Mary for not contributing and she had asked Jesus, ““Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Luke10:40-41) and Jesus had replied saying, “you are worried and upset about many things, few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke10:41-42). This gospel story in Luke helps to show the meaning of how we are to prioritise our prayers before our chores, that faith always comes first. Martha and mainly Mary in this story displayed the virtue of strong belief and faith. Martha welcomed Jesus into their home and tried to be a good host towards him, trying to prepare a meal for him, she is showing her strong belief in the Jesus in inviting him into her home. Mary shown values of great love, courage and belief in Jesus as she goes against what is expected of her being a woman and chooses to sit as Jesus’ feet and listen to Jesus with the other disciples. Mary is showing discipleship towards Jesus and is being presented as a courageous woman for going against what is expected to do something that she believes is right. It also shows a great love and strong belief in the Lord and his works to do what she did. Jesus is showing the virtues of acceptance, patience and love as he accepts Mary for going against the expected and he shows love and patience towards Martha and her confusion and frustration as he kindly tells her that faith comes over chores. This story in Luke helps to show the significant message that women were important to the Catholic Church and that Jesus’ will show equality and compassion to everyone, for it was significant that Mary was not doing what was expected of her yet Jesus is not bothered by this or whether she is a women or a man she is accepted by him. The message in this story in Luke, was that our beliefs and prayers are to come first all the time. It was significant how Martha was performing the household, catering asks that women were to do at the time, yet Jesus tells her that she is to be like Mary and to go against what was thought of as normal and to put your faith first. Many people in today’s world prioritise chores and work over their beliefs and prayers, this story helps to reminded us that it is our faith and prayers that is important, that it will always be with us and we should make it our priority.
Dorcas
The story of Dorcas is located in Acts which was written by Luke. Luke continues the theme of showing women’s importance in the Catholic Church and that the works of God are for everyone throughout Acts. Dorcas was known for her all of her charitable good works and giving to all of those who were in need. The name Dorcas is Greek and is translated to Tabitha in Hebrew. Dorcas lived in Jaffa in the north of Jerusalem, where she performed many good acts for those in need, she would prepare food and make clothes for those in need and would tend to the sick. Her charitable events were known all throughout Jaffa. When Dorcas fell ill passed away the people of the village asked the apostle Peter to come and help them. Peter had knelt down by Dorcas’ body and prayed and told her “Tabitha arise,” (Acts 9:36-42) and Dorcas opened her eyes and sat up. This miracle resulted in helping a lot of people believe in Jesus. Dorcas was the only person who had been raised from the dead by an apostle. Dorcas displays the virtues of love and compassion for she went and helped everyone she could who was in need, regardless of who they were and what problem they had, she showed love towards all. She displayed faith, joyfulness and kindness throughout all of her acts of mercy and kindness and showed discipleship in her actions in doing what she believed was right in the eye of the Lord. This story helps to send out the message that Jesus works and miracles are for everyone and that he will help all. The significance of this message for this story is that it was a woman that was the only person to be brought back to life by an apostle. Luke shows high respect and importance towards women in this story and shows their significance towards Catholic Church.
Lydia
Lydia’s name is mentioned once throughout the bible which is in Acts by Luke. Lydia was from Thyatira then went and lived in Philippi where she sold dyed goods and traded in purple goods which was a luxury item at the time. Lydia was also a large believer and worshiper in God. Paul met Lydia while she was gathered with a group of women honouring the Sabbath (which likely meant that Lydia was Jewish) at a prayerful place by river out of Philippi. Lydia overheard Pauls words and they “opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” (Acts:16 14) Lydia became so overwhelmed and inspired by the gospel and Jesus that she became baptised and she invited Paul and the other missionaries to stay with her and the missionaries deemed Lydia to be a true believer of the Lord. Lydia showed the virtues of courage, love and faith for she was courageous enough to change her beliefs and faith. She showed great love for the lord and those around her by inviting the missionary's into her home and becoming baptised due to her strong beliefs in the Lord. This story in Acts by Luke helps to show the message of God's welcoming love towards everyone. The significance of this message is that God is showing welcoming love towards Lydia who is a women showing that his love and acts are for everyone regardless of their gender. It helps to tell us how God will always welcome us and be there for us, without it mattering whether we are a female or male or rich or poor.
Prisca
Prisca is found in Acts by Luke. Prisca was married to Aquila, where they were made tents. Prisca was a Christian missionary and was a church leader. They became good friends and missionary partners with the apostle Paul who lived with them for 18 months. “When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately,” (Acts 18:24-26) Prisca and Aquila had their house churches in three cities. Prisca played a dominant role as a missionary partner to Paul and was seen as an equal partner to her husband. Paul would often introduce Prisca first before he would introduce Aquila which helps to demonstrate how the couple was treated equally. The virtues that Prisca displayed is love and faith, she has a strong love for her faith and followed it wherever it leads her and she encouraged others to join. The message that it presents is that women were important in the Catholic Church. It shows the significance of Prisca as a women being introduced before her husband which shows that women are of high significance to God and that his works are for everyone and can be openly shown and done through everyone.
Through the actions and stories of these women and Luke showing the high significance of women throughout his gospel it has helped to shape the Church into a place that is more highly respective towards women, acknowledging their commitments and good works towards the church. The impact of these women’s lives have helped to shape the Catholic Church, for we are shown the significance of these women to the life of Jesus and how they had an important role in his life and the Church. Mary Magdalene was the first one who witnessed Jesus rising, this was very significant for a woman with such low status in the Jewish community at the time was the one who visited Jesus and showed her great love and commitment in him. The actions and stories of these women would have helped to inspire what the Catholic Church has become today and could have helped to shape the language of the Vatican II. The Vatican II council the language and running of the Catholic Church changed, where the Vatican II language changed from calling believers “men of God” to “people of God,” (Vatican II). This movement in the language of the Church, helped to show that the church had begun adapting to the importance of women and began allowing women to participate in masses. This was a large movement in the Catholic Church for women had not been allowed to contribute in masses and prayers before and it had only been for the role of men. Through the stories of Mary Magdalene and Mary and Martha, they had displayed the virtues of great faith and courage in going and praying with Jesus regardless of what had been the place of women during that time. The strong faith of Mary, washing Jesus’ feet and contributing to his discussions helps to inspire women today to be able to have masses with men and to be an active part in the Catholic Church society. I believe these would have helped impact in the movement of allowing women to participate in masses in the Catholic Church, for it displayed how Jesus is willing to accept and forgive and pray with everyone and that the works of God are displayed for everyone not just men and those who are wealthy. It helps to inspire women today to contribute in masses and perform reading for their stories and show how Jesus encouraged this contribution. As a woman in the Catholic Church today I help to show the virtues of faith of these women and am able to be inspired by them to perform readings in masses and help to contribute to them. The acts of these women I believe have helped to shape many dominant women in the Catholic Church over the years. For example, Catherine Mcauley and her acts of Faith and discipleship and mercy which has helped to influence our Catholic girls school each day. The Catholic Church today women are able to be heavily included and contribute to the Catholic Church today. They are able to help run and organise masses and do readings to everyone in the Church. Women are now able to have equal rights to men regarding communion and the sacrament in the Church and can take places in masses with men and not be separated. I believe that these women have helped to contribute to this. There are still some inequalities between women and the Catholic church for women are still unable in the Catholic tradition to become priests for only men are. But the movement of women in the Catholic Church over the decades has been very large and their commitment is forever growing and is great enough and through the ever developing Catholic Church I believe that women’s roles in the Catholic Church can only keep increasing and they could eventually be allowed to become priests of Catholic Churches. If it wasn’t for Mary, the mother of Jesus there would not be Catholic Churches today. If Mary had never given birth to Jesus we would not be where we are today, we catholic churches. Mary is known as “the mother of the church” and has helped to inspire many women’s commitment and places in the church today.