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And also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their means. -- Luke 8:2-3


Women have played an important role in the Christian faith from the very beginning. Some of our tenderest emotional associations are connected with Mary, giving birth to her firstborn and laying him in a manger. And while most Protestants have not elevated her to divinity as have Roman Catholics, we have, nevertheless, held her in high esteem as Jesus' mother.

Luke shows a decided interest in the role of women. Not only does he give Mary center stage at the beginning of his Gospel, but Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, and Anna, the prophetess, also receive considerable attention.

Later in Luke's Gospel, the women lamented and bewailed Jesus as he was taken to his crucifixion. Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children" (Luke 23:28). Other women, such as the widow of Nain, Mary and Martha, the woman at the well, the Syrophoenician woman, and others, felt a special relationship with Jesus.

In his book of Acts, Luke mentions Sapphira and Priscilla, a leader in the church of Corinth. Drusilla, wife of Felix, is noted, as is Bernice, the sister of Herod Agrippa II. Mary, mother of John Mark, is named, as are Rhoda and Damaris. From Luke we learn Paul had a sister in Jerusalem. And Lydia, the businesswoman of Thyatira, is given considerable attention and prominence.

We are not sure why Luke has given attention to women. Perhaps his role as a physician gave him special insight into their needs, capacities, and responsibilities. And of course Paul himself, often wrongly maligned as a woman hater, mentions several women in connection with the early church.

Nevertheless, from the very beginning, Christianity began to have a liberating effect for many women. We see the beginnings of it in our text, which almost incidentally gives us a unique insight into the role of women in Jesus' ministry.

I had read this brief text in Luke many times until one day it really caught my eye. For one thing, it gave a unique insight into the practical, everyday affairs of Jesus' life. We are so accustomed to thinking of him in such lofty terms we often forget his humanity, his bodily needs, and everyday hungers and pains.

This text in Luke says that in addition to the twelve disciples, there were several women traveling with Jesus providing for him financially and ministering to him in his several needs. Thus, Jesus' traveling group must have been quite an entourage.

But the thing that surprised me was the number of women actually traveling with him. Wasn't that unusual? Were not women stepping out of their accustomed role? How could they be away from their families? Where did they get the money to contribute to Jesus' expenses? And why had they "left all" to follow him? Was that not risky enough for a man to do, let alone a woman?

Perhaps the women followed Jesus then, as they do now, for a variety of reasons. But a predominant motive might have been the sense of liberation he gave them. Listening to him, they felt lifted up, exhilarated, filled with hope for a better day. In his presence they received a new glimpse of freedom.

Let us consider those with him, these liberated women companions of Jesus.

I.

The first mentioned is Mary Magdalene. From her Jesus had cast out seven devils. Mary Magdalene represents those women liberated from the power of the demonic.

In Jesus' day physical or mental or emotional illness was often attributed to a demon or devil which had taken up residence in the person. Various kinds of neuroses and psychoses were blamed on demons, as were epilepsy, blindness, and paralysis. It was thought the demons came to inhabit a person because of some sin, either of the person or the person's parent. Thus the cure for the malady was forgiveness of the sin and the power to exorcise the demons.

Mary of Magdala had received just such an exorcism from Jesus. Long tormented by psychosis or schizophrenia or a severe neurosis, she at last came to know the magnificent calm and peace and sense of well being which comes with a true cure. By his power of insight, faith, courage, love, and prayer, Jesus was able to bring Mary Magdalene to wholeness and usefulness.

Up until the time of her cure, the attractive Mary could not hope to be accepted or loved until she could be rid of her apparent insanity. As is often the case with people of this kind, she was extraordinarily sensitive and intelligent, and had a heightened perception of her condition, which contributed all the more to her inward rage.

And then Jesus had compassion upon her and gave her peace and wholeness. And just as troubled women today swear by their psychiatrists who help them, so too did Mary have a tremendous sense of gratitude to Jesus for her new-found liberation. If women today no longer go to free confession with a priest or minister, they will pay $150 per hour or more to have a psychiatrist listen, and eventually in his own way pronounce some kind of forgiveness and absolution. How dearly women will pay to be liberated from the fears and guilt and self-doubt which haunt them as powerfully as any first century demon. And they will pay in real money, in gratitude, in references, and even in discipleship if they can be liberated for self-acceptance.

Think of the demons which control women today. How many are possessed by inadequate self-images imposed from childhood experiences? Here, for example, is a woman who was always scapegoated by her family. Because she was vulnerable, susceptible, and sometimes obnoxious, the family blamed her for their feelings and often took out their frustrations on her. Afraid to express anger toward others, they vented their anger on her, beating her down, then sending her, like the ancient scapegoat, out into the wilderness of abandonment and loneliness.

And then someday, through reading the Bible, or in church, or in a small group, or with friends, she experiences a sense of self-worth and esteem which comes to her like a warm spring breeze across frozen Minnesota grass. Somehow it comes to her that God loves her and accepts her. He does not hold her responsible for all her family's failures and ill feelings. She no longer has to live with such self-loathing. For the first time in her life she is able to hold her head high and to run free, not as her family's scapegoat, but as God's unique person. Instead of being constantly put down, she is lifted up. Instead of people beating on her, trashing her with their frustrations, she feels embraced, caressed, loved by the strong man Jesus Christ. She is liberated.

Or consider the woman at the opposite end. Because of her gifts and talents, looks and brains, she was expected to succeed at everything. The oldest of her sisters, she was required to set the pace, to accept responsibility for super-achievement and super-success. All the failed dreams and frustrated visions of the mother were heaped on the daughter -- so much so the daughter was no longer herself, but the embodiment of all her mother's super-ideals and super-fears. And what is that but a kind of demonic possession?

But if she can discover through Jesus' teaching and ministry and love that she is accepted for who she is, that she is worth something aside from her mother's role for her, that it is not necessary to be a re-incarnation of her mother's unfulfilled aspirations, that God can use her as she is and not necessarily as her mother wants her to be, she can be liberated. Jesus promises that to his followers.

Or for example, here is another woman plagued with insecurity and self-doubt. Psychologically rejected by her parents in infancy and childhood, feeling unwanted and unloved in adolescence, her increasingly obnoxious behavior only aggravated the problem. The more acutely she felt the rejection, the more obnoxious did she become in a kind of backhanded way to gain attention and affection. But, of course, she was then even more difficult to love and could not bring herself to accept it, to trust it, when she was loved.

But then one day, it dawned on her that God is love, that the ultimate reality of the universe is not rejection and abandonment, but forgiveness and acceptance. The nagging anxiety which ulcerated her stomach began to subside. The debilitating self-doubt was replaced with new doses of self-confidence. The insecurity which weakened all self-resolve began to fade as new accomplishments and achievements added to a sense of self-worth. The demon which set her spirit writhing with a sense of worthlessness was now cast out. She was free.

Perhaps Mary Magdalene had some demons like these. We do not know. But this we know -- she was liberated and made whole. And she was forever grateful. After that we find her closely associated with Jesus. She was at the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. She was one of those who prepared spices to embalm his body. She was first to arrive at the grave Easter morning and the first to whom the resurrected Jesus appeared. In one of the most touching dialogues of all history, the risen Jesus addresses her in the early morning light, "Mary." Her heart leapt at the sound of that strong voice of her liberator and she turned and said, "Rabboni." Having then been the first to experience the ultimate liberation, she excitedly told the disciples, "I have seen the Lord."

II.

Another woman traveling in Jesus' entourage was Joanna, wife of Chuza who was Herod's steward. Joanna represents those women who have been liberated from the old age to bring in the new.

Chuza, the steward of Herod Antipas, puppet king of Galilee, had charge of all Herod's domestic financial matters. A highly trusted palace official, Chuza would be acquainted with the innermost workings of the palace routine and Herod's regime. Likewise, Joanna, Chuza's wife, would have been privy to much inside knowledge regarding Herod Antipas and his kingdom. In fact, Luke may have received his special information about Herod Antipas from Joanna.

But in today's text we find Joanna traveling with Jesus, contributing to his cause from her financial resources and helping out in the day-to-day necessities of this sizeable entourage. Why she was with Jesus, we are not sure.

Chuza and Joanna may have had marital problems. Perhaps he was having an affair and was disaffected with Joanna. Thus feeling rejected, Joanna, like many women of today, may have gone out hunting for a cause, searching for acceptance and recognition, looking for a place where she would be needed and valued as a person. Perhaps she fulfilled that need in the company of Jesus.

We have no evidence Chuza and Joanna were arguing over whether men and women were really different. Chuza probably would have agreed with Art Buchwald who said, "I don't know any differences between men and women. They are so much alike it's impossible for me to tell the difference. I will be sitting on a bus or a metro, and have no idea I am sitting next to a man or a woman. I think that is the way God wanted it. Had he desired anything different, he would have given one sex bosoms and he would have made the other sex shave twice a day."

Then again Joanna may have become bored with palace life. Her husband may have become totally absorbed in managing Herod's business, so much so he just neglected his wife, like many White House assistants today. Possibly she was offended at palace intrigue, the double-dealing, the low morals (after all she had watched Herodias demand the head of John the Baptist). Perhaps the corruption of power, the bawdy state feasts, and the exploitation of the common people sickened her, and she went out looking for something new and fresh.

Of course she could have been running away from responsibilities of home and palace. Perhaps she was bored with the phony palace routine and longed for a life more satisfying than mere eating, drinking, sleeping, gossiping, and then repeating the same.

But I am intrigued with another idea that she and Chuza longed for a new leader to bring in a new age. They dreamed of a new king who, unlike Herod Antipas, would not be a puppet of the Romans. Thus, Joanna may have had Chuza's support in her travels with Jesus.

Therefore, it would be especially risky for Joanna and Chuza to support Jesus, because Herod Antipas had already beheaded John the Baptist who spoke out against him. And later we learn that Herod was looking for Jesus to kill him, because Jesus was regarded as a political threat. In her travels with Jesus, Joanna was likely to he recognized and reported.

Only with great risk and courage could Chuza and Joanna continue to support Jesus. Though serving Herod Antipas in the old order, Chuza and Joanna gambled on the promise of a new order. Though involved in the regime of the old age, at considerable risk they prayed and worked for the new regime of the new age. And Joanna, a semipublic figure, was personally involved, helping Jesus' cause.

No wonder women ever since have found Jesus to be a leader and master for the cause of freedom and liberation. They see him as the enemy of all systems of bondage which degrade women and make them less than they could become. He was their liberator and will continue to be so in every new age which strives for fuller equity and humanity.

III.

Luke also mentioned the other women who traveled with Jesus including Susanna, about whom we know nothing. But let Susanna represent all women liberated from thing to person.

In many parts of the world today, the woman still has a decidedly inferior position and carefully restricted role. Consider Iran for example, and the requirement of the Khomeni revolution that women wear veils again. In other parts of the world, women are menial laborers. Robert Mueller says he asked a Burmese why women, after centuries of following their men, now walk ahead. He said there were many unexploded land mines since the war!

Historian T. R. Glover has said that one of the chief diseases which caused the death of ancient civilization was a low idea of women. Sophocles said, "Silence is a woman's glory." Another Greek writer affirmed that "courtesans are kept for pleasure, concubines for comfort, and wives for the production of legitimate children and in order to have a reliable guard of one's possessions" (T. R. Glover, Christ in The Ancient World, pp. 24-25). But, says Professor Glover, "The Gospel introduced a new and a liberating principle into society." It liberated women (Ibid., p. 34).

Jesus had a special way with women. Remember how he was accused of associating with prostitutes and how some of them changed their ways because of him? Was it not because he looked upon them as persons rather than just as things, as bodies, as sex objects?

Remember the woman at the well. She was astounded Jesus would even speak to her, first of all because he was a Jew and she was a Samaritan. (Jews and Samaritans were not on speaking terms in those days.) But secondly, he was a man and she a woman. In many instances, women were to be seen and not heard. She was surprised to be held in such high regard, especially since she had been divorced five times and was now living with a lover. She was used to being shunned.

Or recall the woman taken in adultery. According to the law of the time, the men were all standing around ready to stone her to death for her sin. Have you not ever wondered where the man was and why they were not stoning him too? It was because of their double standard. The law said both should be stoned if she was married (Deuteronomy 22:22). But the woman was paying the penalty. So when Jesus asked the man without sin to cast the first stone, their consciences began to burn with the noonday sun, and they dropped their stones and slipped away.

Jesus regarded her as a person, not a thing. He knew how many men regarded women as property, as chattel without many legal rights. He liberated women from the hypocritical and oppressive double standard. And he liberates them yet today.

Jesus liberated women from polygamy. Because of his high teaching on love and monogamous marriage, women would no longer have to be in constant competition with the other wives. Monogamy helped eliminate jealousies and rivalries and household intrigues, not only of the wives, but of the children of the different wives seeking to gain the advantage.

Jesus liberated women from stereotyped roles. While he must be understood in his historical context, we nevertheless can say he elevated women to personhood giving them new roles in society. With embarrassment we remember how women had to sit in the balcony of some churches as second class worshipers, and we acknowledge that some churches in Christendom still refuse to ordain women.

But liberation cuts several ways. The requirement that a woman have a successful career of her own can be as much a stereotype as the requirement a woman maintain a home and family. One woman told me recently, "Marriage has been my liberation. I became free and fulfilled in marriage. It was there I found my true self as a full person and partner."

Another woman told me she has pursued a career for a number of years and was now yearning to become a wife and mother. "All those gals who think a working career is wonderful can have it," she said. "I'm looking forward to my home and family." Whether it's career or home or both, Jesus surely stands on the side of freedom from oppression, freedom from institutions and ideas which demean and enslave women.

But notice finally that the liberated women companions of Jesus, unique in their day, were not liberated from responsibility, but for it. Jesus never encouraged a do-your-own-thing, a selfish, to-heck-with-everyone-else binge. Freedom was not to become license. Liberation was not to become a high order of selfishness. Rather, it was to make one free and complete and whole, bringing one to mature, responsible personhood, loving and being loved as persons, not as objects or stereotypes or things. As Jesus said to men, so he says to women, we must use our liberty, not to exploit one another and to take out our vengeance on one another, but to serve one another, and to build one another up in love.

Prayer

Eternal God, who creates the world in beauty and sustains the universe by your word of power and love, we praise you. You have brought us into life, forming us in your image, shaping our bodies into symmetry and balance, releasing within us the mystery of life and love and thought. We thank you.

Amid the shrill clamor of today's strident voices, we call to mind the women who have shaped our lives and blessed our growth. For patient mothers who saw the promise beyond our spoiled petulance and self-indulgent rebellion, we are grateful. We are glad for teachers who plant and water and cultivate faithfully in anticipation of flowers and fruits they themselves may never see nor enjoy. Women behind the scenes -- nurses, secretaries, accountants, doctors, researchers -- who have kept the intricate wheels of society turning, we have taken for granted, and for them we give thanks.

We pray today for women in need -- those confused between career and home, women unhappily married with no apparent place to turn, women neglected or beaten by family or husband, women who feel their talents have been wasted, that life has passed them by. We pray for women thwarted in careers by outdated rules, for women weary in child rearing, women oppressed by demanding peers or overbearing spouses. In the tempestuous search for liberation, grant that women may not go from one bondage to another, one day a captive of old-fashioned codes, the next day a captive of a dogmatic revolution.

Lord God, you know how complex are our needs and wants, how elusive the things which make for true peace and satisfaction. Be pleased to grant anew the leadership of your Spirit to women today. Grant that the renewed age-old war between the sexes might resolve itself into a partnership of productivity and felicity. Let the eros which draws us toward one another like magnets create new bonds of friendship in place of frustrated desires and unrequited love.

Above all, let our women of today have a renewed sense of discipleship. Like Mary and Martha of old, may Jesus be the honored guest in their home, the inspired teacher for them and their families. Like the woman at the well, may they amid all the world's drinks which claim to satisfy our many thirsts, seek the living waters, which having drunk, they will never thirst again. And if like the woman taken in adultery their lives are full of sin, may they be forgiven, liberated from guilt and fear, free to go their way in a life of greater, purer discipleship. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.