There is something I want us to look at very carefully, because sometimes we read the words of an apostle and automatically place them beside the words of Jesus as though they carry exactly the same authority. But I don’t do that. My standard is Jesus. Period. So when I read what Paul says about women, I have to look at what Paul says, and then I have to look at Jesus. Not what the church says Jesus meant. Not what tradition says Paul meant. Jesus. Period.
Paul has quite a bit to say about what women are supposed to do and how women are supposed to conduct themselves. That was his pharisaic training. He never really left it behind when he was converted. In 1 Corinthians 11, he tells women that when they pray or prophesy, they are to have their heads covered. He reasons from the order of creation, saying that the man is the head of the woman and that the woman is the glory of the man. He then argues that a woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, “For if a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut off or shaved, she should cover her head,” 1 Corinthians 11:5-6. Notice what is happening here. Paul is not telling women they cannot pray or prophesy. He accepts that they are doing these things. But he is telling them how they are to appear while doing them.
Then Paul goes further. He says that man was not created from woman, but woman from man, and that man was not created for woman, but woman for man, “For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man,” 1 Corinthians 11:8-9. That is a very specific argument about the position of women in relation to men. Paul does later say that men and women are not independent of one another and that everything comes from God, “Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For just as woman came from man, so also man is born through woman. And everything comes from God,” 1 Corinthians 11:11-12. But the restrictions are still there. Paul is establishing an order, and the woman is being told where she belongs within that order. Like they are second class citizens.
Then we come to 1 Corinthians 14, where Paul tells women to remain silent in the assemblies and says that they are not permitted to speak, but are to be in submission, “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says,” 1 Corinthians 14:34. Whatever explanation someone gives for that passage, those are Paul’s words. And they stand in an interesting tension with his earlier acknowledgment that women pray and prophesy.
Paul says something similar in his letter to Timothy. He tells women to learn quietly and submissively, and then says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; she must remain quiet,” 1 Timothy 2:12. He then bases his reasoning on Adam being formed first and Eve being deceived, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a transgressor,” 1 Timothy 2:13-14. So here again, Paul connects what women are allowed to do with the creation account and the actions of Eve.
Paul also gives instructions about the kind of life women should live. Older women are to teach younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, busy at home, kind, and submissive to their husbands, “Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to submit to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God,” Titus 2:4-5. There is nothing wrong with loving a husband, loving children, being pure, being kind, or caring for a home. Those are all good things. But notice the direction of the instruction. Paul is defining a woman’s proper sphere and placing submission to her husband within that definition.
Now, I want to be fair to Paul. He was not incapable of recognizing women as fellow workers. He mentions Phoebe and commends her to the believers. He speaks highly of Priscilla. He calls women coworkers in the work of the Lord. He recognizes women who labored alongside him in the Gospel. So I am not saying that Paul simply hated women or thought women had no value. That would not be an honest reading of everything Paul wrote.
But value and equality are not always treated as the same thing. A person can recognize someone’s value while still placing boundaries around what that person is permitted to do. And that is what I see when I read Paul’s instructions concerning women. There are places where he gives women a spiritual role, but then places limits around that role. There are places where he calls women coworkers, but there are also places where he tells women to be silent, to submit, to learn quietly, not to teach men, and to remain within a prescribed order.
Now let’s turn to Jesus.
Where did Jesus tell women to cover their heads when they prayed? He didn’t.
Where did Jesus tell women that they were not permitted to teach men? He didn’t.
Where did Jesus tell women to remain silent in the assembly? He didn’t.
Where did Jesus tell women that they were created for men? He didn’t.
Where did Jesus establish a religious rule that a woman’s outward appearance must demonstrate her submission to a man? He didn’t.
Instead, look at what Jesus actually did.
Jesus spoke to women openly. He taught women. He listened to women. He allowed women to question Him. He allowed women to learn from Him. He accepted women as followers and disciples. He did not treat women as though they had to stand at a lower spiritual level simply because they were women.
When Martha came to Jesus, He did not tell her, “Go back to the kitchen because that is your place.” Instead, He defended Mary’s decision to sit at His feet and learn from Him, “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her,” Luke 10:42. Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, which was the position of a learner, and Jesus did not send her away because she was a woman.
When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, He did not tell her that theology was a man’s business. He spoke to her about worship, the Father, the coming Messiah, and truth. He revealed something astonishing to her, “I who am speaking to you, I am he,” John 4:26. And what happened afterward? She went into the city and told the people about Jesus.
Jesus did not say, “You are a woman, so nobody needs to hear what you have to say.”
He let her speak.
Jesus also accepted women as part of the group that followed Him and supported His ministry. Luke records that women traveled with Jesus and the twelve and provided for them from their own resources, “These women were helping to support them out of their own means,” Luke 8:3. Jesus did not establish a rule that women could follow Him only at a distance or serve Him only in silence.
And then we come to the resurrection.
After Jesus rose from the dead, who did He choose to carry thefirst message that He was alive? Women.
Mary Magdalene encountered the risen Jesus, and Jesus told her to go and tell His brothers, “Go instead and tell my brothers, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God,’ John 20:17. Then Mary went and announced to the disciples that she had seen the Lord, “Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her,” John 20:18. They didn’t believer… because she was a woman, perhaps?
Think about that.
Jesus could have appeared first to Peter. He could have appeared first to John. He could have chosen one of the male disciples to carry the first testimony of His resurrection. But He chose Mary. A woman.
And He did not tell her, “You are a woman, so you cannot carry this message.”
He gave her the message.
She carried it.
She spoke it.
And the message was true.
That is Jesus.
Jesus repeatedly pushed past the religious boundaries that people had built around human beings. He did not measure a person’s worth by social position, sex, wealth, religious status, or outward appearance. He looked at the heart. He spoke truth to people. He treated people as people.
And that brings me back to Paul’s instructions.
If Paul says a woman must cover her head because of her position as a woman, I look at Jesus.
If Paul says a woman must remain silent in the assembly, I look at Jesus.
If Paul says a woman must not teach or exercise authority over a man, I look at Jesus.
If Paul establishes a particular order in which the woman is placed under the man, I look at Jesus.
And I ask one simple question:
Where did Jesus say that?
Not, “Can somebody find a way to explain it?”
Not, “What does church tradition say?”
Not, “How can we make Paul and Jesus agree?”
Where did Jesus say that?
Because Jesus is the unchanging standard I follow.
Jesus Himself warned people about taking religious traditions and putting them in the place of God’s command. He said, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions,” Mark 7:8. That warning matters. Religious people have always had a tendency to build rules around God’s Word, and then eventually the rules become more important than the people. They literally put God in a box.
Jesus did not come to put women “in their place.” He came to bring people to God.
He did not look at the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years and tell her that her condition made her unworthy to approach Him. She reached out and touched His garment, and Jesus stopped for her. He spoke to her, listened to her, and called her “daughter,” “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace,” Mark 5:34.
He did not push women away.
He brought them near.
He did not silence them.
He listened to them.
He did not tell them they were spiritually inferior.
He taught them.
And He did not make a woman’s head covering the measure of her righteousness.
He even told ME how to do something I was working on!!!
So when I read 1 Corinthians 11, I am not going to pretend that Paul’s words sound like Jesus’ words. They don’t.
Paul gives an argument about order, headship, appearance, honor, shame, creation, and submission. Jesus gives us something different. Jesus shows us, by His own actions, that women are capable of learning, following, serving, speaking, witnessing, and carrying the truth of God.
Paul may have had reasons for saying what he said. We can examine those reasons. We can study the culture, the language, the circumstances, and the particular problems Paul was addressing. But none of that changes my standard.
Jesus.
Not Jesus and Paul.
Not Jesus and tradition.
Not Jesus and the church.
Jesus.
And when I have to decide what kind of treatment, conduct, and spiritual freedom reflects the heart of God, I am going to look at the One who showed me the Father.
Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father,” John 14:9.
That’s enough for me.
Jesus. Period.
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Prayer:
Holy Father, I worship You and praise You for who You are. You are holy, righteous, faithful, and true. I praise You for sending your only Jesus to show us Your heart and to lead us into truth. Thank You for giving me Jesus, not merely as my Savior, but as my example, my teacher, and my only standard.
Father God, help me keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. When I hear teachings from people, help me measure them by what Jesus taught and how He lived. Give me courage to recognize the difference when I see it, and wisdom not to add to His words or take anything away from them. Help me never place tradition, religion, or the words of any person above the words and example of Your Son.
Thank You for the way Jesus treated people with truth, mercy, dignity, and love. Thank You that He did not place women beneath men, but welcomed them, taught them, listened to them, and trusted them with His message. Help me follow His example with the same freedom and love.
I want Jesus. Nothing added. Nothing taken away. Jesus, period.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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Don’t take my word for it. Like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, search the Scriptures daily to see whether these things are so. Open your Bible, study God’s Word for yourself, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth. Don’t simply accept my conclusions. If what I’ve written agrees with Scripture, hold fast to it. If it doesn’t, let God’s Word be your final authority.
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© AMKCH 2026
image done by imagefree at my direction.
If any of these people looks like you or someone you know, that is purely coincidental. They are not.
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