Supporting Jesus

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

SUPPORTING JESUS

Luke 8:1-3

8:1 After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; 3 Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

NIV

Clearly there were many followers of Jesus, not just the twelve he had designated as apostles. Here we are told about some specific people, woman by name who not only followed him, but were helping support him from their own means. Much has been said of the character of this woman, but there is no proof either way of any type of character, but what we know is that all of them had been healed of some infirmity and they all had some source of substance which that used to help support our Lord and his twelve. The interesting point here which might well sure as a life lesson for us, is the fact the Jesus, the king of kings, the Lord of lords, the divine Son of God who ministered both to the physical and spiritual needs of his people, accepted their support of his physical needs. He had turned water into wine, he multiplied a few fish and some bread into enough to feed thousands, he commanded the waves and the wind, he spoke and fruit trees withered, certainly he could have provided his own food and shelter and yet he allowed these woman to help support his daily needs. Was this for his benefit or theirs? It would seem he needed no benefit from this transaction and so we are left with the opinion he allowed them to do for him for their own benefit, to be able to show their gratitude in a monetary scene, from what they could offer. Certainly no person can ever offer Jesus anything close to what he offers them. This was true of them and it remains true for us. What do we have to offer to our Lord out of the gratitude for his sacrifice for us? Nothing, yet he accepted their offering to meet his daily needs, and he does the same for us. Of course we cannot do as those woman did for we cannot walk along the road in the physical with him as they did. So how do we give to his ministry, of what substance of ours can we support him with? In our postmodern denominationalism we have elected to interpret scripture in a manner which dictates supporting the church as supporting our Lord with our substance. But does the church go from village to village preaching the good news of the kingdom of God, living as a poor person with no place to lay their head? He humbled himself to his creation both at the cross and in his daily living. Does the church do that? They gather the wealth of their congregants to support a multitude of staff, abundance of trappings within the church structure, lighting, sound, music, drama, and whatever else they can add to the extravagant décor of the building and its grounds. Yet where is the ministry to the poor in need? Where are the sick being healed? Who in need hears the good news of the kingdom of God? Has the church lost its way? Has much of our support from our substance been eaten up in administrative costs? It is just a self-perpetuating circle? We give to the church and it gives us what we want, it feeds our self-interest, but what about the preaching to those in need of the good news of the kingdom of God? Are we actually supporting our Lord from our substance? We could see this also as our substance as what he has given to us, the gifts and fruit. This is our true worth, our true substance and of that we can offer to whoever we come in contact with, especially those in need of his grace. We can support his ministry by being his ministry in village after village, going about our neighborhood, our community, our workplace, our daily lives among people in need of the good news of the kingdom of God. After all we are an ambassador, a disciple, a follower, not of some church or denomination, but of Jesus. Let us support Jesus.