THE SERVICE OF WOMEN IN LUKE'S GOSPEL
THE SERVICE OF WOMEN IN LUKE’S GOSPEL
Luke 8: 1 - 3; Luke 2: 36 - 38; Luke 1: 46 - 55
JT Other scriptures in Luke entering into our subject are more familiar to us perhaps than these, and we shall need to touch on them. The first is in chapter 4; Peter’s wife’s mother who “served them” after she was healed. Then the woman in chapter 7, well known to us, who loved much and served accordingly. Then Martha, in chapter 10, who also served, but was herself in a complaining critical state; and then the women at the sepulchre, mentioned in chapter 24, who would serve the Lord, but as thinking He was dead when He was already alive. They were serving ignorantly, and hence to no purpose.
We should see to begin with what is mentioned in chapter 8, namely, that service in women is seen as related to the new system of things which the Lord had inaugurated in principle, so that we may see that, in whatever way we serve in detail, we are serving to one purpose, serving in relation to the administrative system that has been set up. We are not to be independent or isolated in our thoughts, but having one end in view; all is to be done in relation to the Lord and those representing His authority — the twelve. The passage says that the twelve were with Him; alluding to this official system into which His authority entered; authority which must extend to all service. So it says that the twelve were with Him, and the passage shows that the “certain women” were related to them in principle — “certain women who had been healed of wicked spirits and infirmities, Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna [p. 504] and many others, who ministered to him of their substance” (Luke 8: 2, 3). They were with Him; not seen here as serving in their houses or in any isolated way, but in relation to Him and the twelve.
Then another thing to be noticed is what Zacharias says, speaking by the Spirit, in chapter 1: “... that, saved out of the hand of our enemies, we should serve him without fear ...” These remarks by Zacharias, I think, govern what we are speaking of in regard to the state in which we serve, that is, “... to give us, that, saved out of the hand of our enemies, we should serve him without fear in piety and righteousness before him all our days” (verses 74, 75). The object in view, therefore, is to see how Luke links up the service seen in the women in his gospel with the system of things Christ has inaugurated. Of course it refers to men, too, but the thought is to bring out the subjective conditions which women usually represent. This system seems to fit in after the wonderful appreciation of grace shown in chapter 7; the great grace chapter, as we might say — not only of grace shown, but grace valued, grace received. She is forgiven much, hence serves much; loves much, and serves accordingly, as if that sort of result of the gospel must immediately be connected with the systematised order of things which God has set up, for it must not be linked with man’s organisations, it must be linked with God’s. It is too great for anything else, and every true believer in the gospel is in this position. It speaks of Mary, from whom seven demons had gone out. It would seem that it is not the act of power that is stressed here, but rather the condition that had arisen. So that the position of the demons was untenable — they had gone out.
CG Does the sense of grace in the heart, which finds its expression in the woman and what she [p. 505] did in the previous chapter, enter into our assembly service?
JT That is what I thought; that chapter 8 is spiritually needed; the system is needed for such a result of the gospel. The Lord turns to the woman in speaking to Simon, as if to rebuke, on the one hand, the wretched attitude of the natural religious man, and on the other to extol the result of grace in the believer. He turns to the woman, as if she is the person of importance now. The legal system which Simon represented is left; is turned away from; the woman is now the material; the kind of personnel that belongs to the new system, and it must be provided; nothing less will do.
MWB Does the fact that the divine system is necessarily connected with the service imply that, though begun individually, in its normal development, the service of God must be collective?
JT That is exactly what I had in mind as seen in the beginning of chapter 8. Notice it is “the glad tidings of the kingdom of God”, that is the appellation by which the gospel is described here, involving system, too — the kingdom of God. Then the twelve were with Him, and certain women who ministered to Him of their substance. Of course it would be material things, but substance, from the point of view of which we are speaking, would be spiritual.
Rem It says, they were healed of wicked spirits, and of infirmities, as though these two conditions had been met, the power of evil on the one hand, and also the matter of infirmities.
JT Well, that is salvation in a double way, from the power of evil and from illnesses or infirmities. The latter would hinder, too; we may be delivered from the demons and yet not from the infirmities.
Rem It would appear that those who served in this way, as you are suggesting as to the women,
follow the Lord’s movements in detail from city to city and village to village.
JT Yes, it shows, I suppose, the energy in the service. Later on we are told that the women by the cross had followed Him from Galilee — it shows the energy of affection.
WHU Is the securing of these women for service in any way connected with the activities of the anointed Man?
JT You mean beginning with chapter 4, where He is seen as anointed. Yes, quite so. That brings us to the first case we have noted, namely, the mother-in-law of Simon. That was household service, as you might say. She was sick of a fever, and she is one of those who are healed. Demon power is not noted there, but the bodily disease is — the fever. It was evidently a case of insubjection, which, of course, prevents effective service. So it is said, the Lord stood over her — “Standing over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her; and forthwith standing up she served them”. There were immediate results, showing how the beneficiaries of grace immediately join in in spreading the thought — “She served them”.
AFM Would the standing over her imply authority, particularly over the origin of the disease or weakness?
JT I think it does. Of course authority might be expressed in a mere official, but here it is a question of the Person who exercised it; the moral power or authority in the Lord Jesus standing over her — such an One as He.
EuR Is that suggested in the way Luke presents Him at the outset, “thou shalt call his name Jesus ... and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father”? — it is His moral worth and beauty that give Him ascendency over us.
JT I think so; in this particular case it [p. 507] is in the house, and He is there on friendly terms of course, in Simon’s house. Arbitrary authority may be seen in any one, even an unconverted man, but there is no moral authority in it at all; that is, the person does not convey the thing, but here the Person is in mind, such a person as is described, and anointed in the previous chapter. They took notice of Him, too; His demeanour in the synagogue and the kind of words that were coming out of His mouth; it is the Man Himself that is in mind; so that the woman is evidently impressed spiritually. We can understand that feverish conditions need this moral power in those who are seeking to serve. Immediate results follow — she served them; it is a general thought — she served all that were there.
APT Is this the public side of the truth?
JT I think so; it is what might be in any household. There are many causes of irritation in a household, which the fever would suggest, and what is needed is to bring moral weight, in the husband or in any one — particularly the husband, into the house, that would subdue it and make it felt to be wrong in the insubject person.
JPH In chapter 7 there is a man who said, “I also am a man placed under authority”. Had he taken character from Christ, observing Him as a Man here subject to the blessed God, and he has his household in accord with that? Does that enter into the thought in chapter 8 that you have brought before us?
JT I think that is right. It is a remarkable illustration of light in a man’s soul; he discerned, not only that the Lord had authority, but that it was delegated authority, tracing it back to God, even as his own authority would be traced back to the emperor. It shows how great a thought authority is, but authority expressed in a word — not necessarily within the hearing of the person to be affected;
[p. 508] for the Lord did not go to the house — it was a question of His word rather than His personal presence. This is an important side of the gospel that the word of Christ may affect one in any part of the world.
MWB Is obedience the first feature, resulting from the recognition of authority? I was thinking of your reference to Exodus 24, where, as you were saying, the thought of obedience, as seen in the twelve pillars, is essential.
JT Quite so; the Lord, I suppose, as standing over the woman, would represent the thought. He is here as the sent One; He could say, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor; he has sent me ...” He is here in subjection Himself and conveying it palpably as standing over the woman. Hence the husband is not exercising his authority arbitrarily, but with Christ as his Head; all is traced back to God; God is Christ’s Head.
FWW Would this woman, Peter’s wife’s mother, be illustrative of one who has accepted the glad tidings of the kingdom of God?
JT Yes. So in 1 Corinthians 11 the word “authority” is used; the woman is to have “authority on her head”. This would evidently allude to the thing itself — the symbol of the authority being in another. She is fully recognising the authority that comes down from God through Christ to the man.
Rem It says in Mark, “they came with James and John into the house of Simon and Andrew. And the mother-in-law of Simon lay in a fever”.
JT It is well to bring in Mark’s side, for, in inviting people, we ought to have consideration for the department of the wife, what she is capable of.
JJJ What would be the difference between obedience and subjection, or is there no difference?
[p. 509] JT Subjection is an attitude of soul as to a person; of course obedience is, too, but obedience is a readiness to obey any word that comes from Him. Subjection is there whether there is a command or not; it is attitude of mind.
Rem The Lord had already exercised His authority in the synagogue in relation to the unclean spirit, but it is still the same authority, and from the same source.
JT The same authority, but as seen in the house. Conditions were evidently better in Simon’s house than in the synagogue. It is the same day.
AFM Do you think the movements of the Lord in chapter 8 flow from the end of the seventh, showing the spiritual energy that marked Him in the evangelical work He took up?
JT Yes, we were remarking on that at the beginning that what the end of the seventh presents requires the eighth; it requires a new system for such love as this. He turns to the woman — she is now an object for His mind and heart; He turns to her, He is occupied with that kind of person; He turns away from Simon. She is of the kind that are mentioned in this chapter: “certain women who had been healed of wicked spirits and infirmities, Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out” — she belongs to that class.
Ques Does she link with the woman in chapter 21 who cast her all into the treasury? Her affections being secured, in chapter 7, she becomes contributory to the divine system.
JT Quite so; I think it is a similar thought, that the temple must be destroyed, as indicated in chapter 21, in view of what would suit that woman — such giving as hers.
APT Is the first verse of chapter 8 linked on with the book of Numbers as supported by this love position set up [p. 510] in Exodus?
JT That is good. The system is seen in the first part of Numbers set up, but it is also seen, of course, in the tabernacle at the end of Exodus and Jehovah speaking out of it in the beginning of Leviticus. In Numbers it is the fellowship, all set up in relation to the sanctuary; God in it; God among you of a truth, and service is in that relation, whether we are priests or military men.
EuR Has this idea of ministering to the Lord a priestly touch about it? Could we link it up with Acts 13: 1 - 3, where they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, and the Holy Spirit said, “Separate me now Barnabas and Saul”? Have you there the system established and inaugurated in the Lord Jesus personally?
JT Yes, it seems to correspond.
EuR So, when you speak of a system at the present time, it would take the form of assemblies in localities all the world over.
JT That is the next thing. It brings us to chapter 10, for taking possession of the land, I think, involves assemblies, that is, the authority and order of God set up in localities — it is only thus that the position can be held. The land is taken, as it were, but Paul and Barnabas make a point of assemblies and choosing elders in each of them, so as to have a state of things that could be dependable. The idea in selecting territory is, I think, that divine rights are set up, what God is going to bring in in a public way presently, is now here in testimony. In this well-known passage in the end of Luke 10, that is, in the house of Martha whose sister was Mary of Bethany. It is evidently the locality that is in mind, because it says, “it came to pass as they went that he entered into a certain village ...” The way this matter is treated, both here and in John, indicates plainly that it is a locality that is in mind. Things are not right; Martha is not right,
[p. 511] but she recognises the Lord. It is as if a servant might come into a town, and the brethren recognise him, receive him, perhaps, into some house, but then the state of the meeting would soon appear in the way he is treated and what is extended to him. So here the Lord is admitted into the house, and indeed Martha calls Him, “Lord” — she respects Him in that way, and yet she is critical of Him. Obviously His position in the place would be very uncomfortable. There is one there, on the other hand, who is thoroughly appreciative of Him, but she is not serving; Martha is the serving element, and it is not right — that is the lesson here, I think. There is the general administrative position, and all service is to be carried on in that relation, but then the question is, What are the local conditions in each place — Colosse, Philippi, Corinth, Ephesus, etc.; that is what is to be learnt in chapter 10, and how the Lord takes the matter on. John has a more abstract way of presenting things, and he shows that conditions in Bethany became perfect as regards service. God is not content with anything less than a perfect state of things — perfect in principle, anyway, though not perhaps in detail. John has a way of presenting perfection, ignoring anything incongruous.
Ques Lydia was one who worshipped God; would her house at Philippi answer to what you are suggesting? Having gone out of the prison Paul came to her — would that suggest what you are saying as to being perfect?
JT I think so. That is very good. According to Luke 10, the ministers, the seventy, would go to a place, in view of the Lord coming after them, and in coming to a town they would seek out a son of peace — that is the principle of ministry. If a son of peace be there you are to stay with him, and I think Lydia was a son of peace in Philippi. The [p. 512] apostle must have been very uneasy at Philippi, although he found the woman, but Lydia was what was sought in a positive way, as a son of peace; they were delighted to stay in that house. It is to show how general conditions flow out of household conditions amongst the brethren. So the next man, the jailor, is spoken to about the house; he and his house were to be saved; so the salvation of the house, as well as the brother, is the point there. He spoke to the jailor’s house the word of the Lord, not simply the commandment, but the word, that which conveys authority in the house.
Ques Would the gain of the kingdom bring in those conditions you speak of?
JT Yes. There are two things mentioned about it, it is a very thorough matter — city by city and village by village; then, preaching and announcing, or showing. The two words used as to the service show that the truth is thoroughly presented.
WW What would you say as to the transfiguration in that connection? Does the Lord bring that in to set out the sphere of things in which we are to serve?
JT Quite so, to see what was presented — the kingdom of God — how influential it was. Mary is apparently moving in that light, sitting at His feet, hearing His word; that was what was said on the mount in Luke, “Hear him”.
EuR What you are saying seems to imply that the underlying state as seen in Mary may be much more healthy than the serving element, but the Lord would patiently adjust the serving element so that the service might proceed unhinderedly.
JT I think that is the thing. Luke makes much of “city by city, and village by village”. So in chapter 10 He would follow upon the service of the seventy.
APT The Lord says, “Martha, Martha”. Does [p. 513] that show His intense feeling, and is that seen also in His standing over the woman in Simon’s house?
JT Yes. Martha is a difficult case, but you see the finished product in John 12. This speaks very loudly to those who serve; it is really the whole subjective condition of things in the place that is in mind, the women suggesting that.
MWB In Joshua 8: 34, 35, to which you have referred, it says, “afterwards he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua read not before the whole congregation of Israel, and the women, and the children, and the strangers that lived among them”. Is there a link there with local conditions today?
JT Yes; that is the ground on which the land is taken possession of. God will give us possession of it on His own terms, as laid down in Deuteronomy. They are recognised in Joshua 8.
MWB The thought is carried out today in local assemblies.
JT That is how the matter stands. So they chose them elders — the saints did not choose the elders, they never do, the apostles chose them elders; trustworthy men who would rule well and hold things for God.
When we come to Luke 24, the women observed the sabbath and remained quiet. They were lovers of Christ, but they were serving ignorantly; their spices were not needed for a living Christ, they were thinking of a dead Christ; the Lord did not need any such attention. He was living. There are many like that, who are serving ignorantly to no end at all.
MWB Therefore the question, “Why seek ye the living one among the dead?”
JT Quite so. Well now, having spoken of all [p. 514] these cases, perhaps the ground is clear to consider the more spiritual side in Luke, which he begins with indeed. He begins with spiritual service.
WS Would Mary bring out the spiritual side of service in perfection?
JT That is right. Anna is the first one to mention — leaving Mary for the final thought. Anna is presented as a model in the sense of continuance in the thing; Mary comes into it quickly or immediately, but Anna is presented to us as a model of continuance of energy to old age. The service is not taken up late in life with Anna, the formation of the vessel is in mind; the whole history of the woman, a long history, but entirely commendable from the outset — a beautiful character.
Ques Would the seven years and the eighty-four years show increase?
JT I suppose the seven years with a husband would mean that she had adorned the wifely position; she had adorned the earlier position, too — the young woman’s position. The eighty-four years, I apprehend, refers to the whole period of her widowhood, and would mean that she adorned those circumstances. It is an honourable mention as to the person in the three outstanding periods of her life: a virgin’s position, a wife’s position, and a widow’s position. The woman is tested in that way, her personality is tested; God has watched over it, and now shows that it culminated in the most beautiful, and energetic, and intelligent service, night and day in the temple; she “did not depart from the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers”. What a history that was, night and day serving in the temple!
APT It is remarkable that the night comes first.
JT Yes, that would be the more testing side.
Ques Is it the kind of adornment Peter speaks [p. 515] of in regard to women, which is in the sight of God of great price (1 Peter 3: 4)?
JT Yes.
Ques Would this woman Anna be one who would be known? You have spoken of those who are known in heaven, known by God.
JT Quite so. “if any man love God, the same is known of him” (1 Corinthians 8: 3). So she had a great place in heaven, was well known there. That is a side of the truth that perhaps is little thought of, the history of things in heaven and how much part we have in it. We are left out of angelic history, but we are to understand something of human history in heaven, the history that men make in heaven. So when Jesus went into heaven, it was a wonderful time, and so all that has gone on ever since. Now we have the manhood of Christ in heaven, the kind of Man God has in His counsels. What movement there must have been as Christ went into heaven! The Lord said, “your names are written in heaven”, and surely this woman would have a great place there.
AP She would be a stranger in the world system, but known to all that looked for redemption in Israel.
WHU Does she, in any way, represent the service of the sanctuary?
JT I think she does. She has no other object now, the temple was everything to her because God was there. Then there are such sacrifices, such self-renunciation, in fasting and prayers night and day in the temple, and she is honoured now in that she does not miss the greatest occasion ever seen in the temple.
WHU Is it necessary to get beyond the sacrificial side, to get to the full thought in the service of God? We are very much occupied with the death [p. 516] of Christ as to what He has done for us, and perhaps miss the blessedness of what He is.
JT “She spoke of him”. She would have gathered up all the wonderful speakings of the Old Testament, because from the very outset there is a speaking about Jesus all the way down. I suppose she may be taken to represent what is cumulative, as Stephen was; he gathered up things, and she spoke of Christ according to the intelligence the Spirit would give of the Old Testament teaching.
RC Do fasting and prayer need to precede this?
JT I think so, fasting shuts yourself out and prayer brings God in; the fasting makes room for the prayer that brings God in.
Ques Would her speaking of him to all those who waited for redemption in Jerusalem, suggest service in an assembly setting?
JT I think that is right, for this idea of speaking to all that looked for redemption in Jerusalem would suggest a sphere of interest. She was not alone, nor are we ever alone on these lines. There was a right state of soul in those she spoke to or they would not have been looking for redemption. God is working in people who are looking for what He promises.
Ques Does she stand in contrast to the two going to Emmaus, where the Lord had to interpret to them the things concerning Himself?
JT Just so. She evidently would know something of the value of the sacrifices.
Rem Simeon is ready to go, but Anna would continue.
JT She suggests what Paul says, “our whole twelve tribes”. It is what faith grasps — “our whole twelve tribes” serving God.
EuR Would “our whole twelve tribes” involve 1 Corinthians 10: 17, “we being many are one bread, and one body;” faith would always claim every [p. 517] saint on earth for that, and make a way to secure it in the assemblies?
JT Quite so. Colossians says, Love for all saints. Anna shows, I think, how it would continue. It is seen in this longevity given in three sections.
B Would Hannah in 1 Samuel be on a parallel line? We have her prayer making room for God.
JT Yes. It is called a prayer, but there is not a word of what we speak of as prayer in it. It is a rich contribution to the service of God, really. The whole book issues from Hannah’s exercises leading up to the service of God through David.
I thought we might finish with Mary in Luke 1. It is what comes in immediately; it is not a long history in the service of God, it is a young person, but she can say, “The Mighty One has done to me great things” — it is the outcome of what is immediate — what the Mighty One has done; what God may effect quickly in anyone; for He does at times bring about quick results, and I think she is a remarkable representation of this. There is a suggestion here of a holy fellowship; she goes to her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country — an elevated position. It is the elevated heavenly side where holy intercourse between brethren is known — sisters in this case. Mary’s voice fell on the ear of Elizabeth conveying what she was personally — “the mother of my Lord”. She was a subject person; she said to the angel, “be it to me according to thy word”, and now we have the rich fruit of the work of God in her. I think we see it in the relations between her and Elizabeth, and at the grave of Christ. It is a touch we can understand and shows the wonderful link, as a result of which the babe leaps with joy at the salutation of this person. What a person God has made this woman! So it is in measure in any believer, what God may bring about immediately. What an immediate result was produced in Lydia [p. 518] by the power of God! In others it may take longer to reach a finished product.
MWB Would Mary illustrate, in the way you have been speaking of her, one who could present an offering, but with it, a meat offering and a drink offering, as seen in Numbers 15?
JT Yes. It is not simply that the Spirit came upon her as in Elizabeth’s case. We are told, “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit;” Elizabeth represents one on whom the Spirit might come at any time, as in a meeting, perhaps beyond a person’s state. The Spirit came in connection with Mary’s voice, but Mary is the immediate result of the power of God; showing how an immediate result may be reached in a person by the power of God. Elizabeth is touched by her voice, and room is made by her touch for the Spirit, as it were, but Mary is a finished product already, without the long experience of Anna. Even Elizabeth is a comparatively old person, but Anna is seen as representing a long and honourable experience, reaching a great occasion. Mary has not that, but she has what is finished, and we have the actual composition with which she serves. It is really equal to Hannah’s prayer; it is very like it, but it is not presented as the immediate result of the Spirit coming upon her, it is more what God has made her, what a person she is by the mighty power of God affecting her.
EuR Do you link the state God had brought about in Mary so quickly with the thought of the one body?
JT I would not like to build up much as to the one body; it is a question of an organism.
EuR Do you mean if there is this state with us in the assembly we shall affect each other spiritually as Mary affected Elizabeth?
JT Just so. You are speaking, and you are conscious of something being revealed to one sitting by,
[p. 519] and you sit down; that would show sensitiveness as to the power of transmission. I believe the organism underlies all that follows chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians. The power of transmission is so tender and delicate that the body is likened to that. It is not an organisation, but an organism with the most delicate means of transmission — they are inscrutable really.
Rem There had not been experience with Mary, but a very careful divine selection, and therefore the Lord has a person He can do a very rapid work with. It was the same with regard to Timothy; we get his genealogy mentioned, and the apostle can say he has no man like-minded.
JT He comes to fruition quickly. What is presented here, I believe, is the work of God in her, what the Mighty One had done, a result immediately produced. What Mary said, in Luke 1: 46 - 55 is a production, a contribution to the service of God; her own composition. It is the immediate effect of the Mighty One’s operations — that He had a vessel that could produce such a contribution. We get it here as an example for us as in God’s service.
Rem She links Israel with it and goes right back to Abraham, embracing all God’s thoughts.
JT Yes, so far as they are indicated. She is able to carry down the thoughts of God. See what a place they have in her soul, how she can put them out in such beautiful words!
APT Would it be in your line of thought to introduce the summit reached in 1 Corinthians 14 — the whole assembly gathered together in one place?
JT Quite so. One has something — “each of you has a psalm”, etc.; but then there is one sitting by able to receive a communication by the Spirit. Simeon holds the Child in his arms, and had an [p. 520] immediate word regarding Him. It is better to receive a communication as coming into the temple by the Spirit, than to bring something of your own; not that this is out of place, but, as coming by the Spirit, I am ready for anything the Spirit may give me.
Rem You have in mind, in Mary, what is possible in a subject person.
JT Yes, that is the thought. She says, “Behold the bondmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to thy word”. Then the angel departed from her, suggesting that she could be relied upon.
Rem The finished product would be a vessel of praise for God?
JT Quite so.
WB Mary had benefited from what had gone before, and in that way was a suitable vessel for the service of God.
CG In Hannah in the Old Testament and in Anna and Mary here do we get levitical exercises? Hannah says, “For this boy I prayed”, Anna “spoke of him;” and of Mary we are told that she kept the things relative to the Lord, and pondered them in her heart.
JT That is an important part of the subject. The point in Mary is the effect of the Mighty One’s operations. She became subsequently a vessel, what is called a “treasury” in the types — that is, she kept things in her mind and pondered them in her heart. So that she is seen in the inauguration of the assembly in the Acts, the only woman mentioned specifically; she had treasure that no one else could have; the precious knowledge that she, as His mother, had of Christ from the outset.