Human beings pay attention to differences — young and old, male and female, black and white, my tribe vs. your tribe. The Bible urges us to notice not the differences but the commonality. The story of the creation of human beings is designed to show that both male and female have the same divine origin. “Male and female he created them,” in Chapter 1 of Genesis. Woman is a suitable partner for the man in chapter 2. Men and women have to be understood together — the two of them become one flesh. In the rather strange story of Jesus’ encounter with the Greek woman he comes to recognize that what Jew and Greek have in common is more important then what divides them. Jesus said to her, “Let the children be fed first.” She challenged him to see that everyone is a child of God, everyone is deserving of God’s care. Love is not stingy but by its very nature is inclusive and expansive.
