and certain women who had been healed of wicked spirits and infirmities, Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Luke pauses in a preaching tour to name the people travelling with Jesus. Among them are women He had healed, and the first is Mary Magdalene — which raises two questions: what was her past, and why does Luke record these names at all?
The list of names is not a footnote to the preaching tour. It is the proof of it.
This short statement gives us the real subject of the chapter: the ministry of the word, the good news of the kingdom of God, and what it does in people through divine power. Mary Magdalene is named first after the twelve disciples, as an example.
Another writer looks at how far this preaching reaches, and who decides where grace lands:
His "proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God" goes out to everyone alike! Grace can go anywhere and everywhere, but it makes its choice according to God's will, because He must be sovereign... So we find that grace produces fruit now, in this present life.
A long tradition has treated Mary Magdalene as a prostitute. Commentators reject that reading. They base it on what Scripture says about her.
Mary Magdalene was a desperate case too, but her evil was of a wholly different kind. It was not corruption, but Satan's power. Demons held her, as we are told here: "from whom seven demons had gone out." That is how Scripture describes her, every time it mentions her. Scripture never charges her with moral looseness.
Another writer says her real state was worse than the legend:
She was not a prostitute, as people commonly suppose. Her state was worse than that: a sevenfold vicious Satanic power had enslaved her, and Jesus set her free.
The number is not decoration. It describes an oppressive hold on a human life.
Mary of Magdala was one who loved much, for she had been delivered from the oppression of seven demons. Some have imagined this was moral depravity. It was not. It was spiritual captivity, frightening and crushing.
Deliverance from that captivity changed everything for her:
He did meet with this sorrowful outcast, and with His word of power He "cast out" from her the seven demons... She had been Satan's slave. He made her do whatever he wanted, however horrible and wicked, with her soul and body under his evil control. Now He brought her into the blessed circle where grace was supreme.
The next verse says these women supported Jesus from their own money. One writer traces the order behind that:
The first effect of the Lord's word was deliverance. The next was attraction. Grace flowed out so powerfully from our Lord and Saviour that it overpowered those who received it in their needs and sorrows. It cut them loose from everything that might have held them back, and drew them, like Levi, to Him and after Him in the path of devoted discipleship.
Her name marks her home town, and the verse sets two facts about her side by side:
The two things stand in wonderful contrast. In one she was completely under Satan's power. In the other she was serving the Lord Jesus... She is really called 'Mary of Magdala,' a town near the Sea of Galilee.
There is something startling here. The One with authority over demons lets women support Him.
The Lord of glory owns all creation. Yet in lowly humility He made Himself dependent on the service of women. That is a blessed testimony to the grace of His heart. At the same time, it gave them a chance to show what His grace meant to them, in a way that will receive a full reward from God.
The next name in the list is Joanna, wife of an official in Herod's household. Her presence in this group is unexpected.
So God called where you would least expect it. This woman belonged to the court of the false king, and she rejoiced that she was allowed to follow the despised but true King, Jesus of Nazareth.
- Delivered. Mary's problem was not immorality but captivity. Seven demons held her, and Scripture never calls her a loose woman.
- Drawn. Deliverance came first, attraction second. Freed people did not scatter; they followed.
- Devoted. The same woman once held by seven demons now supports Jesus from her own money. The contrast is the whole point of the verse.
- Received. The Lord of all creation accepted gifts from women He had healed. He gave them a way to say thank you, and God will reward it.
- Reaching. Grace reached an outcast held by demons, and it reached an official's wife in Herod's court. It goes "anywhere and everywhere," and it produces fruit now, in this life.
and Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to him of their substance.
Only Luke records this scene. Jesus travels from town to town with the good news of the kingdom, and a group of women travels with Him. They pay for the work out of their own money. Their names, their backgrounds, and the sight of a King living on gifts from those He healed all repay a closer look.
Luke first shows what the money paid for. One writer points out that Jesus went to find people wherever they were. No other king has preached his own kingdom.
He would widen the reach of His work to get to people, if possible, wherever they were. It was the King announcing the kingdom. But what king was ever called to do that, except Him? He was the King, though in humiliation. He was Lord of all, and He upheld all things by the word of His power. Yet certain women cared for Him — some of them, it seems, women of means, whom He had healed of evil spirits and illnesses.
Why would forgiven people spend their own money this way? One writer traces it back to what grace does after it pardons.
Grace does not only forgive. Those who are forgiven are born anew, and they show their new life in fitting ways, in due time, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Her name has long carried the charge of sexual sin. One writer rejects that, and says her trouble was something far worse.
Among these was Mary called Magdalene, and seven demons had gone out of her. She was not a woman of the streets, as people commonly suppose. Her condition was worse than that. A sevenfold vicious satanic power had made her its slave, and Jesus had set her free... They had something to give, and they gave it to Him willingly and gladly. Rich men came and cared for Him at His death, but these women of means cared for Him during His life.
The second woman came from a royal court. Her husband, Chuza, ran Herod's household. One writer sees a surprise in that.
So God called in a place where you would least expect it. She belonged to the court of the false king, yet she rejoiced to be allowed to follow the despised but true King, Jesus of Nazareth.
Susanna and the unnamed women left no story behind. One writer finds their honour inside that silence.
Others were there too — "Susanna, and many others" — and we know nothing about them, except what grace gave them: in honouring Jesus they found their everlasting honour. They were drawn to the Lord Jesus, and they served Him as they could.
Notice which way the giving runs here. The One who owns the world lets others pay His way.
The Lord of glory owns all creation. Yet in lowly humility He made Himself dependent on the care of women. That is truly a blessed testimony to the grace of His heart. At the same time it gave them the chance to show what His grace meant to them, in a way that God will fully reward.
He had no money of His own. Yet one writer notes that He still met the needs of everyone around Him.
He would accept help from godly women out of their own money, and yet He met the needs of everyone around Him out of the treasures of the whole earth and all it holds... He never begs, though He does not have a penny. When He wanted to see one — not to use it Himself — He had to ask someone to show Him one.
Some older versions say the women provided for "him". One writer explains why "them" is the better reading.
They provided for them — that is, for the Lord and His twelve disciples — as the better reading has it. A woman's influence should not be looked down on. In personal service she has a place, and an honourable place... The Lord approved such service, and He accepted it as well.
The Lord is no longer here for us to feed and fund. One writer shows where that same love goes now.
Both under the law and under the gospel, this is God's revealed will and the desire of His heart: those who are truly called by Him to the work, and who give themselves to it earnestly, diligently and faithfully, should have the warm sympathy and practical help of His people. All who love Christ will count it their deepest joy to serve Him by serving His servants.
- Healed — every woman named here first received. Their giving starts where their deliverance ended.
- Freed — Mary Magdalene's seven demons were satanic slavery, not immorality. One writer rejects the old slander on her name.
- Called — Joanna came from the false king's court. She left it to follow the true King. God calls where you least expect.
- Received — the Owner of creation let grateful women pay His way, and God will fully reward their gift.
- Continued — He is no longer here for us to provide for, so the same love now supports His servants.