Jesus: I Speak to You Again
Chapter 103
Women Must Become Clergywomen as Men
As long as the church refuses to allow women to become religious leaders on an equal basis with men, it will remain in darkness, keeping all its followers captive. In your sermons, you often speak of how I associated with both tax collectors and women with troubled pasts, including Mary Magdalene, who became famous among you as one of my followers. You mention that I did not reject her, even though others might have seen her as unworthy or irredeemable.
Yes, this is true. I gave her the same rights as any other sincere woman follower. I did not give men greater rights than women. You know of Mary Magdalene not just because she turned from a life of questionable behavior, but because I accepted her into the group of twelve women evangelists who preached my gospel alongside my apostles and more than fifty male evangelists. At that time, it was unheard of for a woman to publicly address men, yet I invited them to become religious teachers. The Jewish people had never seen such a thing before.
Mary Magdalene was appointed to maintain contact between the women evangelists and the believers when a message needed to be shared on behalf of the group. This is why she became better known to the people—not solely because of her conversion. The twelve women themselves chose her for this role of speaking for them. The fact that little is known about the other women shows how human religious leaders have pursued their own interests, remaining silent about this remarkable liberation of women that began two thousand years ago.
The time has come for women to be free in the religious sphere as well. You advocate for equal rights for women in society, and you support their rights in the family, industry, politics, and science. These are righteous steps. A community cannot develop if one part of it is denied the same rights as the rest, especially based on gender. Do you wish to remain like your ancestors, who rejected part of themselves and kept it locked in a spiritual and social cage? You must now recognize that women should have the right to lead worship, just like men.
Do you, today’s religious leaders, still see yourselves as wiser or more deserving than women? How can you, as sons of the Father, ignore the desires of His daughters to preach His word and share His love in the very places where you have denied them entry? I have never placed this restriction on them—it is you who have done so, prioritizing your rituals and dogmas over the living truth. In doing this, you elevate yourselves above the Father, who loves His sons and daughters equally. So, love them as I did when I walked among you.
I faced fierce opposition from the Pharisees when I appointed twelve women as religious teachers. They never accepted it. They sought my death because I shared their exclusive role of teaching about God with women. So, why do those who claim to follow my teachings not practice what they preach? Why do you refuse to share your self-appointed authority with your sisters in spirit, as I did?
I am calling you to act on what you can do today. What prevents you from proclaiming from your pulpits: “Our sisters in spirit have the same rights and privileges to serve as priests, just as we, men, do”? What stops you from saying: “We want to share the Father’s houses with believers from other denominations, and even other faiths”? Is it fear? Fear of losing your position, your reputation, your influence, your future? But I say to you: where there is fear, there is a lack of love. This is the answer to whether you truly believe in me and the Father. Those who have faith in me and the Father no longer fear for themselves. Such a child of the Father is moved by the love they feel within. Then, they understand that women are not lesser than men, not even in matters of faith. The Father has given free will to all, and no one has the right to take it away—not even you, who claim the authority to control the faithful and deny women the same opportunities to serve as priests.
You have denied women their free will, a right that was restored to them long ago by political leaders who do not even claim to be God’s servants or my followers, as you do. These leaders, though not as devout as you see yourselves, gave women back what had been taken away—the right to vote and participate in politics. Look at how many women now succeed in elections, even for high offices. Yet you, who claim to serve a just and merciful God, act more unjustly than those who have no religious duty.
Politicians, in their daily work, often stray from the principles of the Father. So why do those of you who are meant to carry the Father’s light and spread kindness act against the very foundation of life—love and mercy? By doing this, you assert power over others’ free will, a gift from the Father meant for every member of His creation.
In doing this, you place yourselves above the Father.
My teachings offer hope even to those of you who cling to rituals and dogmas, if only you sincerely desire to change and become better. This desire is the first small yet pure voice of the Father in your soul saying, “Be perfect, even as I am perfect.” As you open up to this voice, you will find that my teachings begin to reach deeper into your soul, inviting you to think more freely and grow in wisdom. You will want to share this light with others, and as you do, you will come to see the wisdom in recognizing equal rights, not just for women, but for all who seek to serve.