It is sometimes argued that Jesus’s twelve disciples were male because God only wants men to be the leaders in the community of God. Although I find this argument weak, it is still perplexing. Viewed through modern western eyes, the maleness of the twelve disciples is a blaring symbol of male authority. But is it really the case that Jesus chose 12 male disciples to affirm male authority? Or are there other explanations as to why it had to occur this way?
Logical fallacy
Nowhere is it said that Jesus chose the twelve because they were male. Nor does Jesus ever affirm male authority over women or imply that he wants leadership in his community to be male. (If you see anything in Jesus’s teachings or actions that indicate he believes in exclusive male authority in his community, let me know in the comments section.)
To say that Jesus chose twelve male disciples because he believed only men should be leaders in the church he was building is a leap in logic. The conclusion does not directly follow the premise. This does not mean it is a false claim, rather that it has to be proved otherwise.
To illustrate my point, the twelve disciples were also all Jewish, yet we cannot say that all leaders in the church must be Jewish because of this. As Paul wrote:
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.”
(Romans 10:12, NRSV)
In the same way, the twelve disciples were men, but we cannot say because of this that all leaders in the church must be men, that only men can be elders, pastors, or priests. For Paul wrote:
“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
(Galatians 3:27-29, NRSV)
If it was not to affirm male leadership, why did Jesus choose twelve male disciples?
Issues of practicality
Jesus appointed the twelve disciples to be with him, and this almost constantly, except when he sent them out to proclaim his message, performs healings, and cast out demons.
“He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons.”
(Mark 3:13-15, NRSV)
This would have been really hard to do if there were women among them. Back then, a woman could not travel with a man alone if he was not her husband or relative. Jesus did have women disciples and women who traveled with him, but this is in the context of many people traveling with him.
“Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.”
(Luke 8:1-3, NRSV)
However, these women would not have been able to sleep in the same location as Jesus and the disciples. Kenneth E. Bailey writes, In Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes:
“We note that Jesus is traveling through cities and villages with a band of men and women who are naturally known to be his disciples. This implies that they were spending night after night in strange villages. Today social customs are more relaxed than they were in the first century (as evidenced from the Mishnah and the Talmuds). Yet in the contemporary Middle East, I know of no place in traditional society where the social scene presented in this text is possible. Women can travel with a group of men but must spend their nights with relatives”
Keneth E. Bailey[1]
Could you imagine Jesus sleeping outside in the wilderness with women around? These women would have been called harlots, and Jesus’s character defiled. But he often did sleep in secluded spaces with his twelve disciples; only in the morning did the crowds come back to see him.
“Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called. And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple.”
(Luke 21:37-38, NRSV)
Additionally, Jesus sent the disciples out two by two.
“He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.”
(Mark 6:7, NRSV)
Two women traveling alone together would be highly vulnerable; they could be attacked or raped. A man traveling with a woman who was not his wife or relative would not have been well received. This is another thing Jesus could not have done as readily if there were women among his twelve disciples. It just is not practical given the culture of the time.
Women were also considered ritually unclean during their period of menstrual discharge (Leviticus 15:19-24). This would be another impracticality of the time if Jesus had female disciples among the twelve he had chosen to be with him almost all the time.
If his closest disciples had included women, I do not think Jesus would have had the liberty to do all he was doing.
The twelve disciples as a symbol of a new community
Jesus choosing twelve disciples immediately makes us think about the twelve tribes of Israel. In the Faithlife’s Study Bible’s note on Mark 3:13-19, they write:
“Echoing the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve apostles likely serve as a symbolic reconstitution of the people of God around Jesus’ mission and teaching.”
Faithlife’s Study Bible
The twelve disciples are a symbolic representation of the twelve tribes of Israel.
It is, therefore, interesting to return to the story of how the twelve tribes came to be in Genesis 29-30. Jacob went east towards the land of his uncle Laban. Laban had two daughters, the beautiful Rachel and the weak-eyed Leah[2]. Jacob loved Rachel very much and worked for Laban for seven years to marry her. But Laban tricked Jacob and presented Leah to him instead. Jacob slept with Leah that night and was thus married to her. He was pretty upset when he found out, but Laban offered Jacob his daughter Rachel as well, in exchange for another seven years of service, and he accepted. We are now presented with a polygamous marriage, Jacob being married to two sisters. Both Leah and Rachel had maidservants; when Rachel was unable to conceive, whereas Leah had multiple sons, she offered her servant Bilhah to have children by her. Bilhah was made a wife to Jacob (although she was a second-order wife in many respects) who gave legitimate children to Jacob and Rachel. Leah eventually did the same thing as her sister when she stopped having children; she offered her servant Zilpah as a wife to Jacob. Eventually, Rachel gave birth to a son, and Leah had other children, including at least one daughter. In total, Jacob had twelve sons conceived by four different women!
What a story! This is a far cry off from Jesus’s ideal that one man and one woman should unite as one flesh.
“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
(Matthew 19:4-6, NIV)
Jesus’s selection of twelve male disciples is no more an affirmation of male authority than God’s choice of Israel and the twelve tribes is God condoning polygamy.
The twelve tribes of Israel are also a reflection of the patriarchal society they were from. Jacob had at least one daughter, but daughters were not considered heirs as sons were. Dinah is not the head of a 13th tribe; such things simply did not happen back then. This is not to say that the Bible condones patriarchy. Rather, the Bible reflects aspects of the culture of the time it was written. These are the simple facts and realities of how things were at that time.
Jesus chose twelve male disciples to symbolize the twelve male heads of the tribes of Israel. If he had chosen women among the twelve, this symbolism would have been weakened.
The twelve do get a special honor in the Bible, but nowhere is it said that honor is given to them because of their maleness. Instead, it is because they have followed him and stood by him in his trials that they will receive special honor.
“Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
(Matthew 19:28, NRSV)
“You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
(Luke 22:28-30, NRSV)
Conclusion
That Jesus had chosen twelve male disciples may seem to be, at a superficial level, an affirmation of male-only leadership or authority. But with further scrutiny, this does not stand. Logically it does not necessarily follow, nor is it affirmed directly. Jesus does not speak of male headship, leadership, authority in marriage, the church, or anything like it. There are other possible explanations as to why Jesus may have chosen twelve male disciples. Practically, it would have been very hard for Jesus to have done what he did if he kept as close a company with women as he did with the twelve. The twelve disciples are also a strong symbol of the replacement of the twelve tribes of Israel by Jesus’s kingdom, the twelve heads of these tribes being all men. Male-only leadership in the church is not a necessary conclusion of the fact that the twelve disciples were all men.
[1] Bailey, Kenneth E. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes : Cultural Studies in the Gospels. Downers Grove, IL. Intervarsity Press. 2008. Scribd edition p.303.
[2] Other translation seems to be that Leah had delicate eyes, perhaps meaning beautiful eyes.
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