Proclaiming the Good News

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

PROCLAIMING THE GOOD NEWS

 

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

One of the things we rarely consider is these women had their own means. They supported Jesus and we would think the twelve as well from a source of sustenance. What is usually thought of women during that time was that they did not have this own identity. They  were first the daughter of a man, then a wife of a man, or seen as the mother of a man, such as Joanna is referred to as the wife of Cuza. So how did they support Jesus and his disciples from their own means? However, the point here is that it was right and still is to support someone who is proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. Now whether the person proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God is a traveling evangelist as was the case with Jesus or someone who is constantly in the same place, such as a pastor, it is right to support that person from our own means. What we should consider is the other scripture that establishes the of supporting the pastor or shepherd of the flock, which Jesus is referred to as the Good Shepherd, for he did feed his people, the good news of the kingdom of God, plus so much more teachings as to how we live in this kingdom. Still, being able to proclaim the good news of the kingdom traveling from town to town does require some support and that is what this woman did. We do wonder how much difference there is in proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God and proclaiming aspects of living in this kingdom. We also wonder if we all, as followers of Jesus, should be proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. That is, if we say we are followers of Jesus, rather than just saying that we are Christians does it have a different meaning. If we are followers of Jesus then we would think we would follow what Jesus did or said, such as when he said that we would do even greater things that he did. But the action that Luke tells us here about Jesus is that everywhere he went, he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God.  The one truth we can stand on is that news about the kingdom of God is good news. In this world that seems to be obsessed with bad news, we would think we are the one person who can share some good news, and in reality, it is the only truly good news there has even been and is now and will forever be. Let us not just be Christians by name, but follow Jesus, being the one in this world who has the good news about the kingdom of God and proclaiming it wherever we go. Maybe we could just start a conversation asking someone if they heard about the good news.