It’s reasonable to assume Jesus’s mother, Mary, has brothers and sisters, but only one appears in the Bible. It’s Mary’s sister, which would be Jesus’s aunt. Yes, Jesus has an aunt. We don’t know her name, and she garners only one brief mention, but what she does is significant.
Though we can only speculate if Mary’s sister is a follower of Jesus, we do know that she stands by her sister’s side while Mary keeps her vigil as Jesus dies.
That’s what family does. That’s what friends do. They stand by us in our darkest moments, perhaps saying nothing, just being present.
Do we have these deep kinds of friendships? Are we this type of devoted friend to others?
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
Another woman named Mary is identified by her husband’s name: Mary the wife of Clopas. Only one verse in the Bible, in John’s biography of Jesus, contains a reference to this Mary or mentions Clopas.
While we may bristle at the idea of Mary’s identity being tied to her husband, this may be more a notation of convenience rather than significance. While Clopas did nothing noteworthy, Mary did.
When all the disciples, except John, abandon Jesus as he dies a slow death by crucifixion, four women are brave enough to remain close by, keeping vigil as Jesus suffers. They stay near him despite great personal risk, something the rest of his followers are unwilling to do.
One of these courageous women is Mary, the wife of Clopas. We salute her for staying by Jesus and supporting him in his darkest moment.
What have we done for Jesus? What else can we do?
[Discover more about Mary, the wife of Clopas, in John 19:25.]
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
Susanna is only mentioned once in the Bible. It’s by Doctor Luke in his biography of Jesus. Jesus casts a demon out of her, as he does for Joanna and many others.
Regardless of what we understand this to mean, Susanna, in response to Jesus removing her affliction, helps support him and his work here on earth.
While Jesus doesn’t demand we do things for him out of gratitude for what he does for us, he certainly deserves our tangible acts of appreciation.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
Joanna only appears in Luke’s biography of Jesus. And then just twice, but we can learn much from what Luke writes about her.
First, she, along with several other women, helps care for Jesus and support his work. More on this later.
Next, Joanna also joins Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and John (remember, they’re the Sons of Thunder) in wanting to embalm Jesus’s body, which they don’t get to do since he rises from the dead.
A third thing we know about Joanna is that Jesus casts demons out of her, along with Mary Magdalene, Susanna, and several others. Jesus relieves them of their afflictions. Joanna’s response is to do what she can for him.
Now, on to the good part.
The fourth thing about Joanna, which is both significant and easy to overlook, is that she’s married to Chuza. Why does this matter?
Chuza manages the household of Herod (2). Again, huh?
Here’s why: Herod opposes Jesus. Chuza works for Herod. Herod pays Chuza. Chuza’s wife, Joanna, gives money to support Jesus. This means that in an indirect way Herod financially supports Jesus. If Herod knew, he’d surely explode in anger.
When God blesses us with money or possessions, what we do with them matters.
Are we using the money God blesses us with to help others?
[Discover more about Joanna in Luke 8:1–3 and Luke 24:1–11.]
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
Each of the four accounts of Jesus’s life—in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—give a story about a woman who anoints Jesus with expensive perfume, but the details in each narrative vary a bit.
It may be that this happens on four separate occasions. Or it could be the same story, with a few details that differ. Or perhaps it is somewhere in between, with there being two or three times that women anoint Jesus.
Matthew and Mark’s accounts are the closest, with the only differing detail being who criticizes her for wasting expensive perfume on Jesus: Matthew says it’s the disciples. Mark says it’s “some” people. Matthew and Mark likely cover the same event.
In John’s version, the woman who anoints Jesus is Mary (3), sister of Martha and Lazarus, but for the other three reports, the woman isn’t named.
John’s version is like Matthew and Mark’s, but one key difference is that this woman anoints Jesus’s feet, not his head, as in the first two accounts. Also, John identifies just one person who criticizes her: Judas Iscariot.
Last, John says that Martha is serving the dinner in Jesus’s honor, so we assume it is at her house, whereas Matthew and Mark say Jesus is hanging out at Simon the leper’s home.
Of the four writers, John is the only one who is an eyewitness, whereas the others needed to research their account. However, John is the last one to write it down, so it’s hard to say if he got the part about the feet, along with the other details, right or wrong.
Regardless, it’s reasonable to assume he’s telling the same story as Matthew and Mark.
In all three accounts Jesus defends the woman’s action and says she is preparing him for burial.
Luke’s version differs the most from the other three. First, he calls her a sinful woman, something not even hinted at in the other accounts. Also, she crashes the party.
Next, this takes place at a Pharisee’s house. His name is Simon, but it doesn’t say he’s a leper. And there’s no mention of it being in the town of Bethany.
A woman comes up behind Jesus and weeps at his feet, apparently in sorrow for her wayward ways. Her tears fall on him and, lacking a towel, she uses her hair to dry his feet. Then she dumps her perfume on them.
In this account, the woman doesn’t receive criticism, but Jesus does. The Pharisee thinks that Jesus should have known the woman touching him is a sinner.
Jesus affirms the woman for washing his feet, something his host declined to do. Then he forgives her for her many sins, affirms her saving faith, and sends her off in peace. Luke’s account contains enough differences that it’s likely a different event.
Although some people, like myself, enjoy digging this deeply into the Bible, we should do so loosely. It doesn’t really matter if this story is about one woman, or two, or three, or four.
What counts is that it happened. The specific details don’t matter so much.
When we read Scripture as narrative, the way it’s written, we can enjoy this story and receive inspiration through it. However, if we see Scripture as merely an irrefutable historical treatise, then we’ll surely trip over the minutia.
The key point is that these women give us an example of the lavish adoration of Jesus.
How exuberant is our worship of Jesus? Are we free to worship him regardless of what others say or think?
[Discover more about the four stories of women who anoint Jesus in Matthew 26:6–13, Mark 14:3–9, Luke 7:36–50, and John 12:1–8.]
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
There are many women named Mary in the New Testament of the Bible. One is identified by the names of her boys: Mary, the mother of James and Joseph. This Mary is one of a handful of women noted for following Jesus and caring for his needs. Like Salome, Joanna, and Susanna, we acknowledge Mary’s key role in Jesus’s ministry.
Referring to her as Mary the mother of James and Joseph may clarify her to first-century audiences, but it doesn’t help us much today, as we can only speculate who her sons are. However, it’s reasonable to assume her sons are noteworthy in the early church, which is commendable to her for raising godly boys.
Our children may be our biggest and most important legacy. May we do everything possible to raise them into godly men and women.
[Discover more about this Mary in Matthew 27:55–56, Mark 15:40–41, Mark 16:1, and Luke 24:1–11.]
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
Salome is a follower of Jesus, one of several women who help support him and his ministry.
She’s also one of a small group of women who are brave enough to attempt to embalm Jesus’s body after he’s crucified. But they don’t get to do this because he’s already risen from the dead by the time they arrive at his tomb.
Of the four biographers of Jesus, only Mark mentions Salome, though Luke may implicitly include her with the phrase “and many others.” What is clear is that a group of women provide key assistance to Jesus and his squad, offering both money and food.
Salome, one of these women, receives only one brief mention of her critical involvement in Jesus’s work here on earth and for her desire to respect his body after his execution.
Receiving minimal recognition, however, doesn’t diminish the key role she plays.
We may not receive credit here on earth for the things we do for Jesus, but that doesn’t make our actions and sacrifices any less significant.
[Discover more about Salome in Mark 15:40–41, Mark 16:1, and Luke 8:3.]
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
A key player in Jesus’s execution is the governor, Pilate. The religious leaders, jealous because of Jesus’s growing popularity and his influence over the people, take him to Pilate. They ask for his approval to kill Jesus.
Pilate, aware of their motives, wants to free Jesus, but the leaders stir up the crowd and a riot threatens to erupt. As Pilate considers what to do, his wife sends him a cryptic message, confirming Jesus’s innocence and warning Pilate to not have anything to do with him. She implies Pilate will endure great personal suffering if he isn’t careful.
Unable to control the crowd and unwilling to stand up to them, Pilate dismisses his wife’s sage warning and agrees to let them kill Jesus. He could have stopped them, but he didn’t.
Our spouses, family, and close friends can help us avoid trouble and not make wrong decisions. Are we willing to listen?
[Discover more about Pilate’s wife in Matthew 27:11–26.]
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
The Jews dismiss Samaritans as half-breed misfits. They refuse to associate with them. Even talking to one is social suicide. Yet Jesus defies convention and purposefully travels to their town and even rests there. While he waits at the local well, he sends his disciples into town to buy food.
At noon, a Samaritan woman comes to draw water. She may pick this time of day to avoid being there with the other women of the village. Her life choices make her an outcast. She’s an outcast among outcasts.
Jesus surprises her by asking for a drink of water. She’s shocked. Not only is he breaking conventions in talking with a detested Samaritan and a woman, but he asks for a favor. If she gives him water, he will need to drink from her cup, another thing completely unacceptable to Jews.
Jesus, however, doesn’t care what others think. He cares for her.
He also knows about her past, that she’s been married five times and isn’t married to the guy she’s living with. Amazed that he knows her secrets, she affirms him as a prophet and later learns he is the Messiah everyone has been waiting for.
She goes and tells the villagers what Jesus said. Based on her testimony, they come out to meet him and believe in him. They ask him to hang out with them and he stays for two days.
When we tell others about Jesus, is our story compelling enough for them to seriously consider him?
[Discover more about the Samaritan woman in John 4:5–42.]
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
Mary is the sister of Martha and Lazarus. The Bible includes two stories about her that cause me to label her as irresponsible. Jesus, however, has a different perspective.
In the first story, Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, taking in all he says and basking in his presence while her sister, Martha, toils in the kitchen. Martha complains about Mary’s laziness, but Jesus puts Martha in her place, and he affirms Mary for making the better choice.
In the second story, Mary uses some expensive perfume, which she pours on Jesus’s feet and wipes them with her hair, to show her love to him and symbolically prepare him for burial.
Judas criticizes her wasteful ways. He claims the perfume is worth one year’s salary. Instead of pouring it on Jesus, a better use would have been to sell it and use the proceeds to help the poor. But Jesus rebuffs Judas, saying Mary did the right thing with her perfume, the thing she was meant to do.
Mary first faces criticism for being lazy and later for being wasteful. But Jesus commends both her choices.
Do we ever judge others from a human standpoint and completely miss God’s perspective?
[Discover more about Mary in Luke 10:38–42 and John 12:2–7. See “The Women Who Anoint Jesus.”]
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in audiobook, e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
