IN DEFENSE OF THE WOMAN
What caused women in Galilee to suffer most in the year 30 of the first century was their complete subjection to men within the patriarchal family. The husband could even divorce them at any time, abandoning them to their fate. This right was based, according to Jewish tradition, on nothing less than God’s law.
The teachers discussed the motives that could justify the husband’s decision. According to the followers of Shammai, they could only divorce the woman on grounds of adultery; according to Hillel, it was enough that the woman did something «disagreeable» in the eyes of her husband. While the male experts were debating, the women couldn’t raise their voice to defend their rights.
At one point, the debate reached Jesus: «Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?» His answer upset everyone. The women couldn’t believe it. According to Jesus, if divorce is in the law, it’s because of the «hardness of heart» of the men and their chauvinist mentality, but God’s original project wasn’t a «patriarchal» marriage dominated by the man.
God created man and woman so that they would be «one flesh». Both are called to share their love, intimacy, and their entire life, with equal dignity and in full communion. At this point, Jesus cries out: «What God has united, human beings must not divide» with their chauvinist attitude.
God wants a more dignified, safe and stable life for those wives subjected to and mistreated by men in the homes of Galilee. He can’t bless a structure that generates the superiority of the male and the subjection of the woman. After Jesus, no Christian will be able to legitimize with the Gospel anything that promotes discrimination, exclusion or submission of the woman.
In Jesus’ message there’s a teaching that’s exclusively directed to men so that they renounce their «hardness of heart» and promote more just and equal relationships between men and women. Where do you hear this message today? When is the Church calling men to this conversion? What are we followers of Jesus doing to revise and change behavior, habits, customs and laws that clearly go against God’s original will when God created man and woman?
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
