Today Luke lets us into that particular secret. The answer is surprising. As he sets out on a tour of towns and villages, Luke details the entourage. So who are the roadies who travel with Jesus?
Well, first of all there's the twelve disciples. No surprises there, We've always imagined that Jesus and his mates travelled together, ate together, slept under the stars together, or with whoever offered them a bed for the night.
But it seems the party was a bit bigger than that. Luke goes on to mention some women who were in Jesus' debt. He had cured them from various sicknesses and diseases, including Mary Magdalene, who had apparently had an infestation of demons. Then there was wealthy Joanna, whose husband had an important job with Herod, no less. And there was Susanna, who was obviously so well known that Luke didn't feel the need to tell us anything about her. Thanks Luke. That means we know nothing.
So these were people who were bankrolling Jesus. Wealthy women. Some journalist would like to make a story about that, if it happened today, I shouldn't wonder. But this far from the events, there's no scandal to uncover, because Luke literally tells us all we know about these people.
Except Mary Magdalene - she gets mentioned elsewhere. But it's only in those so called secret gospels that Dan Brown and the conspiracy theorists like, where there is any scandal about Mary. To my mind, they are the equivalent of a journalistic expose. Written at least a century after the events, I'm afraid they're no more reliable than the Daily Mail when it comes to actually telling us the truth.
As Terry Pratchett says, "A lie can run all round the world before the truth has got its boots on,"
As for Jesus, he has no problem accepting the help of dubious women. Yesterday, we saw him allow a prostitute to touch him tenderly. Today, we see he's paid for by women.
Ladies of the human race, the Saviour of the World is in your debt.
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