Luke 8:1-3
Find a place and time free of distractions for the next 7-10 minutes. Take a moment to settle into your surroundings and then begin to recognize your breath. As you breathe in, call on the name of Jesus and become aware of his presence with you. As you breathe out, open your mind and heart to receive whatever Jesus has for you today.
As you read Luke 8:1-3, remember Jesus’ compassion for the “immoral woman” that we considered in our last three meditations.
The gospel that Jesus preached was that with his coming, the Kingdom of God had broken into the present age bringing healing and freedom. This was and is Good News for people who recognize their desperate situation and understand their helplessness to bring about change. The Kingdom of God is the realm in which everything is right, just, and good the way God intended, and it is embodied in Jesus.
Take some time to meditate on the words of the prophet Isaiah as quoted by Jesus at the beginning of his earthly ministry:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” – Luke 4:18-19 (Isaiah 61:1-2)
How you have experienced freedom, healing, release, and favor through Jesus? Share your thoughts about this with him now.
Read Luke 8:1-3 again.
First century Israel was a patriarchal society, and as we have already seen, women occupied a low rung on the societal ladder. So It is no small thing that Luke includes the information in this passage in his larger account of Jesus’ life and ministry. But in setting out an accurate account, Luke understands that these facts are critical to the story.
Jesus valued women, unlike other first century rabbis, and obviously invited many women to be his disciples and even to travel with him and his male followers. By including these women in his new community of followers, Jesus restores God’s intentions for humanity and demonstrates the Kingdom of God in which all people are created in the image and likeness of God – male and female. All are invited into the new community of Jesus to participate with him in his mission to set things right in the world.
Take some time to meditate on these words written by the Apostle Paul to the church at Galatia just over a decade after Jesus’ death and resurrection:
“…you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.” – Galatians 3:26-29
What might Jesus be saying to you through Luke’s account today?
What will you do about that?
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