Open AccessJesus and women.
The patriarchal view of reality in first-century Mediterranean culture wasbased on a disparity between man and woman. It was a hierarchical system in which man was considered to be above woman, as God is above human beings. In the world of Jesus a woman would be represented before God by the patriarch. This article illustrates how Jesus' words and deeds did not mirror the values of his culture as far as the importance and role of the patriarchal family were concerned. Jesus, words and deeds were unconvenional within a strict purity system. Jesus used family imagery when speaking about the kingdom of God, but he meant a different type of family than the physical family according to cultural conventions. His non-patriarchal interaction with women was an example and a consequence of his culture critique.