A further imagining based on Matthew 9:18-26/Mark 5:21-43/Luke 8:40-56 and Luke 8:1-3. A continuation of last week’s post New Life.
In the months that followed her healing, Johanna, who had lived twelve years an outcast, now found herself embraced with community. As much as she could, she joined along with the women supporting Jesus and his disciples. For that weary band – some had followed Jesus for more than a year – they had become mothers. The women made sure the men ate, and had a plan for where to sleep. A number of them also contributed out of their purses. Johanna ended up spearheading the laundry brigade. She smiled at the thought that the years of her illness had taught her so much about removing stains. Now, at last, that hard-won knowledge had become valuable.
Still, it was in the communion of the women that Johanna appreciated the true substance of her new life. They were such a mixed bunch. Some had enjoyed considerable wealth, and, one would have thought, privilege, though not so much once you’d heard their stories. Demons had tormented many and others had even been prostitutes. Jesus’s teachings about making judgments and recognizing your neighbor came alive as Johanna learned of each one’s sufferings. Their experience of woe, though varied, and their common gratitude for its relief, drew them together, but it was their shared sense of purpose in serving Jesus that fertilized the soil of their sisterhood. Perhaps Chuza’s wife, the other Joanna, had it right that they now even looked different – that light shone from their faces in a way that reflected the light Jesus had shone into their bodies.
Tomorrow, they would embark for Jerusalem in the morning. They would need to allow at least ten days, as they were quite a large crowd by now. The women had spent much time working on the logistics of the journey, coordinating which ones knew which residents in the holy city where there would be extra room for guests, and, of course, planning the food for the Passover Feast days. Excitement sparked their conversations, as they made ready. Passover was coming, and almost everyone was sure this would be the occasion when Jesus would claim the title they knew was his due – that he was indeed their long awaited Holy One – the blessed Messiah.
The only wrinkle was that Jesus was not nearly as excited as everyone else.
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