Consistent Christ-Following

Matthew 27:55-56 ESV

55 There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

When I sat down to write today’s sermon and I read the text for what we will be working through today, the adjective that immediately came to my mind was the word, “devoted”.

Now, I’m pretty sure that we all know what that word means but to be overly helpful, I thought that I would go ahead and look up the definition of the word “devoted” anyway. Merriam-Webster defines the adjective “devoted” as: “One who is characterized by loyalty and devotion”.

Thus, to speak of one being “devoted” means that such a one is unwavering, uncompromising, it speaks of one who will stay the course and support his or her cause, no matter how bad things may get.

When I think of one who is devoted, I think of an avid sports fan, let’s say Brent Philipps here. Brent is the kind of guy who no matter how bad his Cubbies may be doing; he is always there rooting them on. They may be in last place in the league and it’s the last game of the season, but Brent will still be there pulling for his Cubbies.

But even more than that, Brent isn’t afraid to let you know that he’s a Cubs fan. They may be in last place, but just because they’re last in the league doesn’t mean that he is going to hide his Cub’s hat. No, he will proudly, unashamedly wear it, not caring what others think.

There are other fans though, who are not like Brent. There are those fans who we like to call bandwagon fans. These are the kind of fans who have memorabilia from just about every team in the league because their favorite team is always the one that is in first place, and you know, the team in first place changes almost every year, so they have memorabilia from gobs of different teams.

Their motto is: “If they’re in first; they’re my team!”

Then we also have those who you might call “closet fans”. In other words, they may have a favorite team, and when that team is doing well, they openly support them. They wear the memorabilia, they talk about how proud they are of supporting such a great team, you know, the whole nine yards.

But like I said, they are closet fans. That means that if their favorite team is not doing well, you would never know that that was their favorite team because they are not supporting them like they are when they are doing well.

Very rare is there a fan like Brent Phillips, who will cheer his team on and openly, unashamedly support them in both the good times and the bad times.

I think that there are Christians who are kind of like the sports fans that I just mentioned. There are some, who like the bandwagon fans, have sporadic times in their lives when maybe they are going through hard times and they are quick to say that they need Jesus, but when that hard time is over, you don’t see them or hear God’s praises on their lips until they go through another really hard time.

There are also others who are like the closet fans, they are closet Christians. This means that they don’t have any problem proclaiming their faith and Who it is that they trust when they are around likeminded people, but when they come across a setting where those present are clearly not Christian and may even be hostile to the faith, they keep their lips buttoned.

But then there are others, and these are those who prove themselves to be legitimate Christians. These are those who, whether in good times or bad, whether among believers or those hostile to the faith, the love that they have for Jesus is so overwhelming that they are proud to proclaim and show themselves to be true disciples of their Lord.

They are those who see that Jesus has given them everything, they are those who see that Jesus loved them and died for them, they are those who recognize that this life is about Him, not them, therefore they are not ashamed of Him; ever! Not even in the very worst circumstances.

And those who we will be speaking of in our message this morning are among those who fit in that last category of those who, in spite of extremely adverse circumstances, remained unashamed of their Lord.

Those who we will be speaking of this morning were in fact present for the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. We see them mentioned first at the beginning of verse 55, where we read:

Matthew 27:55a ESV

55a There were also many women there,

Now, we see first of all, that Matthew is sure to point out that those whom he speaks of here are women. And there are a couple of reasons why he points out that these whom he speaks of were women.

The first reason why is because, as we will see later on in our reading, Matthew names these women, and thus he lets us know right away that these who he speaks of in this part of the narrative are women.

But the second, and what I believe is the more important reason why Matthew points out that these were women is to answer an objection that may be made if Matthew did not clarify that these were women.

In a couple of other sermons throughout this series, we have mentioned that it was important for Matthew to point out that soldiers were guarding the cross that Jesus hung upon in order to ensure that no one could get near and attempt to rescue Him.

So, if that is the case, why does our text say here that these women were “there” that is, at the cross? If the cross was being guarded by soldiers, why were these women there? And the answer to that question is that these women were who they were… they were women.

Now, culture in the first century was much different than it is here in the twenty-first century, and in the first century, women were not perceived as a threat, physically or politically. And it was for this reason that these women were allowed to remain “there” by the Lord.

Concerning these women, the next part of verse 55 tells us that they were there:

Matthew 27:55b ESV

55b looking on from a distance,

Now, this may kind of seem like a footnote, something that isn’t of too much importance, but once again, when we look into the context surrounding this, we see that this is indeed an important detail to include.

While these are there looking on from a distance, where are the Lord’s Apostles? They are nowhere to be found. Whenever danger came their way, they ran and hid, refusing to own Jesus as their Master.

They were acting like the closet Christians that I was speaking of earlier because whenever Jesus had made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem just earlier that week, they were proud to show everyone Who they followed. Jesus was the center of attention in a very positive way, and the Apostles were more than happy to say, “We’re with Him!”.

But now Jesus is the center of attention in a very negative way, therefore, they are not only too scared to proclaim Jesus, but they also act like they have never had anything to do with Him.

But these women, they looked on from a distance, while Jesus’ Apostles had abandoned Him, these women serve as witnesses of the Lord’s crucifixion. Indeed, we may even say that the reason why we have so many details concerning the account of the crucifixion is because these very women were present to observe and report what happened.

And we read of what the relationship that these women had with Jesus was in the last part of verse 55, where it says:

Matthew 27:55c ESV

55c who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him,

The text tells us that these women had followed Jesus when He made this journey to Jerusalem from Galilee. They followed Jesus wherever He went, and here we see that they followed Him all the way to His death.

They knew what was coming, they saw it with their own eyes. They knew that Jesus was being led to His crucifixion, indeed, He had made it known as He journeyed to Jerusalem that He was going to be handed over and crucified when He arrived, and they followed Him to the very end.

And that which they performed for Jesus is relayed to us in the text when it says that they had been and were continuing to minister to Him.

When we as individuals “minister” to someone, it signifies that we serve, help, or aid someone. Thus, we know then that these women had been faithful to provide Jesus with that which He needed from their own sustenance. Food, clothing, finances, things of that nature. But how these women ministered to Jesus was so much more than simply providing Him with food and clothing.

We read throughout the scriptures that we are to minister to the Lord. But we think, “How can I minister to the Lord? How can I provide Him with anything? He doesn’t need me, and He already has everything.”

And you are exactly right, God doesn’t need anything at all, and it’s not as though God can’t function as God if I don’t provide Him with something. But when the scriptures speak of ministering to the Lord what that ministry consists of is testifying of Who He is by humbly serving Him and giving our entire selves to Him.

What better testimony could these women give than to stay by the Lord’s side, even as He suffered execution by crucifixion! What this testimony reveals is that these women believed that even though Jesus was suffering such humiliation and agony, He still was Who He said He was. It revealed that they believed that even if Jesus’ ministry on earth ended in crucifixion, He was still the Christ.

What this testimony reveals is that even in the hardest of times, even in the most adverse times, even when it is the hardest, most humiliating thing to do in a situation, Jesus is worth serving. Jesus is worth proclaiming. Jesus is worth worshipping.

Thus, they ministered to the Lord as He came to Jerusalem from Galilee, and even now, they ministered to the Lord, and were not ashamed to do so.

A Presbyterian theologian from 19th century, Albert Barnes, spoke of these women’s ministry to the Lord in his commentary on this verse, when he said:

“While multitudes of people joined in the cry, "Crucify him!" and forsook him in his trying moments, it does not appear that any of his female followers were thus unfaithful. In the midst of all his trials, and all the Contempt poured upon him, they adhered to their Redeemer. Never did female constancy shine more brightly, and never was a happier example set for all who should afterward believe on him!”

While all others had forsaken Him. While many of those who were singing His praises when He made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem were now crying out “Crucify Him!”, while all others had left Him, these women remained beside Him, they would not forsake Him.

And the gospel account does not include it, but with the chorus of hatred all around them, you have to believe that these women endured much ridicule and mocking from the Lord’s detractors.

This had the possibility of costing them their reputation, their wellbeing, it could have cost them their lives.

Now, in most situations where we speak of something costing us our wellbeing or even our very lives, we say stay away. But the scriptures reveal to us that in this situation, these women are not mentioned to serve as an example of what not to do, but as an example of what all those who follow after the Lord Jesus should do.

Their names are listed in verse 56:

Matthew 27:56 ESV

56 …Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

These women we know not much of, but that which is most important, we do know, and that is that they were servants of the Lord. Their names are etched in scriptural record as servants of God. And in this, God is most glorified.

Beloved, may God lead us to be known as His servants. Indeed, He is most worthy of it!

Amen?