Commentary - Luke 8:1-3

Bird's-eye view

In this brief but potent passage, Luke gives us a snapshot of the machinery of Jesus' itinerant ministry. This is not a story of a lone teacher wandering the countryside; it is the account of a royal procession. The King is on the move, proclaiming the good news of His kingdom, and He is accompanied by His inner circle, the twelve, and a remarkable group of female disciples. The central point here is the organic connection between redemption and service. These women are not following Jesus as a career move or as a way to gain status. They are following Him because He has rescued them from the direst of circumstances, from demonic oppression and debilitating sickness. Their ministry of financial and practical support is not a duty they perform to earn favor, but rather the grateful and joyful overflow of a heart that has been set free. This passage radically subverts the world's idea of patronage and demonstrates the beautiful, complementary way that men and women together support the advance of the gospel.

Luke, with his characteristic attention to detail, highlights the diversity of this group. We have Mary Magdalene, a woman delivered from profound demonic bondage, alongside Joanna, the wife of a high-ranking official in Herod's court. This shows the gospel cutting across all social strata. The kingdom of God creates a new community where past shame and present status are rendered irrelevant by a shared allegiance to King Jesus. Their practical support, providing for Jesus and the twelve out of their own resources, was essential for the ministry to continue. It is a foundational picture of how the preaching of the Word is to be sustained by the grateful service of God's people.

Outline

Context In Luke

This passage acts as a crucial bridge in Luke's narrative. Jesus has just concluded a section demonstrating His authority over the natural world, the demonic realm, disease, and even death (Luke 4:31-7:50). He has called His twelve apostles (Luke 6:12-16) and delivered the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20-49). The question of "Who is this man?" is in the air. Now, Luke shows us the result of this power and teaching: a community forms around Jesus. This community is the nascent form of the Church. The passage immediately precedes the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:4-15), which will explain why the "preaching and proclaiming" mentioned here receives such varied responses. This little summary of Jesus' traveling entourage provides the real-world context for the parables that follow. The Word is going out, the King is on the move, and here we see the first fruits of the harvest He is gathering.

Key Issues

The Royal Retinue

When a king travels, he does not travel alone. He moves with his court, his guard, and his administrators. This passage in Luke is showing us something similar, but with the values of the kingdom turned upside down. Here is King Jesus, on the move, proclaiming the good news that God's reign is breaking into the world through Him. With Him are the twelve, the foundational pillars of the new Israel. But then Luke adds this other group, a company of women, who are not serving as courtiers seeking power, but as grateful beneficiaries funding the entire enterprise. The world runs on networks of patronage, where the rich and powerful support others in exchange for honor and loyalty. But here, the patronage is inverted. These women have already received the greatest possible gift, their very lives and sanity, from Jesus. Their financial support is not a means to gain influence over Him, but a grateful response to the grace He has already shown them. This is the financial model of the kingdom of God: everything flows from gratitude.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 And it happened that soon afterward He was going around from one city and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him,

Jesus' ministry was active, mobile, and relentless. He went through city and village, one after another, taking the message to the people. And the message had a specific content. He was "preaching and proclaiming." The first word, kerusso, means to herald, like a town crier making a formal announcement for the king. The second, euaggelizo, is where we get our word "evangelize." He was heralding the "good news." And what was this good news? It was "of the kingdom of God." This was not simply a message about how to get your soul to heaven when you die. It was the announcement that the rightful King had arrived to establish His reign on earth, to push back the darkness, and to make all things new. And as He did this, His foundational government, "the twelve," were with Him, learning from Him and being prepared for their future role as leaders in this kingdom.

2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

Now Luke introduces the second group in the entourage. Notice the first thing he tells us about them. It is not their resume, their social standing, or their skill set. It is what they had been saved from. They had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses. Their service was predicated on their salvation. This is the immutable law of the kingdom: we do not serve in order to be saved; we serve because we have been saved. Luke then gives the preeminent example: Mary from Magdala. Her condition had been extreme. "Seven demons" is a biblical way of signifying a complete or total demonic oppression. She was utterly captive. And Jesus had set her utterly free. Her subsequent devotion, which we see all the way to the cross and the empty tomb, is the logical, beautiful, and necessary consequence of such a dramatic deliverance.

3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s manager, and Susanna, and many others who were ministering to them from their possessions.

Here we see the breadth of the kingdom's reach. Joanna was the wife of Chuza, who was Herod's epitropos, his steward or manager. This was a position of high trust and authority within the court of Herod Antipas, the corrupt tetrarch who would later play a role in Jesus' death. This means that the good news of the kingdom had penetrated the very household of the enemy's government. A woman of high social standing is listed right after a woman who had been a notorious basket case. In the fellowship of Christ, these distinctions evaporate. Then Luke adds "Susanna, and many others," indicating that this was not just two or three women, but a substantial group. And what did they do? They "were ministering to them from their possessions." The word for ministering is diakoneo, from which we get "deacon." This was practical, hands-on service. They were the supply line. They handled the logistics. They paid the bills. Without the diaconal service of these grateful women, the apostolic ministry of Jesus and the twelve would not have been possible in the same way. This is a model of the church functioning as it ought.

Application

This passage puts several sharp questions to us. First, is our service to God motivated by a deep and abiding gratitude for our salvation? We are all like Mary Magdalene in some respect. We were in bondage to sin, a spiritual sickness far worse than any physical ailment, and Christ has set us free. Does our daily life, our use of time, our deployment of resources, reflect the joy of that deliverance? Or have we forgotten what we were saved from, and has our service become a grim and grudging duty?

Second, this passage teaches us that proclaiming the gospel and supporting that proclamation are two sides of the same coin. Not everyone is called to be a preacher, one of the twelve. But many are called to be like Joanna and Susanna, to use the material resources God has given them to make sure the work of the kingdom goes forward. This is not just about writing a check. It is about a partnership in the gospel, a recognition that the work of ministry requires both those who go and those who provide for those who go. It is a glorious and essential calling.

Finally, we must see the radical nature of the community Christ creates. The wife of a political insider, a woman with a dark past, and many others from different walks of life, all united in their devotion to Jesus. The church should be the one place on earth where worldly labels and social hierarchies are obliterated by our shared identity as redeemed sinners who have been healed by the King. If our churches are not characterized by this kind of diverse unity, we have to ask if we are truly proclaiming the same good news of the kingdom that Jesus did.