On Jesus as Mother

Transcript from presentation given 01 June 2020

María Cristina Gómez – image was inspiration for topic Jesus as Mother

The question posed is ‘Who is Jesus Christ for us today?’ This question has
various answers depending on a person’s context, but in any case the answer will
reflect who we are. Feminist theologian Julie Hopkins writes of the importance of
aligning our Christian faith with our own life stories, and as such, Jesus Christ for me
is Mother. Jesus Christ is me. This is not to suggest that I am Christ-like, but rather
that my human characteristics as a mother are shared by and reflected in Christ. To
highlight my position on who Jesus Christ is, I will look first to Scripture, then
address a tradition put forth by Julian of Norwich, and finally reflect on my
experience in conversation with a few feminist and womanist theologians.

The biblical text that I want to draw from is Galatians 3:28. Paul explains
through Christ ‘…there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ
Jesus.’ We can pull from this verse that Christ is not divided by sex. This does not
mean that the historical Jesus of Nazareth was not male. It can be indisputably agreed
that Jesus was historically a man born in Bethlehem and crucified in Jerusalem. But
Jesus the Christ, the second person of the trinity, is representative of all humanity. As
such, in the same way that the Godhead, the first person of the trinity, is often
described as having no sex, then Christ, being divine and representing all humanity, is
also sexless. The verse from Galatians shows that you do not have to be a Middle
Eastern, Jewish man to be saved in Christ, and shows that I, as a White, Christian
mother, can identify with Christ in my context.

At this point I should underscore that my context is one with a fair amount of
privilege, and my ideas surrounding Motherhood are from a White, Western, Middle
Class perspective. I recognise that not everyone will have the same experience with
the context of Mother, but for me and others who share my identity this can be a
helpful, and even empowering image of Christ. Julian of Norwich described the trinity
as Fatherhood, Motherhood, and Lordship, identifying Jesus Christ as Mother with the
characteristics of mercy, wisdom, restoring, saving, and wit. She looked to the
parallel of a mother feeding her child with milk to nurture their physical wellbeing as
Jesus feeds us through the Eucharist with body and blood to nurture our spiritual
wellbeing. The characteristics of a loving mother as shown by Jesus Christ are caring,
nurturing, and self-sacrificing. Christ sacrificed his body to give us life, and biological
mothers sacrifice their body to give their children life. This conversation can get
complicated and problematic concerning societal expectations of motherhood, but
whether or not it is right for mothers to sacrifice body, mind, and spirit for their
children, it is still a lived experience of many mothers, myself included.

Speaking of experience, I now turn to the experience of some feminist and
womanist theologians. Daphne Hampson proclaims that feminism and Christology are
incompatible and that Christianity itself has been harmful to women. Hampson holds
that since the centre of Christology is the man Jesus Christ, it goes against feminism.
She believes having a man at the centre of your religion and then calling that man
God disadvantages women and encourages the subjugation of women in that religion.
Although it is true that Jesus Christ was a man, I think Hampson ignores the
distinctiveness of the two natures of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was both fully human
and fully divine. It is not the human that is worshipped by Christians today, but the
Messiah who came to save all of humanity regardless of sex or any other attributes.

Hopkins critiques Hampson by suggesting it is not necessary to believe in the
divinity of Jesus Christ to be Christian. But by removing the divinity of Christ, I
think Hopkins removes the opportunity for people to identify with Jesus Christ. If we
only look at the humanity of Jesus, then we can only see Jesus as that Middle Eastern,
Jewish man. To find Jesus in our own life stories, we have to view him as Christ, the
second person of the one God. This is the path to seeing Jesus as Dread, Jesus as
Mother, Jesus as us.

Returning to Hopkins, although she has no issue with Jesus Christ the man
being at the centre of Christianity, she does take issue with traditional Christology due
to its language. She expresses alienation by the idea of a male Lord held over us
women. ButMercy Amba Oduyoye reminds us that Jesus Christ practiced inclusion
as a norm for his ministry. As such, the maleness of Jesus is not important to Christ. It
has been used as a weapon to exclude and abuse women, but that is not the message
Jesus Christ ever displayed. Oduyoye focuses on Jesus’ victory over death as opposed
to people. Jesus did not mean for his message to be used in an effort to restrict anyone
– male nor female.

In this sense, the message of Jesus is not so much about sacrifice as it is about full life. This idea is explored further by Delores Williams. Williams discusses surrogacy in her Womanist Christology. For Williams, Jesus Christ came to show the world how to live and was not a sacrificial lamb for a blood-thirsty Father God. Although she recognises the importance of the cross, she cautions that it is not something to be glorified. We should not glorify the death of Christ, but the life of Christ.

I think this idea is helpful and healthy to embrace from the perspective of
Jesus as Mother. Instead of focusing on the sacrifices a mother makes, we could
instead shift our focus to the love a mother shows through actions and daily life.
Instead of looking at Jesus Christ as the sacrificial lamb, we could use the imagery of
Luke 13:34, ‘a hen gathering her brood under her wings.’ If we identify Christ as
Mother in the way Christ loves us with actions instead of sacrifice, then perhaps we
could have a societal shift away from the image of a self-sacrificing mother.

To close, the male-dominated image of the sacrificed Jesus Christ on the cross
is not representative of who Jesus Christ is for us today. Christ, unbound by the sex of
flesh, comes to us as our nurturing Mother. A Mother to whom we can look as a
model for Motherhood, free from the chains of sacrifice, but overflowing with love.

Sermon on Luke 10:1-16

Sermon on Luke 10:1-16
Given 13 November 2016 (Remembrance Sunday) at Studley Parish Centre

Mark 10:45 tells us “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” This verse highlights that even Jesus himself served others, just as we should do.

As Christians, we are called to serve in the name of Christ. We have all heard that actions speak louder than words and James 1:22 declares, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Thus, service is very much a cornerstone of Christianity. Christ served us with His works and ultimate death on the cross, and we serve Him as a form of praise and love for our neighbour.

Today’s reading from Luke talks about Jesus sending out His servants. He gave them instructions to heal the sick and give a blessing to all, even those who refused it. It’s important to note that Jesus didn’t expect His disciples to decipher who deserved a blessing, promoting the idea of loving all people without judgement.

In today’s modern society, it would be quite easy to look at this story and many other stories from the Bible and say, “it was so long ago, it doesn’t apply to me. I can’t possibly do the things the Bible talks about.” But that mindset forgets that Christ is eternal. Just as He called the 72, He calls each and every Christian to serve His Father, Our Father.

But what does it mean to serve? In a few moments we will gather around the cenotaph to honour those who have served their country. There are parallels we can draw between military service and Christian service. In World War I, the soldiers were called to serve their King; Today, we are called to serve our heavenly King. They served on the battlefields of Europe; we serve on the battlefield of life. They were armed with weapons of destructions; we are armed with the greatest weapon of all: LOVE.

John Wesley summarised the Christian calling when he proclaimed, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” This motto clarifies that Christians are not called to be perfect, but rather to be as good as we can.

In Chapter 12 of Romans, Paul puts this idea into more practical terms instructing us that “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to on another in love. Honour one another above yourselves… Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need… bless those who persecute you… rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.”

As a young mother working 40 hours a week and trying to juggle the roles of Christian, wife, mother, friend, cook, cleaner, etc., etc. I have been fortunate to receive Christian service. I know when a friend says, “Let me know if you need anything” they genuinely mean it. But I am fortunate. There are so many people in this world struggling day to day just to get by. Sometimes something as simple as holding a door open can make all the difference in someone’s life. The smallest actions done with love can make and amazing impact. So, as Christians, let us seek to do all things with love.

And in our daily lives, let us remember to serve the Lord in all the ways that we can. In closing, please join me in saying the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, which reminds us that we are all called to serve:

Lord, Make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. Amen