Women in the Ministry of Jesus

When you think of the ministry of Jesus, what initially pops into your mind? Is it the many miracles Jesus performed, sermons He preached, or parables He shared? All of these things are wonderful and good, but do we stop to think of the other people involved in the ministry of Jesus? For example, those following Him, those supporting Him, or those receiving the miracles He performed? In this week’s blog post, we will look at the role of women in the ministry of Jesus during his time here on earth.

The role of women in the ministry of Jesus is heavily focused on in both Luke and John’s gospel accounts. Listed below are some of those passages. I encourage you to take the time to read through these stories and be encouraged by Jesus’ care and compassion for the women around Him. We will look at a few of these passages together.

❖ Luke 7:11-16; Jesus raises the only son of a widow

❖ Luke 8:1-3; women supporting Jesus’ ministry

❖ Luke 8:43-48; Jesus heals a bleeding woman

❖ Luke 10:38-42; introduced to Mary and Martha

❖ Luke 13:10-17; Jesus heals a woman on the Sabbath

❖ Luke 23:55-24:11; the women visiting Jesus’ tomb

❖ John 4:4-30; Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman

❖ John 11:1-44; the resurrection of Lazarus

❖ John 20:11-18; Mary Magdalene at the tomb

The first passage I would like for us to look at is Luke 7:11-16. In this passage, Jesus went into a town called Nain. On his way into the town, He passes a dead man being carried out and sees his mother, a widow, near him mourning with a crowd of people surrounding her. Verse 13 says “And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” (ESV) This woman was a widow whose son had just died. In biblical times this meant that she was destitute. Without a husband or a son, she could not provide for herself and remarriage was unlikely. This meant she had no one left to provide for her basic needs. I am sure this woman was confused by Jesus telling her not to weep over her dead son since it was not just the physical death of her son but also a type of cultural death for her during this time. In the verses following, Jesus speaks to the son of the widow and brings him back to life. The formerly dead son sits up and speaks. Jesus gives him back to his mother and they all begin to glorify Jesus for the miracle He has just performed. We can see in this passage that Jesus cares for the oppressed. He has compassion for those in hopeless situations. The woman in this passage served as a witness to a resurrection, a miracle. Everyone knew her son was dead, that this woman was a widow, and that she was destitute. But Jesus, in resurrecting her son, works miraculously in her hopeless situation, and He is glorified.

A couple of pages over in Luke 8:1-3, we see another role that women played in the ministry of Jesus. In these verses, we see Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many other women provide for Jesus and the disciples as they traveled and did ministry. There are two things worth mentioning about these women’s involvement in Jesus’ ministry. For one, it was not common for the women to be traveling with the men or the be included by religious leaders. These leaders would have likely spoken to women through their husbands and/or fathers as was the norm in this culture. There were no personal relationships between women and men that were not family. In addition to this separation between men and women, it was common fro me to view women as less than men and to hold an inferior status. As we know, Jesus supersedes cultural expectations, rules, and norms in those times and in our current day. He befriends these women and even travels with them while touring through cities and villages preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.

Another aspect of this passage worth mentioning is how Jesus made himself dependent on people, specifically the woman mentioned here. Jesus, who could turn rocks into bread, water into wine, and the dead into living again depended on women to support him during his ministry. A commentary from Blue Letter Bible says that “Jesus was humble enough and godly enough to receive from others.” The others that he received this aid from were women. According to Blue Letter Bible, the term used for the women who supported Jesus is diakonia. This word was anticipated to mean the office of deacon, but more specifically deaconess in the early church. This was exactly the role these women played in the ministry of Jesus. They served Him out of what they had. They gave Jesus what he needed as he ministered to others. They provided for him while he taught those who needed to hear the good news of the kingdom of God.

In another passage, Luke 23:55-24:11, the Scriptures recount the resurrection of Jesus Christ. More specifically, they recount the women and how they reacted to the resurrection of Jesus. In chapter 23 we see the woman preparing spices and ointments for the body of Jesus. After the sabbath day, they rose early and went to the tomb expecting to find the body of Jesus. When they arrived, they were shocked to not find the body but to find “two men in dazzling apparel” (ESV) asking them what the purpose of their visit was. The men ask the women why they are looking for the living among the dead. The women are astonished. Verses 8 and 9 say that “they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told these things to the eleven and to all the rest.” When the women had told them all that they had seen, no one believed them. We see in this passage of Scripture that Jesus is using these women as messengers. They are bringing the good news of the resurrection that Jesus told them about, yet no one believes them. These women are the first on earth to hear and believe in the risen savior of the world! How the Lord shows his love for women this way. By allowing them this precious information first and giving them the role of sharing it with those around them.

Application

You may be thinking, this is great, but how does this apply to me as a woman today? If we look at the first passage mentioned in this post, we see a woman whose life was drastically changed by a miracle of God. Because of this work of the Lord in her life, she praises and glorifies him which spread throughout her community. As Christians whose lives have been drastically changed by the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, do we rejoice as this woman did? Do we rejoice in our own spiritual resurrection, the new life that we have in Christ? Do we take this good news to our community and proclaim His name boldly as we have been commissioned to do? When we look at the example of the women providing for Jesus as He travels and ministers in different cities, we see women in the role of givers and supporters. Can we say the same of ourselves? Do we recognize our time and our resources as truly belonging to Him? Finally, do we proclaim the word of God as boldly as the women at the tomb did to an unbelieving audience? Will we be faithful messengers of our risen Lord? My prayer for all those reading this blog post is that we would be like the women in the ministry of Jesus. I pray that we will see the wonders of Jesus and proclaim them to the world. I pray that we can recognize the work that the Lord has done in our lives and use that as a testimony to lead others to the life-changing word of God.

Work Cited

Guzik, David. “Study Guide for Luke 8 by David Guzik.” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed November 16, 2023. https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/luke/luke-8.cfm?a=98100