The Woman Who Gives Me Hope that the Church is Waking Up
*Image attribution below.
I’m not proud of this, but in my adolescence, I used to think women shouldn’t be pastors. “One less thing for us to worry about!” I thought. (I was a pretty laid-back kid.) The tradition I was raised in still holds by the decree that women shall not be ordained. Sadly, this belief does not align with the practice of the early church. Women led churches, preached, interpreted scripture, taught, financially supported ministries, and ministered alongside men as commissioned apostles. As I’ve woken up to this myself, I’ve found solace and encouragement from women in the Bible whose stories are regaining prominence, women like Junia.
The short version
The early church fathers called Junia a great apostolos (meaning messenger). She was a well-respected apostle who served alongside her husband Andronicus in public. Around the 12th century, someone decided to add an “s” to her name. It became Junias and, thus, changed her identity to a man. Funny enough, there are absolutely no instances of Junias in ancient Greek writings, but several hundred of the name Junia. I don't think Junia would have liked that very much. Here's why.
The rest of the story
Junia was a key leader in early Christian times, and she probably knew Jesus. She wasn’t an official apostle (one of the 12), but she was a teacher of high authority and regard. Paul calls her “great.” Luke commissioned married couples, and she was probably a part of that sending out with her husband Andronicus.
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. Romans 16:7 (NIV)
Paul looked up to this pair, who were church planters with a missional style. They held some seniority to Paul, and he respected them for it.
What makes Junia and Andronicus so special?
(There’s one line about them in the whole Bible!) It wasn’t their success as apostoloi, but rather, “their courage and resilience in the fear of persecution and resistance.” (Gupta, 147).
If we focus on Junia, she was a Jewish woman who was a war captive. She did prison time, not for a petty crime (women weren’t usually put in jail for small things in Rome). She and Andronicus might have been in chains for being part of a civil disturbance., perhaps in Ephesus. Prison was no fun, especially in Roman times. Junia would have endured heavy metal shackles, filth, little food, disease, overcrowdedness, and danger of abuse (men and women went to prison together). Gupta finds it amazing that she even survives prison (152). I have to agree.
Apparently, that did nothing to thwart this determined woman. She survives and launches right back into ministry.
Junia ministered on the front of Christianity, among women and men, in public. And to be put in prison, meant she was a threat to the empire.
This woman was courageous, resilient, and apparently fearless!
Junia matters now more than ever
Junia’s reinstatement as a female apostoloi means 3 things:
A FEMALE apostle of the gospel has been recovered. If there was a Junia, then there were likely others. Scholarship is clearly leaning toward the reinstatement of female leadership in the church. This is long overdue and encouraging!
We need powerhouse women to look up to! Early Christian women were making waves in the Roman Empire and in Christianity. Junia was noticed for the stink she caused and she suffered for it.
Women are not alone in their struggle to share the gospel alongside men, then and now.
A comeback kid
Junia gives me great hope that the church is waking up to the immense contribution women have made and the potential we will most assuredly continue to have in the world.
If you find yourself persecuted, or abused for the good news, know there was a woman named Junia who experienced prison time for her service to Christ. She shows us how to persevere and serve with tenacity. When we suffer, we are to get back at it! Junia also challenged the status quo culturally and set a precedent for the church, one that lasted for hundreds of years as women continued to lead alongside men.
Junia gives me great hope that the church is waking up to the immense contribution women have made and the potential they will most assuredly continue to have in the world.
And just a little love note in the spirit of our sister Junia: your ministry, leadership, and making matter in the world. And if you encounter resistance, you may just be headed in exactly the right direction.
Is Junia new to you? How do you relate to her?
*Junia is totally giving off the “Woah, guys, you got my name wrong" vibe with the hand. And that stare! Andronicus and Junia depicted in the Santissimo Salvatore, Palermo. “Icone bizantine; Santi Andronico e Giunia” by Asia - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63857430.
**Much of my article summarizes, “Junia, Venerated Apostle and Imprisoned Hero” in Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught, and Ministered in the Early Church by Nijay K. Gupta, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic), 2023, 141-152.
***See also:
“Paul Praises a Woman Apostle” by Rena Pederson
“Shifting Footings” by Scot McKnight
