Ephesians1:1-6

Lee’s sermon from today. Ephesians 1:1-6

What about Junia?

Using Junia as a spring board to advocate for the full inclusion of women in church leadership involves a number of assumptions that belie it as a position of true biblical scholarship. It assumes:

1. That Junia was a woman (a plausible but not a proven position)

2. That Junia was an apostle (a plausible but not a proven position)

3. That all apostles had equal inclusion in church leadership (an untenable position)

It is a sad commentary on the state of Christianity that people get so caught up on one side or the other of the first two assumptions that they neglect the last and more important issue. "Apostle" has a variety of uses in the New Testament, and much of the discussion about Junia simply ignores this fact.

The only place in the Bible where Junia is mentioned is Romans 16:7 which reads: Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Many people have determined from this verse that Junia was a female apostle. I had always assumed that Junia was esteemed by the apostles and until recently had never concerned myself about whether this person was male or female. The Greek (like the English of the King James Version) is ambiguous and could be taken to mean either that Junia was a noted apostle or was noted by the apostles.

Perhaps Junia was a woman. Other women were honored by Paul's salutations in Romans 16, Priscilla even being mentioned before her male counterpart. That women were held in high regard by Paul cannot be doubted. They have been lifted up by the gospel to a place that is unheard of in paganism or any man-made religion. To maintain, however, from this short verse that there was a female apostle who held a place of authority in the church flies in the face of clearer passages of Scripture. 

Perhaps Junia was an "apostle." I suppose, if she was, that she was a missionary, and a highly honored one. That is what the Greek word, "apostle" means, after all. The apostles are men whom God sent to do His work. Certainly He sends women to engage in missionary work also. He sent Mary Magdalene to inform the disciples of His resurrection. He asked the woman who touched the hem of his garment to testify to His work in her life before the crowds in the street. Let us, however, not make so much of this verse about Junia that we use it to overthrow the clear teaching of the Bible. Junia could have been sent of God and still obeyed the injunction to be silent in the churches (1  Cor. 14:34) and not to have authority over men. (1 Tim. 2:12.) 

Whether male or female, not all the apostles held places of authority in the church. The idea that the apostles were somehow greater than other people is not the teaching of the New Testament. Even the original twelve were ordinary men who served their God. They had no infallibility and no authority above the word of God. Even if Junia was a woman (which is by no means certain) and even if she was an apostle (which is also not certain on the face of the passage,) any use of the Scripture about Junia to justify placing women in the place of pastor or church leader is based on a misapprehension what it means to be an apostle. 

The facts are these: The name Junia in Romans 16 is in the accusative case. For this name, the accusative case is the same whether the name is feminine or masculine, so the gender of the name cannot be determined by the text itself. The context gives us no conclusive evidence as to Junia's gender. The name is paired with a masculine name which might incline us towards her being his wife, but Junias could also be a male co-worker.

The male form Junias is rare in the history of Greek writing which inclines many people to the assumption that the person mentioned was feminine. This is a legitimate opinion, but it still remains only an opinion and not an indisputable fact. Chrysostom in the fourth century believed Junia was both feminine and an apostle. His opinion is evidence in favor of this view, but clearly not authoritative. He lived four centuries after the people involved and had no greater insight into Biblical Greek than modern preachers have into the English of the 1600s. We have no testimony to the gender of Junia/s from anyone who actually knew the people involved.

 Unless a first, second, or even third-hand testimony from someone who actually knew Junia is discovered, no amount of research is going to definitively decide this question. Apparently, in the eyes of God who breathed the Scriptures, the gender of this person was not of high consequence and is nothing to build a doctrine on. There are seven other women in the list of salutations, the first of whom was entrusted to deliver Paul's letter. If we need a female example, let us follow one of them.

Woman’s Role

The feminist spirit permeating the world has caused an understandable reaction from many Christians. Most reactions however, are overreactions, and therefore lead to new errors. As often as not, new errors lead to new reactions like a game of ping pong with no winner—unless perhaps the thoughtful observer who digs into the Scriptures to determine where the real truth lies. The world is no better as a sounding board than it is as a guide, and we have no more business taking an opposite stance on all of its tenants than we do obeying its dictates. The only safe road is to follow God’s word. It is God who tells us “This is the way, walk in it” when we turn to the right or the left. (Isaiah 30:21) The Bible alone points a straight path of truth through the twists and turns of the world’s deceit. It provides clear guidance on the subject of women’s roles that can keep us from going too far into the ditch on either the right side of the road or the left.

In Genesis 1:26, God says, “Let us make man in our image,” and in verse 27, “in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them.” This makes it very clear that men and women are created equally. They both bear the image of God, and yet the fact that male and female are mentioned at all indicates that they are in some respects different from one another. 

In the New Testament, we are told plainly “There is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ.” Male and female stand on the same ground before God as Jews and Gentiles or bond and free. (Galatians 3:28) The priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:4-5) applies as much to women as to men. There is “One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1Timothy 2:5) A woman answers to God Himself just as a man does. Clearly, she does not need another mediator besides the Lord Jesus.

On the other hand, there are verses in the New Testament which indicate a difference in the roles between men and women. However we break down and define those roles, we cannot, if honest with the Scriptures, deny them entirely. Ephesians 5 indicates that the man and woman have different roles in the family. 1 Corinthians 14:34ff and 1 Timothy 2:11-12 indicate that there is a difference in their roles in the church. The difference in the church (apparent in the last verses mentioned) has something to do with speaking and with authority. We may not know why God has chosen to make a distinction in these areas, and we may differ with one another on the manner and circumstances under which they apply or on the extent to which they should be enforced. Nonetheless, we know that whatever may be implied by these verses, it does not affect the woman’s standing before God. Nor does it make her in any way less than a man. 1 Corinthians 11:3 makes it plain that woman is every bit as equal with man as Christ is with God the Father, though in some manner subject to him.*

The examples of women in Scripture give us parameters by which to check the extremes that people may fall into when defining the woman’s role.

1. Saphira teaches us that a woman bears responsibility for her own sin. She does not get to hide behind her husband’s authority or use his preference as an excuse for her actions. 

2. Lydia teaches us that it is in some circumstances allowable for a woman to have secular employment. She also teaches us that women may have prayer meetings and may support the servants of God.

3. Euodias and Syntyche teach us that there is a place for women in the direct work of God.

4. Philip’s daughters teach us that woman’s ministry may be oral. Whatever those verses mean which speak of women being silent, they do not mean that they can never speak at all on spiritual topics.

5. Priscilla teaches us that a woman may in some in some circumstance teach a man and expound on the word of God.

The injunction of I Corinthians 16:13 to behave ourselves with masculine strength “Quit ye like men, be strong” applies as much to women as to men. We have plenty of opportunity within the context of the New Testament to follow the example of Deborah and Jael who stand out above the men of their time. Let us humbly do so in the spirit of honor to Christ and obedience to His every word. 

 

*No explanation of any Greek word or doctrinal stance can get around the fact that this verse is in the present tense, "the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." The copula is not repeated in the original. The same verb in the first clause "the head of every man is Christ" applies to each succeeding phrase.