GOD 101: Sign Stories And Women In The Christian Testament, and the lesson of source and orbit

(The following text is taken from Mary & Martha: Women in the World of Jesus, by Satoko Yamaguchi) Given the context of the Greco-Roman world, it is interesting to look at sign stories involving women in the Christian Testament.  There seem to be many sign stories in which women must have been involved but are invisible.  For example, women, who are generally invisible in most biblical texts, were undoubtedly included among the “crowd(s)” (see, for example, Mark 6:34; Matthew 14:14; Luke 9:11; John 6:2). Thirteen sign stories contain specific mention of individual women.  Two are the unexpected conceptions by Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptizer (Luke 1:5-25), and by Mary, the mother of Jesus (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38).  Another is the account in which Jesus’s mother is the mediator of Jesus’s wine sign at a wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11).  Two other stories tell of signs related to Jesus’s resurrection — the empty tomb of Jesus found first by Mary Magdalene (John 20:1; Mark 16:1-6; Matthew 28:1-10; Luke 24:1-12) and the appearance of the risen Jesus to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18; Mark 16:9-11). The other nine stories tell of healings: 1.  Peter’s mother-in-law: Jesus’s performance, with the mediation of disciples, to heal [...]