The Gospels reveal that a number of women played influential roles in ministry alongside Jesus. When Jesus traveled, it’s often assumed that it was only the Twelve who traveled with him. However, Luke introduces us to members of the wider missionary team (see Luke 8:1–3).
These women played a fundamental role as they invested their money and resources into God’s mission. Scholars reflect that they were probably wealthy upper-class women who had been healed and transformed by Jesus’ ministry. But the women were more than sponsors; they were committed to Jesus and the cause, right to the end.
When all the Twelve but John had deserted Jesus, the women were at the cross. On that first Easter Sunday, it was the women who were the first to see the empty tomb. It was the women who were visited by angels with the news of the resurrection. Finally, it is to one of the women, Mary Magdalene, that Jesus appears, and she is the one instructed to share the news with the disciples. We’re so used to reading these stories that we may not understand how significant this is. At that time a women’s testimony was not recognized in a court of law. Yet Jesus entrusted the most important news in human history to a woman and sent her to share it. As a result, early Christian writings described her as an apostle to the apostles.
Jo Saxton is the author of More Than Enchanting: Breaking Through Barriers to Influence Your World. Taken from More Than Enchanting by Jo Saxton. Copyright Second Edition (c) 2016 by Jo Saxton. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426. www.ivpress.com.
