Today’s QQ: Reexamining “The Disciples”: Did Jesus Recruit Women Disciples?
This week a Christian woman posted on Instagram that for most of her life she never heard the term “disciple” used to describe a female in the Bible. Does her experience sync with yours? It does with mine. I remember being surprised to learn that when we see “the disciples” in the Bible, we shouldn’t assume it means “the Twelve,” the twelve males Jesus hand-picked (Luke 6:13). Many other disciples also traveled with, learned from, and were sent out by Jesus.Is there evidence that Jesus also recruited female disciples? Yes, yes there is. First, we’ll begin by defining the term. The Greek word mathētés is translated into English as “a disciple.” According to Strong’s Concordance, mathētés describes “a learner; a disciple; a follower of Christ.” The gospel of Matthew gives us more context about a mathētés.
Scriptures: “Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother and who are my brothers?’ And pointing toward his disciples [mathētés] he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother’” (Matt 12:48–50, NET).
Here in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is in Galilee healing the sick and teaching to a large crowd. He receives a message that his mother and brothers are waiting for him. Jesus then responds with familial language to describe what his disciples look like, and how they are to function. His description is clear: A disciple of Jesus, whether female or male, acts according to the Father’s will. Rather than being defined by gender, Jesus’s disciples are recognized by their active and obedient faith.
Next, in Luke’s gospel we meet the female disciples who traveled with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem.
Scriptures: “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means” (Luke 8:1-3).
Each of the four gospels describe women “with Jesus” during his ministry. Luke gives details about three individual women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna, and “some [unnamed] women” who traveled with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem. They also financially supported Jesus and the Twelve “out of their own means.” Mary Magdalene is one of the most well-known female disciples. She was among the women witnesses to Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection. The first witness commissioned by Jesus “to tell” her brothers that she had seen the risen Lord. Chuza’s wife Joanna, a woman with significant political and social status, had the autonomy to deploy her wealth as she desired.
It was the women, not the men, that had the financial resources to supply the needs of Jesus and his traveling band of disciples. This passage challenges assumptions that all women in this era stayed home and didn’t have agency.
In his account of Jesus’s burial, Luke describes how Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and other women went to Jesus’s tomb to prepare his body with spices. Upon entering his empty tomb, the women were greeted by two angels saying, “He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again’” (24:1–10). Jesus had explained to the women, the same message he also told the Twelve, that he was going to suffer, die, and rise from the dead. Richard Bauckham, in Gospel Women, writes, “Luke makes clear that these women disciples were constant companions of Jesus from an early stage of the Galilean ministry.”
In his book Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church, Nijay Gupta writes, “We might do better to think about Jesus’ followers and disciples in tiered categories or concentric circles. The smallest circle would be the Twelve… Then there appears to be a wider group that Jesus taught and who interacted with him on a regular basis. And the outermost circle would be the fickle crowds that come and go. Women were not part of the Twelve, but they were certainly part of the middle group.”
We’ve journeyed from Galilee to Jerusalem. In our final scriptural stop, we’ll travel to Joppa.
Scriptures: “Now in Joppa there was a disciple [mathētria] named Tabitha (which in translation means Dorcas). She was continually doing good deeds and acts of charity” (Acts 9:36).
In Acts 9:36–43, Luke provides a brief synopsis of the significance of Tabitha, both before and after Peter resurrected her from the dead. He identifies her as a “mathētria,” using the feminine form of the Greek word for “disciple.”
Tabitha “continually” served the vulnerable in her community, the widows, including making clothes for them. Many of these widows and others were on hand to mourn her passing. She was so loved that other disciples sent urgently for Peter, who was nearby in Lydda. Peter raised Tabitha to life, and as a result “many believed in the Lord” (v 43). Tabitha modeled a life of discipleship in action.
Scholar’s Views: In rare symmetry, egalitarians and complementarians agree that Jesus had female disciples.
Egalitarians affirm that Jesus had female disciples.
Complementarians acknowledge that “women participated in His [Jesus’s] life and ministry” [see RBMW, 118], though the term “disciple” is infrequently used to describe Jesus’s female followers.In her article for TheGospel Coalition, Rebecca McLaughlin writes, “Did Jesus have female disciples? Yes, he absolutely did. The women Luke mentions in Luke 8:1–3 are among “those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word” (Luke 1:2). And 2,000 years later, wherever the Gospels are read all over the world, their stories are told.”
Key Takeaways: Jesus had female disciples, and they made significant contributions to his ministry.
- Reimagine who “the disciples” are when reading the biblical text. “The disciples” doesn’t always equate to “the Twelve.”
- Learn about the women disciples, who are role models of belief and faith. They embraced a life of service (see Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna who left their homes to minister alongside Jesus), welcomed the least among them (see Tabitha who cared for widows), shared the gospel (read the story of Priscilla and Apollos, Acts 18), and willingly “take up their cross” (read about Junia who was imprisoned with Paul, Rom 16).
- Preach and teach the Bible stories of women. Silence their voices no longer.
- Jesus was revolutionary in his inclusion of women as his disciples. Be like Jesus!
Related Reading: I highly recommend Holly Carey’s book Women Who Do.
Richard Bauckham, Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels, (2002).
James A. Borland, “Women in the Life and Teachings of Jesus,” in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, John Piper and Wayne Grudem, eds. (1991).
Holly J. Carey, Women Who Do: Female Disciples in the Gospels, (2023).
Nijay K. Gupta, Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church (2023), 62–67.Rebecca McLaughlin, “Did Jesus Have Female Disciples?” The Gospel Coalition, May 25, 2022. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/female-disciples/
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Process of Theodora, Ravenna, Italy.
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Until next time,
