|
by
Doug Ward |
From the beginning, the Christian message has had broad appeal. The first
disciples of Jesus included people from all walks of life, both rich and poor,
who came together in a loving community to support Jesus' ministry.
One
wealthy member of that community was Joanna, identified in Luke 8:3 as
"the wife of Herod's steward Chuza." Luke
says that she was one of a number of women who helped fund the group "out
of their own resources."
For
a woman of Joanna's status, choosing to follow Jesus required courage. Her
husband Chuza held a high-profile position in the
court of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee. After having John the Baptist beheaded, Herod was wary of Jesus, whom he
believed to be John raised from the dead (Mark 6:14-16). Herod might not have
been pleased to learn that his steward's wife was a Christ-follower.
We
do not know how Chuza reacted to Joanna's decision.
Did he give up his position and join her as a disciple? Did he divorce her? In
any case, Joanna valued her commitment to the gospel above her wealth and
social status.
Joanna
was faithful to that commitment. She was one of a group of women who found
Jesus' empty tomb on Easter Sunday morning and began spreading the good news of
his resurrection (Luke 24:1-10), and she was undoubtedly one of "the
women"(Acts 1:14) who waited in Jerusalem after that for the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
There
may be one additional chapter in Joanna's story. About 25 years later Paul the
apostle, in his epistle to Christians in Rome, sent greetings to a number of
people, including a woman named Junia. He mentioned
that Junia was a fellow Jew who had become a follower
of Jesus before he had and, like him, had spent time in prison for her faith.
He also stated that Junia was "prominent among
the apostles" (Romans 16:7, NRSV).
Biblical
scholar Richard Bauckham argues in his book Gospel Women that Junia in Romans 16:7 may well have been Joanna. Certainly,
Joanna was a Jew who was a disciple of Jesus before Paul was. Moreover, it was
common for Jews in those days to adopt an alternate name for use outside the
land of Israel. Paul himself was "Saul" in Jewish settings and
"Paul" in Greco-Roman settings. Other examples include John, who was
also called Mark (Acts 12:12); and Paul's companion Silas (Acts 15-18), who was
also known as Silvanus ( 2 Corinthians 1:19). If
Joanna moved to Rome at some point in her service to the gospel, she would have
adopted an alternate name, perhaps Junia.
Junia is the only woman identified in the Bible as an apostle.
Whether Joanna and Junia are two names for the same
person or two different people, she/they set a fine example for us in their
dedication to Jesus and the cause of the gospel.
File
translated from TEX by TTH,
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On 16 Jan 2024, 12:13.
