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SUZANNA was another woman who
ministered to the needs of the Lord and His disciples. (Luke 8:3) The
scriptures mention her name this time only.
MARY MAGDALENE was a woman from
whom the Lord removed seven demons. Her
 close association with Jesus’
mother and her sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleopas (John
19:25), was seen when the three of them stood together during the
closing hours of Jesus’ agony on the cross. (Luke 23:49)
Mary Magdalene remained at the scene of the crucifixion and waited
until the body was taken down, wrapped in the linen cloth and placed
in the garden sepulcher of Joseph
of Arimathea. (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:47; and Luke 23:55) She was
with the women who brought spices to Jesus tomb, and she was the first
person to whom Jesus
appeared after His resurrection. (John 20:11-18)
MARY, THE WIFE OF CLEOPAS was the
sister of Jesus’ mother Mary. She also was one of the women who
observed Jesus’ crucifixion. (Matthew 27:61 and John 19:25)
 After Jesus was resurrected, He met two of His disciples walking along
the Emmaus
Road, not far from Jerusalem, but they did not recognize
Him. Jesus asked why they
were so sad, and one of them, whose name was Cleopas, responded in
surprise that this stranger was not aware of the recent events that
had taken place in Jerusalem
concerning Jesus of Nazareth. (Since Mary was Cleopas’ wife, it would
not be unusual to suppose she was the other person who was walking
with Cleopas.)
They told Jesus how the One they believed to be the Jews’ Messiah had
been arrested by the religious leaders and crucified. They also told
Him it had been three days since the crucifixion, and that when
certain women who went to Jesus’ tomb and found it empty were told by
two angels that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Then Jesus said to them, “Oh foolish ones ... why are you are so slow
to believe all that the prophets have written. Don’t you realize that
Christ had to suffer these things before entering into His glory?”
Then beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He showed them, from the
scriptures, all the things that were written concerning Himself.
When they were on the outskirts of their village they asked Jesus to
dine with them, and He accepted their invitation. When they were
seated at the table, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave
it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him, and
He vanished from their sight. (Luke 24:13-31)
They were amazed and said to one another, “Didn’t our hearts burn
within us when He talked with us on the road and opened our
understanding of the scriptures?” After that they returned to
Jerusalem where they found Jesus’ eleven disciples with some other
folks who had gathered together with them, and told them all about their experience
with the resurrected Christ. (Luke 24: 36-45)
As the two were telling their story, Jesus appeared in the midst of
the group and explained to all of them what the scriptures had to say
about Himself. (Luke 24:32-45)
 MARY OF BETHANY was not one of the
ladies who followed Jesus during His ministry, but she will always be
remembered for something she did at a special dinner party where Jesus
was the guest of honor (Mark 14:9).
Mary was a woman who had always listened eagerly to Jesus’ teachings.
She lived with her sister Martha and her brother Lazarus in Bethany, a
village about three miles from Jerusalem, and Jesus was a frequent
guest in their home. Apparently, Mary understood and believed what
Jesus said about His death and His resurrection, which is why her
action at this social gathering was so significant. A careful study
and comparing the
scriptures in all four of the Gospel accounts that describe what took
place at this dinner party will reveal why Mary performed this special
service and also identify the other guests who were in attendance.
We know that this dinner party took place six days before the
Passover, and that it was in Bethany (John 12:1), in the house of a
Pharisee (Luke 7:36). The Pharisee is identified as Simon the leper in
Matthew 26:6. One of Jesus’ disciples, Judas
Iscariot, was also
present, and is called Simon’s son in John 12:4. The other guests ( included
Jesus, the guest of honor, and Lazarus who had recently been raised
from the dead.
 During dinner, Mary came in with a box of very costly ointment. She
began to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair.
Then she opened the box and put some of the ointment on His feet.
(Luke 7:37-38) Mark 14:3 records that she also anointed Jesus’ head
with some of the precious ointment.
When Judas saw what Mary was doing, he became very indignant and said,
“Why was this ointment being wasted? It could have been sold for a
great sum of money and given to the poor. (John 12:4-6) Some of the
others at the table also joined in and said the same thing. (Matthew
26:8,9)
Jesus rebuked Judas sharply for what he said and told him Mary had
done this in preparation for His death which was soon to take place.
(John 12:7-8 and Matthew 26:10-13)
After being rebuked by Jesus in his own house and in front of their
guests, Judas went to the Pharisees and arranged to betray the Lord
for a certain sum of money.
 (Mark 14:10,11 and Matthew 26:14-1 6)
Jesus highly commended Mary of Bethany for paying attention to His
words, and, because she anointed His body that day, He said she would
be remembered every time and in every place where the Gospel would be
proclaimed. (Matthew 26:13)
MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS is the
most well-known person to bear the name Mary. She was in the kingly
line of David through his son Nathan.
When Mary was a maiden, living in Nazareth, she was engaged to a man
by the name of Joseph, who also was in the line of king David through
Solomon. (Matthew 1:1-16)
The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and gave her a message from God,
saying she had been chosen to be the mother of the Jews’ long-awaited
Messiah. When Mary asked how that would be possible since she was a
virgin, Gabriel told her the child would be conceived by the power of
God the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:26-35)
After Mary gave birth to the humanity of Christ, she is mentioned only
four more times in the scriptures. First, at the wedding feast in Cana
(John 2:1-4); then in Capernaum (Matthew 12:46-50 and John 2:12);
again at Jesus’ crucifixion (John 19:25-27); and last of all in
Jerusalem, after Jesus had ascended into heaven, Mary was in an upper
room with a group of faithful followers of the Lord who had gathered
together to pray. (Acts 1:14)
While many women are prominent throughout the Bible, the ones briefly
described in this writing are very important. because of their close
association with Jesus during His 3-year ministry on earth.
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JOANNA was the wife of Chuza, the
steward in the house of Herod Agrippa. Luke speaks of her association
with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with Mary, the mother of James.