It is noteworthy that in general, the lemon translations hold two basic messages: Woman must submit to man and woman should be quiet.
Seriously, is this the good news? Is this the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Remember that it was a woman who first proclaimed the good news of Christ’s resurrection, and to a male audience, no less. (I would guess that her delivery was a highly emotional one—after all, she had just been with Jesus!) Was this message to men her bright idea? No. Jesus sent her with the message, after giving her firsthand experience to back it up.
(I can’t find the part where Jesus told Mary to be sure her head was covered, not to forget that man was her head, that she should bow down to show her subjugated status, and that she should realize that this was a one-time mission, not to be repeated by her or others.)
Today more and more Christian women are coming to Jesus and learning for themselves the truth concerning their freedom to follow Him without a male intermediary. They are repenting and learning to end their enabling ways (which they come by naturally) and to declare the truth of God’s Word to others (both male and female). Their voice is sounding like John the Baptist’s cry in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord!” (John 1:23, NASB) and like Jesus’ words, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt. 4:17, NASB).”
Some men (not many, however, in the big scheme of things) are repenting for their unChristlike lording-it-over behaviors and for their woman-blaming ways (which they come by naturally), but still, the road to experiencing true freedom in Christ—where there is neither male nor female, but a new creation—remains blocked by massive, well-guarded checkpoints: errant biblical translations about women.
It is time that these hindrances be disassembled and moved off the highway of mankind’s experience, thus making the way of the Lord straight!
My next post will be a de-lemonization of Lemon One: 1 Corinthians 11:1-16.