Please don't "Pick Me". For I am already chosen.
For My Fellow Chosen Women
Maybe we are posessed by seven (or more) demons.
Because, Let's be real for a second.
If you look at how religion is sometimes packaged today, it’s easy to feel like you have to have your entire life color coordinated and perfectly filtered to be worthy of a seat in the pew. The religious elite of Jesus’s day... Yeah, the Pharisees... They were the exact same way. They had the fancy robes, the perfect theology on paper, and an obsession with who was allowed in and who was kept out.
But if you actually read the Gospels...
You will see that Jesus didn’t spend His time validating the people who had it all together. When He was looking for the world changing, making history kind of faith, He didn't go to the religious establishment.
Why don't you actually read the damn book?
He actually went to the women who had the audacity to believe in themselves and their right to approach Him.
Imagine dodging the local "mean girls" so badly that you go to draw water in the blazing heat of noon just to be left alone.
Because... That was the Woman at the Well.
She was a Samaritan (already despised by the religious elite) and an outcast in her own town because of her messy relationship history with two different men (sadly relatable).
A "proper" religious teacher wasn’t even supposed to make eye contact with her, let alone speak to her in public.
But Jesus didn’t just speak to her. He sat down and had the longest, deepest, one-on-one theological conversation recorded in the entire New Testament with her.
He didn't hand the truth of His identity to the Pharisees in the temple.
No. He handed it to an outcast woman getting water.
Because she had the audacity to debate with Him, ask questions, and believe Him, she dropped her water jar, went back to the town that shunned her, and successfully evangelized the entire city.
Then you have the bleeding woman.
For twelve years, this woman bled. Under the strict religious laws of the day, that made her "ceremonially unclean." She wasn’t allowed in the temple. She wasn't allowed to be touched. She was supposed to stay hidden.
But she believed in her own worthiness to be healed so fiercely that she broke the rules. She pushed her way through a massive, suffocating crowd just to touch the hem of His clothes.
When Jesus felt the power leave Him, He stopped everything. He didn't scold her for breaking religious law or making Him "unclean." He stopped the crowd, looked at her, and validated her breaking a major social boundary, audacious faith in front of everyone and said,
"Daughter, your faith has healed you."
And, Never forget. Mary Magdalene. The Apostle of Apostles.
When the religious establishment conspired to crucify Jesus, the rules didn't save Him. And when things got dangerous, almost all of His male disciples, the ones who were supposed to build the church, all fled in fear.
But Mary?
Mary Magdalene stayed.
This was a woman who had previously been "possessed by seven demons",
completely marginalized by society.
But because of her fierce devotion, she was the one who showed up at the tomb on Sunday morning.
Jesus could have appeared to the high priests to prove them wrong. He could have appeared to Peter first.
Instead, He chose Mary. He trusted a woman with a messy past to be the very first witness to the resurrection, giving her the most important message in human history to carry back to the men.
The beautiful truth is that Jesus has never required a perfect attendance record or a spotless reputation. He looks for the girls who have been pushed to the margins but still have the courage to reach out.
He believes in the women who believe in themselves enough to ask for the living water, reach for the hem, and stay at the tomb.