Season 5, Episode 16: Reading between the Lines: Women Restored

In both of these stories, women encounter Jesus and they are not defined by what their culture says should keep them separate. In both stories, there is no judgment from Jesus to the women; the judgment comes from others in the story - the scribes, the Pharisees, the disciples - those who were trying so hard to be faithful to God and how they understood scripture that they missed the opportunity to extend grace and build relationships where centuries of prejudice and assumption had separated them.

Each of these stories is important because they remind us that God is already on the other side of whatever dividing lines we draw between us and others. And, that God’s grace is not limited by any decision someone must make in order to secure financial security or food for another day. These stories call us to widen the nets of grace and mercy, to look for the places where inequity exists. How can we be part of a solution that brings about wholeness to a group of people who are being excluded because of the rules another group has set up?

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