In 7:36-50 we have an account of the Man-Savior forgiving sinners. Then in 8:1-21 three matters are covered: the Man-Savior being ministered to by women (vv. 1-3), the Man-Savior teaching with parables (vv. 4-18), and the Man-Savior identifying His real relatives (vv. 19-21). If we consider 7:36—8:21 as a unit, we shall see that as those who have had their sins forgiven, we should follow the Lord, minister to Him, grow in life, and shine as lamps. Eventually, as such ones, we become the genuine relatives of the Man-Savior. We covered 7:36-50 in the foregoing message. In this message we shall go on to consider 8:1-21.
Luke 8:1 says, “And it came about soon afterwards that He journeyed from city to city and village to village, proclaiming and bringing good news of the kingdom of God; and the twelve were with Him.” The Greek word translated “proclaiming” means proclaiming as a herald. The Greek word rendered “bringing good news” is euaggelizo, which means evangelize, to announce good news, to declare glad tidings, to preach the gospel. Therefore, to bring good news of the kingdom of God is to preach the kingdom of God as the good news, as the gospel.
In verses 2 and 3 Luke goes on to say, “And certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who were ministering to them out of their possessions.” In 8:1-3 we see that the twelve called ones were following the Savior and that the healed women were ministering to the Savior and His followers out of their own possessions. What a beautiful picture!
The women named in 8:2 and 3 ministered to the Lord and to the twelve out of their possessions. It may have been that, under the Lord’s sovereignty, the husbands of these women were wealthy. We may say that this wealth was the result of the Lord’s exercise of His divine attributes. Then the women exercised their human virtues to use their possessions to minister to the Lord and His disciples.
According to 8:1-3, there were two groups of people around the Lord Jesus. The first group was composed of His followers; the second was composed of the women. The disciples simply followed the Lord without doing anything. The women, however, ministered both to the Lord and to the disciples in a practical way. In the church life sometimes the sisters are more practical than the brothers are. Whereas the brothers may find it easy to speak, the sisters will often serve, minister, in a practical way.
It is significant that 8:1-3 follows immediately after 7:36-50. The sequence indicates that after we have experienced the forgiveness of sins and have begun to love the Lord and live in peace, we should follow the Lord and minister to Him.