John 4:27: “Now at that very moment His disciples came back. They were shocked because He was speaking with a woman. However, no one said, ‘What do You want?’ or ‘Why are You speaking with her?’”

Did you see that? Probably they felt, “Why would You be speaking with a woman?” They were not just surprised that He was speaking with a woman; they were shocked.

I’m talking about the impact of Christianity in history in this series. Yesterday I talked about the impact of Christianity on leadership, drawing on the example of Christ. Today I’m talking about Christianity's impact on gender equality.

It wasn’t even a question in people’s minds that men and women are equal. But Paul preached that in Christ we are one—“there is neither male nor female” (Galatians 3:28). Why do you need to say “male, female” if it’s obvious? It wasn’t obvious. That equality, that sameness—the fact that the man and the woman are equally valuable before God.

When you go to Genesis, you see that reflected: “God created humankind in His own image… male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). From the language of Scripture, you have the sense of the equal value of both man and woman before God.

But sin came in, and people’s perception of others was affected by it, and that just became “the way things are.”

I’m using this verse—about the disciples' shock at Jesus speaking with a woman—as a window into that world. Almost like, “What? This is scandalous.” Speaking with a woman. In our time now, we don’t see it as anything, and that is the power of the gospel. That is the power of Christ’s coming: the equal value of the genders.

Yesterday I was talking about leadership positions and how the leader is now being redefined. The gospel also redefines gender relationships. The value of one gender is not to be seen as different from the value of the other gender. The male gender is no more in the image of God than the female gender is.

But the opposite of that was the norm in time past and was simply not questioned.

Look at the disciples' shock. They were shocked that Jesus was speaking with a woman. They were amazed. They thought this was out of sorts—“How can this even be acceptable?” I’m using that to talk about how the gospel has elevated womanhood.

That is what has happened in the history of the world. There is difference, but difference does not mean one is superior to the other. The difference is not superiority; it is just difference—often a functional difference, not an inherent value or lack thereof.

Just look at it. “They were shocked because He was speaking with a woman”—just having a conversation with a woman. They were amazed that Jesus would give time to a woman (this is my own framing). “Of what value is it for Jesus to spend time with a woman?”

What do we see now? We see the value that is emerging from Scripture. How many Bibles are there all over the world? In Acts 2, God says, “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh… on My male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit” (Acts 2:17–18). Both male and female servants. No discrimination when it comes to God, or to the value of the female. Rather than making her less valuable than the male, He says, “On your sons and your daughters… on My male and female servants.”

That is the power of the gospel—the power at work to restore the equality of the sexes. It began as a seed: everyone is called to believe the gospel, male and female, to receive Jesus Christ. Paul said, “Whether male or female, we are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). That is the gospel.

That begins to reshape thinking. It reshapes perception—how the female perceives herself, how the male perceives himself: equality under God in Christ Jesus.

That is the power of the gospel. That is one way history has been transformed because of Christ.

God bless you. See you later.