The Parable Of The Sower
THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER
LUKE 8:1-8
This chapter begins by telling us about the women who showed their gratitude for Jesus’ help practically by supporting him and the disciples financially.
Galilee today is not the most crowded part of Israel. In the first century it was much more densely populated, almost as full of busy little towns and villages as the Decapolis on the other side of the lake. To cover Galilee with a preaching mission was an arduous task.
The work of the women is mentioned only in Luke. Women are prominent in his Gospel. In his busy collection of material of interest, while Paul lay imprisoned at Caesarea, Luke must have made contact with a group of devoted women, perhaps Mary’s circle, who provided him with much information. There is also a glimpse into the Lord’s means of sustenance. Joanna, wife of Chuza, is mentioned only once more in the New Testament (Luke 24:10), Susanna does not appear again. Mary of Magdala is prominent in the narratives of the resurrection. She is not the “sinful woman” of the last chapter. The strange phrase about the seven devils means that there was a battle for Mary’s soul, whatever else it means. And is it not a matter of personal experience that God’s grace again and again restores, that God does not let the sinner go, but returns as often to reclaim as evil returns to its attack?
It is a fact which women should note with humble gratitude that, although there are numerous references in the Gospels to the ministrations and the reverence of women, there is no single example of a woman hostile to Christ. Traitors, cynical schemers, self-seeking cowards, brutes and hypocrites among men can find their counterparts in Judas, Caiaphas, Pilate, the soldiers who wove a crown of vicious thorns and the Pharisees, but women who reject Christ and scorn his name can find no types or predecessors in the pages of the Gospels. Even Pilate’s wife revered him.
Perhaps women have suffered more cruelly from sin, perhaps the care of innocence in little children has made them more tender. Let us thank God for the ministry of women in family, society and church.
Note 8:3: Joanna’s presence indicates the early links Jesus’ followers had with Herod’s court—9:9; 23:8; Acts 13:1.