God didn’t send Jesus into the world because He was satisfied with the status quo. God sent Him here because things needed to change—and right at the top of the list of the things God wanted to change was the position of women. The change didn’t happen overnight, and even today we haven’t seen the full consequences of giving half the world its rightful due; but from the day that Mary answered Gabriel, a new force has been at work in the world. The rise of women to new freedom and new dignity, which is one of the primary developments of our time, is the blossoming of a tree that was planted a very long time ago.