Jesus and Women In the first-century world, the way Jesus
treated women was considered revolutionary. When she became a
teenager, her father made the arrangements. This was the custom
of the times. Mary would be married to a carpenter, Joseph, the
son of Heli. From birth, Mary’s role in life was set, for she
was born female to a Jewish family. Yet her role in history was
to be extraordinary. God chose her to be the mother of Jesus.
Woman of courage When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, she was
initially troubled by what the angel’s appearance might mean.
The angel reassured her, explaining that she was the one chosen
to be the mother of Jesus. “How will this be,” Mary asked the
angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the
Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a
child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in
her sixth month. For nothing is