Some memes are funny and accurate. Other memes are misleading or even dishonest.


There is a meme going around right now that says something like, “In the interest of biblical accuracy, all preaching about the resurrection this Easter Sunday will be done by women.”

One does not have to appeal to the more obvious texts that address the question of women preaching (like 1 Timothy 2:9-15) to see how false this meme is.

Just go to the accounts of the resurrection in the gospels. What do we do find?

Do we find women having private conversations about what they saw at the empty tomb? Yes.
Do we find women leading gathered assemblies as public preachers/teachers? Absolutely not.

In other words, the resurrection accounts change nothing with regard to what is fitting, permissible, and appropriate in church life as far as the sexes are concerned.

To go one step further, we do not find any women exegeting or expounding on a text of Scripture to a group of people in the resurrection accounts. The women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus' corpse. They found the tomb empty and the stone rolled away. They let the inner circle of disciples (all males) know what they found. That's it. The men took it from there, and become the public preachers of the Easter message after they realized what had happened (e.g., Acts 2).

Jesus himself is the primary public proclaimer of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. And he is the one who presides over the Eucharistic meal on Easter Sunday. In the post-resurrection era, liturgical leadership is still masculine. Pastors must be men, in part, because they represent Jesus to his bride, the congregation.

The resurrection does not overthrow God’s original created order in which men and women have distinct roles. The resurrection restores and glorifies that created order. Beware of memes that have the appearance of cleverness but contradict the plain teaching of Scripture.