Luke 8:1 - 3
Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them[a] out of their means.
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. What is the good news of the kingdom of God?
2. Who were these women?
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-8-commentary says:
ReplyDeleteSoon afterwards - The literal Greek (en to kathexes) means "in the next," that is, afterward or later. Soon afterwards is somewhat misleading, for as Lenski says it "states only that the time is a little later than the preceding incident, Luke desires to say no more."
MacArthur comments on Jesus traveling from on city and village to another - That Jesus would restrict the scope of His ministry by spending so much of it traveling from one city and village to another in Galilee is inexplicable from the perspective of modern philosophy of ministry. Jerusalem, the cultural and intellectual center of Israel, should have been His target. Galilee, on the other hand, was a largely rural area, whose plebian residents were scorned by the sophisticated Judeans.
MacArthur sets the context for Jesus' ministry observing that "Lk 8:1-3 bridges us into the final phase of His Galilean ministry. Lk 4:14-15+ bridged us into the first phase of His Galilean ministry, featuring the city of Capernaum which seemed to be His home base. This summary in Lk 8:1-3 bridges us into the last phase of His Galilean ministry with no mention of Capernaum.
Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are interchangeable. In Mt 19:23 Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." Then in Mt 19:24, He says "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." So entering the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God is to be saved...they understood entering the kingdom of God as being saved, and that's exactly how you want ought to understand it. When Jesus preached the kingdom of God, He was preaching salvation....the kingdom of God is the sphere in which God rules over those who have come to Him for salvation, the sphere of salvation over which God rules as sovereign monarch. And so this was Jesus' message. The whole of the Bible is the story of salvation.....Preaching the kingdom is preaching the good news that sinners can be saved, rescued "from the domain of darkness, and transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Col 1:13+). They can turn from "the dominion of Satan to God" (Acts 26:18+).....He was inviting people to come into the kingdom of God. In order to come into the Kingdom of God they had to repent of their sin and believe the Gospel (cf Mark 1:14, 15+ "Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.”).
The Kingdom of God - One must understand that there are (AT LEAST) two phases to the Kingdom of God. The first phase is the invisible, internal Kingdom of God and which He later described as "in your midst”, the Kingdom in which the King reigns in the heart of the person who has accepted Jesus as Messiah. When the King returns on the day that the Son of Man is revealed (apokalupto) (Lk 17:30+, cf Mt 24:30+, Rev 1:7+, Rev 19:11-16+) the heart of every person will also be revealed as to whether they sought the kingdom of "self" or the kingdom of the Savior!
In Lk 8:2-3 Luke mentions a number of women, which was unusual, for other Jewish rabbis generally did not teach women nor include them in their circle of disciples. Of course Jesus was not like the other Jewish rabbis!
THOUGHT: Beloved brother (or sister) in Christ how are you doing with your "twelve" (or one or two or ten?) The point is are you doing anything of eternal value. What breaks my heart is to see men who have walked with Jesus for 20, 30, 40, 50 or more years and they know Jesus and they know the Word and yet they fail to PASS ON THE BATON to the young Timothy's that God has placed directly in front of them.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-8-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteDarrell Bock on women with Jesus - Because of the centuries that have passed since Jesus walked the earth, it is hard for us to appreciate how revolutionary Luke’s picture of Jesus’ ministry is. Women’s involvement in supporting Jesus’ ministry is an example. Though some wealthy women supported religious figures in ancient times (Josephus Antiquities 17.2.4), it was unusual for them to be as involved as the women in this passage are with Jesus. In fact, this passage is one of several unique to Luke that focus on women (others include Lk 1:5–39+, Elizabeth; Lk 2:36–38+, Anna the prophetess; Lk 7:36–50+, the sinful woman; Lk 10:38–42+, Martha and Mary; Lk 13:10–17+, the healing of the crippled woman; Lk 15:8–10+, the parable of the woman with the lost coin; Lk 18:1–8+, the parable of the woman and the judge). Many men of the time believed that women were not even to be seen, much less heard. In contrast, Luke and the New Testament declare that women have equal access to the blessings of grace and salvation.
Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out - Mary was apparently born in Magdala (see video of ancient ruins of Magdala). She had a "complete" number of demons so to speak (7), so some take this literally and others interpret it as "severe" possession! One can only imagine what her presentation looked like prior to Jesus (presumably He did the exorcism) removing the demons. This is not the sinful woman mentioned in Luke 7:37-50+ nor is it Mary of Bethany in John 12:3 (see How many Marys are in the Bible?). Mary Magdalene became a devoted follower and servant of Jesus who stayed with Him until the very end watching His agony on the Cross. After His crucifixion Mary saw where Jesus was laid (Mt 27:61, Mk 15:47, Lk 23:55+), and participated in the anointing of His body (Mt 28:1, Mk 16:1, Lk 24:10+). John’s Gospel records a special resurrection appearance Jesus made to Mary Magdalene who became the first person recorded to have witnessed Jesus after his resurrection (John 20:11-18).
Demons (1140)(daimonion from daímon = demon) most often describes demons or evil spirits who have supernatural powers and are neither human nor divine (Mt 7:22). Acts 17:18 refers specifically to to heathen gods. In the context of a Jewish use it more often refers to a demon, evil spirit, devil, or one who is subject to Satan. Daimonion was used in pagan Greek writings to refer to an inferior race of divine beings, lower than the Greek gods, but more powerful than men.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-8-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteWho was Mary Magdalene? - The name Magdalene likely indicates that she came from Magdala, a city on the southwest coast of the Sea of Galilee. After Jesus cast seven demons from her, she became one of His followers. Mary Magdalene has been associated with the "woman in the city who was a sinner" (Luke 7:37) who washed Jesus' feet, but there is no scriptural basis for this. The city of Magdala did have a reputation for prostitution. This information, coupled with the fact that Luke first mentions Mary Magdalene immediately following his account of the sinful woman (Luke 7:36-50), has led some to equate the two women. But there is no scriptural evidence to support this idea. Mary Magdalene is nowhere identified as a prostitute or as a sinful woman, despite popular portrayals of her as such. Mary Magdalene is also often associated with the woman whom Jesus saved from stoning after she had been taken in adultery (John 8:1-11). But again this is an association with no evidence. The movie “The Passion of the Christ” made this connection. This view is possible, but not likely and certainly not taught in the Bible. Mary Magdalene witnessed most of the events surrounding the crucifixion. She was present at the mock trial of Jesus; she heard Pontius Pilate pronounce the death sentence; and she saw Jesus beaten and humiliated by the crowd. She was one of the women who stood near Jesus during the crucifixion to try to comfort Him. The earliest witness to the resurrection of Jesus, she was sent by Jesus to tell the others (John 20:11-18). Although this is the last mention of her in the Bible, she was probably among the women who gathered with the apostles to await the promised coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14). The recent fiction novel “The DaVinci Code” makes the claim that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. Some of the non-biblical early Christian writings (considered heresy by the early Christians) hint at a special relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. However, there is no evidence whatsoever to support the belief that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. The Bible does not even hint at such an idea.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-8-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteAnd Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward - William Barclay says Joanna was wife of “Herod’s epitropos. A king had man prerequisites and much private property; his epitropos was the official that looked after the king’s financial interests…There could be no more trusted and important official.” This Herod is Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee which shows that the Gospel had even penetrated into upper social strata. Joanna is mentioned again with Mary Magdalene as one of the first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection in Lk 24:10+ (cf Mk 16:1) but she is otherwise unknown. It is interesting that Herod’s foster brother Manaen was another figure in the royal entourage who had contact with Christians (Acts 13:1+).
Susanna is unknown
I would dare say that it’s not just unbelievers who see the possibility of sexual impurity in these passages, but some of us believers have thought such things as well. Isaiah saw it in himself,(Isaiah 6:5NKJV) …Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." There is not a shred of solid evidence from the first century that Jesus’ relationships with His disciples and these women were anything but pure and holy."
IVP Background Commentary - Women sometimes served as patrons, or supporters, of religious teachers or associations in the ancient Mediterranean. (Men outnumbered them more than ten to one, however, because men had more of the economic resources.) But for these women to travel with the group would have been viewed as scandalous. Adult coeducation was unheard of, and that these women are learning Jesus’ teaching as closely as his male disciples would surely bother some outsiders as well. Upper-class families had more mobility, but commoners would still talk, as they did when other teachers (such as Greek philosophers) were accused of having women among their followers.
Questions and findings:
ReplyDelete1. What is the good news of the kingdom of God?
It is the Gospel. Jesus came as a sacrifice, reuniting us with God and ushering in His kingdom. Good news!
2. Who were these women?
There's more description above. They served and supported Jesus during His ministry, and were there at the cross, and at his resurrection. Not much else is known about them (although there is a little more detail on Mary Magdalene).