What is the writer’s intent and use of significant women characters within the Gospel of John? The fourth Gospel provides multiple interactions that Jesus had with women while giving the reader an understanding of Jesus’ relationships with a marginalized group within this culture and time: “Women characters play significant roles in the Gospel of John in ways unparalleled in the other canonical Gospels.” (Newsom) These significant appearances make scholars wonder what women represent in this Gospel and the importance of including these interactions. John covers the encounters that Jesus had with Mary Magdalene, the Samaritan woman, Mary of Bethany, and Martha. These interactions are used by John to offer insights into Jesus’ teachings, relationships, and attitudes toward women. By breaking down the historical, social, and religious context, we can better understand John’s motive and use of women in his Gospel. Men do not have a monopoly on witness and discipleship in John, but rather, the author of John narrates a world of faith that would not exist without women’s participation, according to Newman.
Before starting, it is crucial to understand that the author of the Gospel of John is anonymous. The church assigned the name “John” to this Gospel. Its author was identified as the apostle John by the church, yet there is no evidence to suggest that this apostle truly wrote the Gospel (Newman). The Gospel of John does not clearly indicate its place of composition, yet it is written in Greek, which was spoken throughout the Mediterranean world. John is the least reliable for establishing historical Jesus. Therefore, we must go in realizing that most things within the Gospel cannot be considered historically accurate. During the time of Jesus, it is true that women were generally viewed as inferior by men. There were a few exceptions in philosophical schools, like the Epicureans and the Cynics, which advocated for the equality of women, according to Ehrman. There were likely few Epicureans or Cynics in Jesus’ immediate area of Palestine. The available sources suggest that women in the mentioned region of the Roman Empire were subject to even more significant limitations on their social activities. This refers to when women are outside the home and away from the authority of their fathers or husbands. (Erhman) The Gospel of John includes multiple interactions of women breaking the boundaries of society. This blog will analyze the Good Samaritan Woman’s and Mary Magdalene’s significant appearances in the Gospel of John to understand the writer’s intent through the writing style and historical context.
In John 4, Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman and engages in conversation. In the story, the Good Samaritan Woman is at a well and asks for a drink of water after his journey to Sychar. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (John 4:9). At the time of Jesus, Jews and Samaritans were bitter enemies. (Newsom) The conflict between them arose due to a disagreement over the correct location of the cultic place of worship, a matter that the Samaritan woman herself brought up with Jesus. There are not only gender barriers but also cultural barriers, which the author conveys even more when Jesus considers drinking from the Samaritan Woman’s vessel. In the story, Jesus says that she would ask for living water, which would quench her thirst forever if she knew who he was. The woman asks for such water, and Jesus explains eternal life and about a time of worship coming where locations will not limit you. The writer explains that she has recognized Jesus as the Messiah and gone on to spread it. She then converted her five sisters and two sons, according to the author. The writer shows Jesus ignoring the strict rules governing male-female interaction when engaging in conversation to send a possible lesson on treating everyone with love.
The conversation can be striking as the author shows Jesus, a Jewish man, seeking dialogue with a woman of Samaritan descent. The writer is able to demonstrate how salvation is for all people. Whether it be Jews and Gentiles or men and women. (Lawrence) In a religious context, the author demonstrates how it is not beyond a Woman’s intellectual capacity to recognize the Messiah and have a spiritual understanding. The Samaritan Woman was able to understand, receive, and then spread Jesus’ revelation within the context of this story. The apostolic role shown by the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well points to the value Jesus placed on women in the first century. John uses these women in his Gospel to serve and tell others about the Messiah. With an understanding of the religious context, it is essential to take a broad view and consider the validity of this story. Erhman notes the difficulty of applying the criterion of dissimilarity to traditions about Jesus’ involvement with women. Some early Christians were committed to elevating the status of women in the church. People such as this may have invented some such traditions themselves. (Ehrman) Based on the appearance of women in John compared to the other synoptic Gospels, it is likely that the writer of John was one of those early Christians.
The account of ministry with the Samaritan community is the only one found in the historical account. Many historians believe it is a post-resurrection inclusion in the text to show the importance of the Gentile community. There is little evidence that Jesus undertook a ministry in the Samaritan region during his life, as proposed by Schneidler. Given that, it is suggested that the encounter in John 4 is not a historical event. This story in John is the only account of Jesus traveling in Samaria and interacting with Samaritans while in the region in any of the Gospels. The author places importance on Christ’s mission in Samaria and ministry with the Gentile community throughout the story. Considering that, Schneider also suggests that this narrative is a later inclusion because of this reading. In this regard, the woman at the well would be representative of the entire Samaritan community rather than anything historical. According to Lawrence, “The intention of the author of the Fourth Gospel is clear: Jesus’ message of love and redemption is for both the Jewish and the Gentile communities, and women are vital to the proclamation of the Gospel.” Since we see historically that the author chose to use a woman in this story, it was likely an intentional decision by the writer to emphasize their message of Jesus’ love further.
Like the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in John 4, the Gospel writer elevates the status of women in John 20 when describing Mary Magdalene. She is the only person to whom Jesus first appeared after his death and resurrection. The author mentions Mary Magdalene first in the Gospel during Jesus’ crucifixion, “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” (John 19:25). Whether intentional or not, the author’s writing of this story highlights Mary’s loyal and loving relationship with Jesus through extreme circumstances. “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.” (John 19:26-27). According to Newsom, the precise symmetry of Jesus’ words by the author reinforces that both Mary and the beloved disciple function as symbolic figures for followers. Newsom also points out that in the synoptic Gospels, the women watch Jesus’ death from afar, but in John, they stand near the cross, so close that Jesus can talk to Mary. Once again, through this, we see the author’s decision to give women prominent roles in the Gospel of John. It can be interpreted that the author believed this relationship to be important based on Mary’s detail and significant role within the story. The central relationship once again portrays Jesus and a woman. Again, this shows the author’s intention to emphasize Jesus’ love message within the Gospel through a long and significant interaction.
All four Gospels share the detail that women went to Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning. As John is known to feature many prominent female characters, we see the story of Mary Magdalene in chapter 20 as the most detailed of the four synoptics of women at Jesus’ tomb (Newsom). In John, Mary stood outside the tomb crying and then went inside, seeing two angles in white. They asked why she was crying, and she responded that they had taken her Lord away, “At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.” (John 20:14). She recognized Jesus voice calling her name, and then entrusted her to spread the news that she has witnessed his resurrection, saying “Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” (John 20:17). The author’s writing of this account, highlights Mary’s ability to recognize Jesus simply on the way he calls her name, and their strong relationship in religious context. We know that John was written last of the synoptics, but somehow writes in the most detail. Lawrence notes that similar to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, the Gospel writer adds and elevates the status of women in John 20. The writer does this by describing Mary Magdalene as the only person to whom Jesus first appeared after his death and resurrection. The manner in which the writer “recounts” Mary Magdalene in this story intentionally elevates the role of her and women in the Gospel.
To support the idea of the writer’s intentional use of women, we must look into them. According to Newman, “Much like the audience for Revelation, the community that read the Gospel of John was faced with a complex set of social choices: to stay in the synagogue as a member of a religious group officially recognized by the Roman Empire and thereby avoid the empire’s fresh scrutiny; to stay in the synagogue and also worship with Jewish Christians privately, outside of imperial view and safe from imperial sanction; to break with the synagogue, worship openly, and take the imperial consequences.” The Gospel of John believes that the third option was the only real choice, and the writer shows that choice throughout the Gospel through the use of stark terms. Like the author of Revelation, John doesn’t have much patience with those who take what he perceives to be the safe course. The writer calls his readers through the Gospel to do exactly what Jesus did and to show one’s faith and love of God publicly. So far as even if the cost is execution at the hands of Rome. Given the historical viewpoint of this Gospel writer, we see the values of resistance. The viewpoint can easily explain the writer’s reasoning for challenging social structure and the readers, choosing and showing women in prominent roles throughout the Gospel.
After looking into the Gospel and the historical understanding of its writer, it can be concluded that the author of John had a very significant yet subtly shown understanding of feminine religious experience. The knowledge about Christian women who played significant roles in the community of the Fourth Evangelist was likely based on their actual experiences rather than being a product of an active literary imagination. This historical information is supported by Brown’s research. No woman is portrayed as rejecting Jesus, doubting, abandoning, or betraying him by the Gospel’s writer. The author of the Fourth Gospel presents women positively and in intimate relation to Jesus in both stories that were examined. This is in sharp contrast to men who are frequently presented as vain, hypocritical, unbelieving, or thoroughly evil, according to Schneider. By noticing and understanding the writer’s intentional resistance to the Greco-Roman patriarchal norms of society throughout history, we now know the reasoning for the author’s intentional use of women in the Gospel.
Bibliography:
Schneiders, S. M. (1982). Women in the Fourth Gospel and the Role of Women in the Contemporary Church. Biblical Theology Bulletin, 12(2), 35-45.
Newsom, Carol A. (Carol Ann), et al. Women’s Bible Commentary / Carol A. Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, and Jacqueline E. Lapsley, Editors. Third edition, Twentieth anniversary edition, Revised and Updated., Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.
New International Version. Biblica, 2011. BibleGateway.com,
Poole, Olivia Lawrence. “Women Who Proclaim in the Gospel of John: John 4 and John 20 as Paradigms of Women’s Proclamation and Leadership for the Contemporary Church.” WOMEN WHO PROCLAIM IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN: JOHN 4 AND JOHN 20 AS PARADIGMS OF WOMEN’S PROCLAMATION AND LEADERSHIP FOR THE CONTEMPORARY CHURCH, 1 Jan. 1970
Ehrman Bart D. The New Testament a Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. Seventh ed. Oxford University Press 2020.
Nortjé, S. J. “The Role of Women in the Fourth Gospel.” Neotestamentica, vol. 20, 1986, pp. 21–28. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43049067. Accessed 17 Nov. 2023.
Derrenbacker, Robert A., et al., editors. The Enduring Impact of the Gospel of John : Interdisciplinary Studies / Edited by Robert A. Derrenbacker Jr., Dorothy A. Lee, and Muriel Porter, Foreword by Francis J. Moloney, SDB. Wipf & Stock, 2022.