Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Women in the Life of Jesus: Joanna




Scripture where she is found: Luke 8 & 24

Setting:  Galilee

Her story:


Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him,

and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities-Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons,

and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.

And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:

“A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed…”
-Luke 8:1-5


My thoughts:

Her name means “the Lord has been gracious.”

We aren’t told specifically how she learned about Jesus, but she was one in a list of women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities.  She was also part of a band of women who supported Jesus.

It was probably no easy feat for her to follow Jesus, because her husband was a steward in Herod’s household.  Herod and Herodias were both wicked, and responsible for the demise of John.  For her to follow Jesus was possibly dangerous.

The women in that list were considered disciples too.  They were following Jesus, and we know that He taught them, because in the above verses, after a great multitude had gathered Jesus starts teaching them all …together.

One thing we see repeated over and over again in Jesus’ ministry is that when He healed people, they wanted to follow Him.  They immediately became disciples.

Jesus wants to do the same today.  He wants women as disciples.  He wants to heal them.  And then He wants them to follow Him.  When they learn, they will teach others.



To read more posts in this series, go here to Women in the Life of Jesus.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for highlighting not only the "big" names but also the "small" ones. <3

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    Replies
    1. They are just as important! While there isn't as much information found about them, they have not been as hard to talk about as I thought.

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