I've been greatly inspired by the communion of saints this year, those who have gone before us in faith. A lot of those people are guys, which is great, but what about the ladies? This is part of my master's arts project---digging up the stories of ancient women and creatively depicting them for modern viewers and readers.
As you may know, the leadership of many women in the early church has been misunderstood, misconstrued, and in the case of Junia, misspelled. Thus, her femaleness was largely lost for centuries, until quite recently.
Junia is totally giving off the “Woah, guys, you got my name wrong" vibe with the hand. And that stare!
The short version is that early church fathers called her a great apostoli (meaning messenger). She was a well-respected apostle who served alongside her husband Andronicus in public. Around the 12th century, someone decided to take down her name as Junias, and change 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.
Paul respected her seniority in the faith. She may have been involved in a civil disturbance, was imprisoned by the Roman Empire, and survived prison. This woman was courageous, reslient, and apparently fearless! She was also probably one of the paired church planters commissioned by Luke, and likely knew Jesus.
Why this matters
Do you feel like sharing the gospel in your work threatens the order of an entity or community: whether that is your work environment, school, church, or family? You’re in good company. Junia has been there.
Do you find yourself challenging the status quo?
Has your worth been suppressed in some way or do you know a woman has experienced this?
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