Luke 8:1-3: Ministering Women – Part IV
Saturday, September 30, 2023
Quentin Metsys: John the Evangelist and the Three Women at the Tomb of Christ
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. (John 19:25)
The courage to do what others will not do. We might all, women and men, have the courage to minister to one another.
The women who had followed Jesus from Galilee went with Joseph and saw the tomb and how Jesus’ body was placed in it. (Luke 23:55)
The persistence to follow once we hear God’s call. We might all, women and men, find the tenacity to remain with one another in Christ.
“Woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who is it that you are looking for?” She thought he was the gardener, so she said to him, “If you took him away, sir, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” (John 20:15)
The fidelity to follow when there seems to be no hope. We might all, women and men, find faithfulness in the Holy Spirit.
We sat down and talked to the women who gathered there. One of those who heard us was Lydia from Thyatira, who was a dealer in purple cloth. She was a woman who worshiped God, and the Lord opened her mind to pay attention to what Paul was saying. After she and the people of her house had been baptized, she invited us, “Come and stay in my house if you have decided that I am a true believer in the Lord.” And she persuaded us to go. (Acts 16:12-15)
The women we find in scripture struggle against the norms of the times. They remain faithful to Christ and his promise of resurrection. They remain hopeful in good times and bad. They love endlessly with the love of the divine.
We might all, women and men, like the ministering women we see today, be willing to give voice to the voiceless, to persist where others weaken, and to share the startling good news that Christ has redeemed the world.
For more on Lydia, go to: https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Lydia
Why does it matter that women discovered the resurrected Christ? How does God turn our thinking on its head? How might the Spirit move us to understand the peace of inversion? Visit: http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/christian-trends/why-it-matters-that-women-discovered-the-empty-tomb.html
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