A GRACIOUS GIVER

JANUARY 24, 2024





If I asked you to name, the leading women, those who loved and followed Jesus, mentioned in the New Testament who would you name?






I suspect most of us would name, women like Mary, Mary Magdalene, Martha and her sister Mary, Lydia, and maybe Priscilla. These are mentioned in the New Testament as Jesus followers who had an impact in the story of early Christianity, by their obvious commitment to the God. The lives of the women of the New Testament teach us about forgiveness, grace, sacrifice, strength, and devotion to Jesus,

On our little quiz above how many of you named Joanna?

Joanna is not as familiar to us as those listed above, yet what we can uncover about her is inspirational and moving. Joanna was a person with gifts and resources that she offered in service to Jesus’ Mission.



The first encounter we have with Joanna is in Luke 8:1-3:



After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.



Here we learn that Joanna is one of three Jewish women mentioned by name. These women had personal, life-changing interactions with Jesus and lived to show the depths of their love and gratitude. There were “many others,” our passage says, but the three women mentioned must have been known in the early Jesus community, as those who had been transformed by Jesus’ healing touch, and known for their contribution and influence to the way of Jesus.



Joanna had a "front-row seat" to the unfolding story of Jesus. She was there, in person. She witnessed miracles (including her own  healing) and she heard the teachings of Jesus firsthand. Can you imagine? 


Joanna was a woman of wealth, privilege, and influence. In contrast to many of Jesus’ followers, and because of her husband Chuza’s position in the household of Herod Antipas, as household manager, Joanna lived a life of wealth and privilege. Even so, her status could not heal her physically or spiritually; only Jesus could. Joanna’s unique position in society may also have resulted in opportunities for ministry and the Gospel, as a Jesus-follower she had direct ties to a ruler’s household!



We also learn that Joanna helped to support the ministry of Jesus with her personal means and finances. She didn’t simply follow, listen to the words of Jesus; she put her faith and gratitude into action by providing for the needs of Jesus and his disciples as they traveled “from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.” Somehow that seems fitting as the name Joanna means God is a gracious giver.



There is only one other mention of Joanna, that is in Luke 24:1-10, this passage mentions her as one of the first witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.



On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.

We see from this account that Joanna was there, on the scene, as a witness to the risen Jesus! She was one of the women to discover the empty tomb, to experience the initial despair, to bow in fear at the “two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning,” and then, to remember Jesus’ words that he would be crucified but would rise again on the third day.



Overwhelmed with Joy, Joanna is among the first to tell the “Good News” of the resurrection to Jesus’ disciples. Talk about a significant role in furthering the work of Jesus.



Like Joanna, we are called to share the Gospel from the abundance of our joy we have because of our experience of New Life, liberating love and grace given to us through Jesus. Our response of gratitude results in our offering ourselves and all that we have to bring honor to the one who set us free. We, like Joanna, are “all in” as Jesus followers, offering our gifts, abilities, and finances to advance the message of hope found in our risen Jesus.



True enough our story and journey take a different path than, Joanna, yet as Jesus extends the profound gift of grace to each of us, He also says “Come follow me." Jesus gives us a sacred calling, the honorable task of sharing the incredible news that “God is for us, not against us … that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8)