Women and Jesus in Mark

Book excerpt: From her unique position as a Japanese feminist theologian, Hisako Kinukawa provides readers with an intriguing new perspective on the encounters between women and Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. 'Women and Jesus in Mark' explores the meaning not only of those episodes in their context, but from the perspective of the author's own context as a contemporary Japanese Christian. In the world of the New Testament, impenetrable walls of religion and culture separated the sexes and structured a rigidly patriarchal culture. As 'Women and Jesus in Mark' points out, then, the women who approached Jesus--the hemorrhaging woman, the Syrophoenician woman, the anointing woman, as well as those who followed him--risked severe sanction for what must have been considered scandalous behavior. Kinukawa asks how their encounters with Jesus--and especially his responses--reflect the central message of Mark. 'Women and Jesus in Mark' contends that it is the interaction of biblical women with Jesus that draws from him the most fully liberating implications of the gospel.