The Supporting Cast

She'll prepare spices with other women to anoint his body for burial, which they never got to. He rose before they could fulfill that desire, Luke 23, 56. She'll be the first person to see the resurrected Lord, Mark 16, 9. Then she, along with other women, will be the ones to deliver the news to the rest of the disciples that Jesus is alive. Luke 24, 10.

Now that's quite a resume for a former demonized, hopeless woman. Most Christians can name some, if not all, of Jesus' 12 disciples. Even if you can't name them all, you know of them and know that they followed and served Jesus. Far fewer people know who Joanna or Susanna are and what they did in Jesus' ministry. But as we come to chapter 8 of Luke, we encounter several specific examples of women, representing many more anonymous servants, who faithfully followed and served Jesus throughout his earthly ministry. From these brief biographies, we'll learn several valuable lessons about our own service to Christ.

Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart. Steven Davies' message today is called The Supporting Cast. Well church history would neither exist nor advance, nor be filled with so many testimonies of faith and courage were it not for women who were committed disciples of Jesus Christ. In fact, so much of what we have just enjoyed this morning with our children's choirs, the ministries around this campus today are made possible by these committed disciples. I find it interesting that in the Gospel by Luke, if you're new, we're studying our way through this text, you will discover that women play an important role in the narrative, in fact nearly 40 times. Jesus will refer to women, he will talk with women, evangelize women, heal women, teach women, which the rabbis of his day did not do. Luke records that these faithful women came to the cross, came to the tomb, announced his resurrection to the disciples.

Women have played in the early days, and to this day, a crucial significant role in the supporting cast of the Gospel. As you know, I enjoy reading biographies, I'm usually involved in one or two at any given time, but I came across one of a woman that I had never heard of, her name was Gladys Aylward, born in 1902 to a poor family, shoemaker and his wife, lived ordinary lives there in London in her teen years, and in her early 20s, she fulfilled the role in that culture which was suitable for her, which was what they called a parlor maid, a house maid. She eventually heard the news as a young believer of a widowed missionary in China who needed to be helped, replaced actually, in an orphanage she had started in the late 1800s. So Gladys applied to the China Inland Mission and was accepted into their three month preparatory course, but because she couldn't grasp the Mandarin language, she was declined. Rather devastated, she really didn't want to spend the rest of her life in that manner, wanted to be on the field, and so she decided to save every penny she could, and she did, until she was able to buy a one-way passage to China, and she expected to spend her life there. Because arriving or sailing by ship was costly, she arranged her plans to go by train as far as she could. Her train eventually was making its way through Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. All of the other passengers were soldiers.

They were headed to the front because Russia was in war. She was alone, single. She stood four feet, ten inches on her tiptoes. Eventually, this determined woman, who would be nicknamed the small woman in China for the rest of her life, but every inch determined, the train came to a halt and all the soldiers got off and she's sitting there alone. The conductor came back and said, this is as far as we're going because of the war and I'm not returning. So she got her two suitcases, one of which she had stuffed full of rice and beans and pots and pans, and began walking back to the station.

It took nearly a day and nearly dead with cold and exhaustion. She finally reached the station and there the providence of God connected her to a diplomat who gave her passage on a ship to China. I could tell you so much more of what God did through her. Fearless, faithful, disciple of Christ. You know, it's interesting to me that nowhere in the gospels, not even one time do you hear of a female follower of Jesus denying him, betraying him, leaving him.

Never once. From the earliest days, they served with faithfulness and humility. They're members of a supporting cast of the ministry of Christ and that legacy continues to this very day. Luke is going to introduce us to three of them. So if you have your Bibles, turn to the eighth chapter in his gospel and verse one. We're told here in this chapter now, it marks a little bit of a transition that Jesus went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the 12, the original, these will be the apostles eventually, were with him and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Now, Jesus is essentially commencing what we could call his first missionary trip. We would call it here at this church a global impact trip.

He sets out with the 12 and begins broadening his circle of ministry. Capernaum has been home base and now they're going to camp out as they travel around. And they're going to need some logistical help. They need money.

They'll need food. There's no mention anywhere in the accounts that Jesus ever appealed for money. He didn't pass a plate at the end of a service. Remember too, he was poor. He was very poor. He needed money too.

In fact, you're aware that on one occasion he needed to pay his taxes, didn't have the money. So he sent Peter to the lake to catch a fish, which Peter did, had in his mouth the money to pay taxes, which I think is a fabulous way to pay your taxes. But Jesus didn't tell Peter to stay down there at that lake and keep fishing. Now, Jesus didn't need anybody's help. He could have created every meal of bread and fish, right?

But he chose, as we'll see, the co-laborer as he does today. So where is he going to get the money from to buy food along the way? Well, if you look down at the end of verse three, you'll find the answer. And many others who provided for them out of their means, you could expand this, paraphrase it to literally read, and many other disciples provided for their support out of their private funds, their private means. So these women, along with the others, men and women, in addition to the 12 disciples, literally funded out of their own account the earthly ministry of Jesus. They're supporting him.

How's that for an investment? Now, these three women Luke is about to introduce to us are members of the support team. And they have this in common.

I read it quickly, but this is what they have in common. All of them have been healed by Jesus. They've been cured, delivered by the Lord. The first woman now is introduced to us in verse two, the middle part. Notice, Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out. Now, Mary is not to be confused with the prostitute we looked at last Lord's Day and studied that encounter who brought her vial of perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus. Nowhere, in fact, in the Bible is Mary Magdalene called or referred to as a prostitute. The medieval church created that myth, that tradition, without any evidence and it really opened the door for all kinds of legends and superstitions and lurid ideas that exist to this day. The Gnostic gospels will later on in the second and third century create their own version of this woman and they'll say that she and Jesus fell in love and moved to the south of France and raised a family. As the apostle Paul would say, that's a bunch of baloney, just so you know.

But the truth remains, she is living a miserable life in her home village of Magdala. Demon possession typically brought with it physical emotional disorders. Later on in this chapter, Luke is going to introduce us to a deranged man living in a cemetery. But this doesn't mean in every case or most cases that mental illness is the result of demon possession. But demon possession typically brought with it physical, emotional, mental distress and pain and suffering. Now we're not given anywhere in the gospel accounts that moment when Jesus found Mary of Magdala and set her free.

But you can only imagine what a day that was, can't you? When Luke says here in verse 2 that Jesus healed these women of evil spirits and infirmities, the word Dr. Luke uses for healed is the verb therapeutic which gives us our word therapy. It's a comprehensive word in the first century that emphasized an entire restoration of health and cleansing. So it's no wonder really that Mary Magdalene wants to do nothing more than follow Jesus. So if you track her through the gospels as I did, I'll just give you the summary. She and other women will serve him along with the other disciples.

Matthew adds to that in chapter 27 in verse 55. She will eventually follow along with other women who trail behind the Lord weeping as he walks up Golgotha, Luke 23, 27. She'll stay on that hill and watch him until he dies, Matthew 27, 56. She'll prepare spices with other women to anoint his body for burial, which they never got to. He rose before they could fulfill that desire, Luke 23, 56. She'll be the first person to see the resurrected Lord, Mark 16, 9. And then she, along with other women, will be the ones to deliver the news to the rest of the disciples that Jesus is alive, Luke 24, 10. Now that's quite a resume for a former demonized, hopeless woman without a prayer, and certainly without a future. Ostracized, unclean, unwanted, avoided, no doubt abandoned by everyone who knew her and would have known her when she fell under the power of the devil. Now we're not told how long.

We're not told how. We're not given any details of that moment when she met Jesus. But we do know that he found her, just like he found you and me. Now, lest we relegate Mary's deliverance to some distant past, don't ever forget that Jesus is still delivering people to this day just like he did back then. In fact, it strikes me that he is delivering people just as easily today as he did back then. This was not a strain for Jesus. He didn't have to buy extra holy water and double the holy smoke and chant and some monotone and utter incantations. If you watch him deal with demonized people, all he does is speak.

Speak. In fact, when Jesus shows up, the demon-possessed person is not helpless. The demons are helpless. What I love about Mary Magdalene is she joins this group of disciples and it really just highlights the Lord's ability to take somebody that's hopeless and helpless and give hope and a future. Let me make an observation here and we'll put it in principle form as they turn down the air conditioner.

Here it is. Having a dark past doesn't handicap the Lord's ability to give you a bright future, no matter what your past. Jesus took somebody that's ostracized and he gives her a brand new family. All of a sudden, she's surrounded by brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers.

Imagine what this group was to her. You really can. Maybe you can to some degree because until you came to Christ, you were alone. Maybe when you came to faith, you were the only one in your family, first generation, brand new. Nobody understands you.

They're not sure they want you around at Thanksgiving or Christmas. What are we going to do with her? What a new family she was given. Well, let's look at the next woman here in verse 3. The text says, And Joanna, the wife of Huzzah or Huzzas, Herod's household manager.

Now, we're not told what she was healed from, but we're told she's a devoted follower of Christ. But it's interesting to me because Luke wants us to know that the gospel has reached the upper echelon of Roman society. He makes the point and points out that she's married to a high-ranking member of Herod's administration. The word Luke uses to define Huzzah's position is the title for someone in charge of managing the personal property and the financial portfolio of the king.

He's the king's personal CFO. And that would have been an incredibly influential position in the court. He would have commanded the respect of the court.

Huzzah and Joanna would have been on the friend list of the king. But get this, this king is not a friend of Jesus. Herod's father, you may remember, was known as Herod the Great. He had tried to find and kill Jesus after the Magi reported that the king of the Jews had been born.

He failed in his search, in his hatred, and paranoia only intensified. And now one of his sons, Herod Antipas, this Herod here in Luke's gospel account, is going to be the one that orders the death of John the Baptist. He will be the one to conspire with Pilate to crucify Jesus.

Now, you know, Herod is not going to be holding any testimony meetings or sing inspirations in the palace. This would have been a difficult place. So, Joanna is a difficult person to reach with the gospel. If there was ever a difficult place for an opening in the gospel, it would be the world of King Herod. And yet, look who just declares her allegiance to Christ.

Let me make another observation here. Sometimes God reaches an unexpected person in the most unlikely place. We're not told again when Jesus met her and healed her. We don't know what was wrong with her. We do know that it was so remarkable that she could only follow Jesus and she became one of his disciples.

And evidently, her husband went along with it. We don't know what he thought about it. We don't know if he was worried about it.

Frankly, I believe he would have been because you can imagine the buzz this is going to make around the palace. You know, have you heard? Cusa's wife has got a religion. She's tilted. She's following this itinerant rabbi. She's giving him money.

Somebody help her. Don't overlook the fact that when Joanna decided to follow Jesus, she crossed the railroad tracks. She left her neighborhood. She left a pampered life to set up camp and wash dishes and clean clothes along with these other women. She's choosing, as it were, to get on a train and go across Siberia with a suitcase full of beans and rice and pots and pans.

Long hours, hard work, and a lot of miles. And now Joanna is serving alongside people she would have shunned had she not met Jesus. She's not going to hang around Mary of Magdalene. What a great picture of the church to this day.

Well, let's go on. There's another woman we want to meet in verse 3. If you don't look carefully, you'll miss her.

The text simply says, and I'll back up because I want to read something. Joanna, the wife of Cusa, Herod's household manager, and Susanna. That's it.

That's it. We know nothing more about her. Mary Magdalene will become rather famous. Joanna is married to a powerful man. She and her husband are insiders at Buckingham Palace. They've probably got a key. Susanna, she remains a mystery to this day.

Let me put it into principle form. Being unknown is not the same thing as being unessential. She was essential. The early church more than likely knew her well, but we know nothing more than that she was healed by Jesus, that she followed Jesus, that she helped serve him and the other disciples, and gave out of her financial resources to support him. She is unknown, but essential to the work of Christ.

Now, if you're tempted to think that she got shortchanged here, that she got left out of the award recognition ceremony, just read on. The text goes on to say, and Susanna and many others who provided for them out of their means. Note that many others, they're not even named. At least Susanna was named, but these people remain completely anonymous. We don't know who they are.

We only know what they did. They would have been part of that supporting cast, doing those menial tasks of tending camp, cleaning, cooking, providing along the way. All we know, get this now, all we know is that they helped Jesus. They helped Jesus. But wouldn't that be enough?

Wouldn't that be enough? Most often the Lord has us doing menial things, not miraculous things. There are a lot of people in the church today that are waiting to do something great for God, and he's looking for people to do something small for God. The poet reminds us, is your place a small place? Tended with care, he put you there. Is your place a large place? Guarded with care, he put you there. Whatever the place, it is not yours alone.

He joins you there. Like Gladys Aylward, who was interviewed sometime before she died. She had had a meeting earlier with Elizabeth Elliott, and Elizabeth wrote that she was deeply encouraged by this elderly missionary to China. Gladys recounted in this final interview that she had been a little surprised that God had used her because of her limitations physically, intellectually, academically, and with humility and a little humor, she said this in that interview, I'm convinced I was not God's first choice for what I did in China. There had to have been someone else. It couldn't have been me. It must have been a man, a wonderful man, a well-educated man, but I don't know what happened to him. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing.

He never came. And God looked down and saw me. Beloved, I want you to consider the opening verses of Luke chapter 8 to be an invitation to join this glorious company of faithful women, the supporting cast. Some were wealthy, some were impoverished, but all of them like us have this one thing in common. We all serve the one who set us free and we get to serve. And that really ought to be enough. This message is called the supporting cast.

It comes from Stephen Davies exposition through a portion of Luke entitled demonstrations of resurrection power. We're going to continue through this series in the days ahead. I hope you'll join us for all of it. Our number is 866-48-Bible. That's 866-482-4253. Call today, then join us next time for more wisdom for the hearts. Not what you need.