At the ascension of Jesus He commanded His close followers to stay in Jerusalem until they received the Promise of the Father, women were included in this select group.
Luke 24:49-53
“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.
Now it came to pass, while He blessed them,
that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.
And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
Acts 1:4-8
And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,”
He said, “you have heard from Me;
“for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:12-14
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey.
And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James.
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication,
with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus,
and with His brothers.
Here we see and confirm that Mary the mother of Jesus and “the women’ were in the upper room carrying on the ministry of Jesus.
The women were there on the Day of Pentecost and were filled with the Holy Spirit and Fire and went out into the streets sharing Jesus with the men!
Acts 2:1-11
Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come,
they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind,
and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them utterance.
And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men
from every nation under heaven.
And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another,
“Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?
“And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?
“Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia,
Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
“Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene,
visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
“Cretans and Arabs’”
we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
Acts 2:14-18
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.
“For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
“But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your young men shall see visions,
your old men shall dream dreams.
And on My menservants
and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
and they shall prophesy.
The women received the ‘Same’ baptism of the Holy Spirit that the men did!
The women received the ‘Same’ prophesying that the men did!
The women received the ‘Same’ outpouring of the Holy Spirit and prophesying that the men did!
Awesome and true! Women don’t have to take a backseat to men in the ministry of Jesus! Glory.
Find another excuse but don’t blame Jesus or the Father or the Holy Spirit.
What will you let Jesus do in your life?
This is the last of my columns about Jesus and Women. Trust you have been blessed, informed and inspired.
Pilgrim followers of Jesus,
Arthur and Denise Blessitt
Luke 18:1