The treatment of women, lepers and sinners were all parts of Israel’s holiness code, both in Leviticus and in the practice of the Pharisees. My inclusion was on that basis, and is common in discussions of Jesus’ approach to the ideas of “clean and unclean.”

I certainly wasn’t insulting women.

Yes, I realize that women were treated in an objectively sexual way in Jesus’ time, however Michael doesn’t couch his statements in an historical context. He uses them as if they were a modern continuance of the practice, which thank goodness it is not. I was merely pointing that out.

In regard to the way Jesus treated women (and Michael’s remarks) you need to consider how women were treated by most people in that day. They were considered unclean during part of the month, almost considered property by the men in their family. It was even worse if you were a Gentile woman in contact with a Jewish man. That is what made both the woman at the well in Samaria, and the Syro-phoenican woman. (She’s the one that had a very interesting conversation with Jesus, and left with her daughter healed.)

Oh, the women knew and followed Jesus. (Luke 8, first few verses mentions the women.)

A lot of truth there. But this is done in a way consistent with “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). That is, their expectations from the Scriptures were wrong expectations, in large part because they didn’t read right. As Jesus was fond of saying, “Have you not read…?” (Matthew 12:3, 12:5, 19:4, 22:31). Another signature move.

To talk about overturning explanations might give some the impression that we can look out in the world for the unexpected, and when we see it, it’s Jesus.

Or it might give others the impression that if someone meticulously prepares a Bible study, the best response is not to test it, not to take it on, but to say, “Oh, well. Whatever you just said, I know Jesus is different, because He always defies expectation, so I can just ignore all that.”

And people really do get like that. Not most of them, but some of them. The expectations that were false did not come from Scripture itself, but false assumptions brought to the reading.

There were some whose expectations were more on target: Simeon, Anna (Luke 2). I think they should be taken as exemplary, too.

I do have something to say about this post (”the Jesus-shaped question”), but if you would permit me to say one more thing about your situation. I am married to a very wonderful woman, and a believer, but something strange was true from the beginning. She just doesn’t have much of a heart for the Lord, at least not in an obvious way. In particular, she doesn’t care much about church meetings, and she never developed an appreciation for communion. I never expected to attend so many Lord’s Table meetings alone. She would rather sleep in, or do things that are more important to her.

She’s much more concerned with “worldly” things than I am. On one hand she’s more practical, and I appreciate that. On the other hand, many times I have felt like I was alone in my seeking and following the Lord. This has been a sad reality of my marriage.

Getting to my point, and I hope I’m not presumptuous: Be thankful that you have a wife who is following the Lord. On one hand that seems to be leading to hardship and division. But for your wife to have a heart for the Lord is no small thing. I wish my wife would tell me that the Lord had spoken to her in some way. Strange as it may sound, if you are following the Lord (even while groping) and your wife is following the Lord, then that is a kind of harmony. I know that’s an over-simplification. But believe it or not, I wish I had a marriage where what has happened to you could happen to me. If my wife were to decide to become a Catholic because that was how the Lord was leading her, no doubt it would be peculiar and complicated, and it would put a strain on our marriage. But at least she would be putting her love for Jesus above her love for this world. At least she would be desiring to be with other Christians, rather than living an independent and self-centered life.

I don’t want to sound like I’m exposing or insulting my wife. She has many virtues, and is a very precious person. Perhaps her normalcy is more genuinely spiritual than my own “spirituality.” I do love her very much, and she is a gift from the Lord. But the difference in our spiritual inclinations is not something that I expected.

And concerning your post, maybe Jesus overthrows our ideas of a good marriage, just like He overthrows our ideas of what it really means to follow Him or be like Him. Maybe I’m learning to be like Jesus by loving a wife who doesn’t seem to love Him that much.

I once belonged to a church that considered itself the only true expression of the New Testament church. Now I realize that I was very narrow and even deceived. That’s because the Lord was faithful to overturn the tables in my life. What does the true church really look like? What is a Christian marriage really supposed to be like? I don’t think either question has a right answer. Eventually, we only have Christ, and He is faithful to mess things up until we see Him yet again in a fresh way.

I hope this isn’t presumptuous, but the following verse has always helped me in my difficulties: “For our momentary lightness of affliction is working out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” - 2 Cor. 4:17.

Those points are excellent. Christ overturns our expectations about both Him and who we are as well. How much better are His plans than our own, but it may not be clear to us for many years (true for me anyway).

I’m wondering what you think of “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas Kempis.

On the one hand, we sometimes act as if Christ did not ascend and on the other hand, we sometimes as if it were not Jesus who ascended.