Introduction
Jesus and Paul have both made significant contributions to the New Testament. However, there is a notable difference in their pastoral practices because Jesus focused on the Kingdom of Heaven, while Paul focused on keeping the faith alive. Jesus, as a pastor with his twelve disciples, preached the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, which had been prophesied long ago. He came to rule the earth as prophesied by the Israelite kings and insisted on the significance of baptism (Chow, 2021).
On the other hand, as a pastor, Paul taught more about God’s grace and referred to the unbaptized as unbelievers. In his letter, Paul states, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel” (Talmage, 2020). However, despite the differences in their pastoral missions, they shared many similarities and had significance for different audiences. This study will reflect their pastoral care for women, children, youth, and families.
Pastoral Care for Women
Jesus and Paul, as pastors, gave women a special place in their ministry. Before the coming of Jesus, women were despised in the community, were supposed to act as subservient wives, and were not fit for public positions. One of the 2nd BC writings, Ecclesiasticus 42:14, states, “Better the Wickedness of a man than a woman who does well: It is a woman who brings shame and disgrace” (Paparella, 2018). However, Jesus showed them pastoral care, respect, and dignity by including them as his disciples and proclaimers. In his pastoral mission, he healed women and made contact with the women labelled unclean in the Jewish community.
For instance, Jesus healed an unnamed woman with a 12-year flow of blood (Chow, 2021). In addition, Jesus healed a woman who was ceremoniously referred to as unclean and defended her to show that unclean women still had an opportunity to cleanse themselves and be accepted in the Kingdom of Heaven. This demonstrates that Jesus provided pastoral care for women by including them in his mission, healing them, and restoring their dignity.
Paul affirms the importance of women’s participation in the church. He demonstrates his pastoral care for women by choosing to serve as a pastor in his ministry. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he writes to two women who were his bishops. It states, “[The] gender [of Euodia and Syntyche] did not exclude them from [the work of the gospel] any more than Clément’s qualified him for it” (Paul, 2017).
According to Chow (2021), in this text, he implies that Lydia’s ministry was directed to Silas, Paul, and the church in general, which indicates that he acknowledges women’s roles in the church. Paul’s pastoral care for women is demonstrated in other letters, such as Romans 16:1-2, where he commends a female minister, one of her followers. He writes, “Our sister Phoebe, a deacon (diakonos) of the church at Cenchreae” (Chow, 2021). Phebe used to carry Apostle Paul’s magisterial Epistle and acted as its first public interpreter, showing that Paul included women in his ministry. Both Paul’s and Jesus’ pastoral missions demonstrated that they cared for and valued women in their ministry.
Pastoral Care for Children
Jesus’ and Paul’s pastoral activities have shown their concern and care for children in the ministry. Jesus sternly warned people who were hindering children from coming close to him. He states that people who make children believe in him to trip should be hanged or thrown into the depths of the seas (Paparella, 2018). In addition, he raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead, showing that he has a tender heart for children.
The time Jesus devotes to children, his zeal to protect their innocence, and his recognition of children and their societal status demonstrate that he cares for them (Talmage, 2020). Children have been used as positive examples in Jesus’s pastoral activities, and he even gave an example to his disciples. He told them that whoever wants to enter the Kingdom of Heaven must humble themselves like a child. Thus, Jesus provided pastoral care for children and valued them.
Paul’s pastoral care for children shows that they are important in the eyes of God. In the ancient world, children were less important than adults, which seems to be revolutionizing again in the Western world, where they have legalized abortion (Skinner, 2022). However, Paul’s pastoral care recognizes children and values them. In his pastoral missions, Paul states that children should obey their parents because it is the only commandment that promises long life on earth (Paul, 2017).
This shows that his pastoral care for them is not only based on moralistic issues but also shows them that they have a role to play in God’s Kingdom. Thus, both Jesus’ and Paul’s pastoral care for children was based on how they could enter the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus shows the importance of adults humbling themselves like little children, while Paul addresses children directly and asks them to obey their parents.
Pastoral Care for Families and Youth
Both Paul’s and Jesus’ pastoral care for families is based on marriage. Jesus’ pastoral teachings advise those who seek God’s Kingdom to denounce their families and become children of God. In Matthew 10:34-36, he states that “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Chow, 2021). Thus, Jesus came to bring the sword against the family instead of bringing peace (Skinner, 2022).
Jesus’ pastoral care for families is more rooted in the heavenly than in the natural family. He did this by first denouncing his physical family on several occasions and claiming that his real family is those who heed the word of God (Talmage, 2020). When he spread the message, he challenged his disciples to leave behind their natural families and follow him for almost three years. Thus, Jesus’ pastoral care for families emphasizes the heavenly family, which is eternal, rather than the earthly family.
Paul’s pastoral care for families is based on encouraging Christians to marry and form family unions in Christ. He gives them tips on how to keep families and marriages together. First, he emphasizes that the family should have obedience and love, which is why he said wives should be submissive to their husbands. On the other hand, husbands should love their wives and not be harsh on them. In addition, he asks children to obey their parents and do everything that pleases God. This shows that Paul’s pastoral care of families is different from Jesus’ because, as Jesus values his heavenly family and disregards natural families, Paul’s pastoral teachings are based on how to keep the earthly families (Talmage, 2020).
The essence of the pastoral care provided by both Jesus and Paul is to teach young people strong morals and how to live a productive, long life. Jesus illustrated this using the Parable of the Prodigal Son, warning youth to prioritize heavenly comfort over seeking quick, worldly pleasures. Similarly, Paul encouraged young people to be sober-minded and enjoy their youth in a way that is pleasing to God (Skinner, 2022). Both leaders emphasize that choices made in youth have a major impact on a person’s later life (Chow, 2021); the Prodigal Son’s hardship after squandering his wealth demonstrates this by showing he was reduced to eating with pigs until his repentance.
Conclusion
Jesus’ and Paul’s pastoral teachings on women, family, children, and youth form the basis of the New Testament. Their pastoral care agrees on various issues such as women’s, children’s, and youth’s positions in the ministry. However, Jesus and Paul’s pastoral care for families is different.
According to Jesus, Christians should be ready to leave their families if they lead them away from God’s Kingdom. In addition, Jesus encourages Christians to value their heavenly family and prioritize it over the natural family. On the other hand, Paul’s pastoral care encourages families to live together and gives each family member a responsibility. The husband is supposed to love the wife; the wife is supposed to submit to the husband, and children must obey their parents.
References
Chow, C. H. (2021). Paul’s divergence from Jesus’ prohibition of divorce in 1 Corinthians 7:10-16. Open Theology, 7(1), 169–179. Web.
Paparella, J. (2018). Christ at the Heart of the Family: Chapter Three of Amoris Laetitia | Salt + Light Media. Slmedia. Web.
Paul, I. (2017). Did Paul have a pastoral strategy? | Psephizo. Psephizo. Web.
Skinner, W. (2022). Family Matters. The Pastoral Care of Personal Relationships. The Gospel Coalition. Web.
Talmage, J. (2020). The articles of faith: The principal doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. E-artnow.