The Transgendered Christ?

I happened to be rostered to preach and preside at Communion on St Matthew's day this year, a few days back It was one of those occasions when I found myself saying more than planned and learning on the spot. The readings were these following.
  Proverbs 3.13-18

  Matthew 9.9-13

 I had determined beforehand to speak about the Proverbs reading and the Matthew reading: making a link between the figure of Wisdom and the Logos of John's gospel, noting that the Proverbs reading was highlighting, in the context of it being chosen for St Matthew's day, the ideas that in following Christ we are accepting to be discipled to Wisdom. The more that I found myself saying was noting that the figure of Wisdom in Proverbs is female and that many of the church's early teachers and onward had seen Wisdom as what is incarnated in Christ and that there are similarities between the Logos of Greek philosophy and the Wisdom of Hebrew reflection. This I've known for a good while what was new for me was there and then realising that there is a kind of theological transgenderedness, then, about Christ. Incarnation of Wisdom, spoken of in very much female terms -being a feminine noun in Hebrew (and, it happens, Greek).

I just think that is very intriguing and deserves further reflection. Let's recall that it is not as strange as it may at first appear. According to Genesis 1, human beings are made in God's image "male and female", and "in Christ there is no ... male or female ..." [Gal.3:28]. And we are told in 1Cor.1:24 that Christ is the wisdom (yes, feminine "Sophia") of God. However, to state it as in the title is, I'll admit, provocative. But I think that we should ponder it further...

An interesting article which considers related matters discards the idea of God as genderless in favour of God as (in my summary term) 'genderful'. See here.

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