Holy Week Holy Women - On the way to the cross

Faith of Our Mothers 37

As we move toward Holy Week we find Jesus surrounded by women. This should not surprise us, since rituals around grieving, death and burial have been ‘women’s work’ in many cultures, including that in which we find Jesus.

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In these reflections, I will briefly introduce you to most of these women. This reflection will consider the women on the way to the cross, and in my next reflection I plan to consider the women at the cross and at the empty tomb.

I’ll include links to other resources where possible within our Faith of Our Mothers series or in my other writings.

The Levirate Widow - Luke 20:27-40, Matthew 22:23–33, Mark 12:18–27

As Luke anticipates the resurrection of Jesus he introduces readers to some people who don’t believe in resurrection. They bring Jesus a scenario that, to them, makes the idea of resurrection ridiculous. A women married a succession of brothers who all die before her. In the resurrection, they ask, whose wife will she be?

Their question reveals an underlying assumption that a woman is owned by her husband and that, if the resurrection were real, such ownership would go on for all eternity. Jesus dismissed both the overt cynicism and the underlying assumption. The eternal purposes of God do not make any room for the ownership of one person by another. All are the image of God.

You can find a reflection on the original Levirate widow, Tamar, here.

The Widow who Gave Everything - Luke 21:1-4, Mark 12:41–44

While everyone else was admiring the beauty of the temple buildings, Jesus was admiring the true beauty at the temple’s heart: a woman completely devoted to her God. You can preview a reflection on her here.

The Servant Who Identified Peter - Luke 22:56-57, Mathew 25:69–75; Mark 14:66–72; John 18:15–27

The story arc of Peter denying Jesus and being forgiven touches each of our hearts. We all know that, under such pressure, we might have denied Jesus too. We are all grateful for the assurance that we, too, can be forgiven when we fail to speak up for Jesus and for justice.

How do we feel about the woman who outed Peter, though? Do we see her as a trouble-maker who should have let Peter keep his failure in the shadows? Or do we celebrate her perceptive truth-telling?

How do we feel about women like her today who speak hard truths about male leaders in Christian ministry? Should they shut up because those men have done so much good work and, after all, everyone slips up sometimes? Or do we thank them for calling us all to greater integrity?

Pilate’s Wife - Matthew 27:19

As Pilate deliberates over the fate he will decree for Jesus, he receives word from his wife that he should have nothing to do with ‘that innocent man’. I’m looking forward to a reflection from a new (to us) author on this woman in July, so I won’t say anything other than this: in the middle of a rigged trial the one person who unequivocally declares Jesus’ innocence and seeks to avoid an appalling injustice is a woman who has no power other than her own suffering to use as a tool to try to persuade her husband.

Stations of the Cross

The 14 stations of the cross have been used as a devotional practice by Christians for centuries. Some are taken from Scripture. Some are taken from holy imagination. Three single out women from the crowds of spectators to Jesus’ humiliation. Links to reflections on these are here:

Jesus meets his mother

Veronica wipes Jesus’ face

The women of Jerusalem weep over Jesus

As we seek to prayerfully walk with Jesus on the way to the cross we stand in the presence of holy women who have walked that road before us.

So, let’s pray:

God of the way,
Who sees and celebrates
Overlooked kindnesses and stifled truths
To bring all hidden holiness to light,
Teach us, like our mothers before us,
To grieve with you, our suffering God,
To walk with you where no-one wants to go,
And to walk and grieve and celebrate
With all our suffering sisters
On that road. Amen

Rev Dr Margaret Wesley serves as parish priest at St Paul’s, Ashgrove, and Area Dean in Brisbane North West. Having begun her ministry in a diocese that does not ordain women, she served the church as a Bible teacher, Spiritual director, retreat facilitator, poet and liturgist since long before she was ordained. In serving the Anglican church across three dioceses, she has struggled to be a person of peace in a fractured and fractious church. Like most of us, her heart is broken in many directions over the violence in the world, in society, in Australia’s homes and in Australia’s history, so she is always looking for ways to promote peace and wholeness.

Margaret is the editor and instigator of Faith of our Mothers, and has another Substack blog for her sermons, prayers and poetry.

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