Jesus And The Twelve Apostles

1 Cor 15:12-20 
Luke 8:1-3

There is room for all in God’s kingdom. Different kinds of people accompanied Jesus. Apart from the twelve apostles they were also women who were his followers and to many who were not his disciples, they regarded this as a scandal; one of the women was Mary Magdalene who was delivered from seven demons, she later became the first ambassador of Christ’s resurrection. Luke was writing to an audience that had a social perception about woman and children. Men generally feel that women should not hold higher responsibility especially out there in the society but for Christ everyone is important so as long as you have heard and listen to his call.

For these women believers, they love Jesus with a deeper affection than they dare to give to any other being. They hold all earthly comforts with a loose hand, but they carry Jesus fast locked in the bosoms of their hearts. They voluntarily deny themselves for his sake, but they are not to be driven to deny him. It is scant love which the fire of persecution can dry up; the true believer’s love is a deeper stream than this. Men have laboured to divide the faithful from their Master, but their attempts have been fruitless in every age. Neither man nor devil have found a key which opens this lock this bound between the disciples and the Master.

It is our daily lament that we cannot love enough. Would that our hearts were capable of holding more, and reaching further. Like Samuel Rutherford, we sigh and cry, “Oh, for as much love as would go round about the earth, and over heaven—yea, the heaven of heavens, and ten thousand worlds—that I might let all out upon fair, fair, only fair Christ.” Alas! our longest reach is but a span of love, and our affection is but as a drop of a bucket compared with his deserts. Measure our love by our intentions, and it is high indeed.

Therefore, every individual believer (men, women and children alike) is precious in the sight of the Lord, a shepherd would not lose one sheep, nor a mother one child, nor will the Lord lose one of his redeemed people.
However little we may be, if we are the Lord’s, we may rejoice that we are all together preserved in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Fr Joseph