Substance & Provision | Sunday, January 18, 2026

Now it came to pass afterward that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance. (Luke 8:1-3)

Four words easy to skip—"from their substance"—open a window onto how the kingdom advances through both proclamation and provision.

Meeting Jesus in the Gospels

It is so good to see you this week as we continue our growth in the Lord. Last week a gentleman relatively new to the church asked me whether we go book by book through the Bible. We do—line upon line, book upon book—though during Advent and the start of the year we pause for some topical messages. Today we get back to our studies in the Gospel of Luke. We spent most of 2025 in this Gospel and only reached the end of chapter 7. Today we pick it up in chapter 8.

I've called this series Meet Jesus, and that's not just a title—it's an important goal. When you come to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, this is where you meet Jesus. This is where you get to know who He is and what He is like. If you've never read through the Gospels, make that a goal for 2026.

To make it easy, about ten years ago we built a website called thelisteningplan.com. Paul says in Romans 10 that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God—not by reading. For many people reading is not a regular habit. So we want to make it easy for you to hear the Word. Subscribe with your email and every weekday you'll get an email that leads you through the New Testament. There are 260 chapters in the New Testament and 260 weekdays in a year, so you can listen through Matthew to Revelation a chapter a day, about five minutes each morning.

An Orderly Account You Can Be Certain Of

The author of Luke also wrote Acts—part one and part two. At the beginning of Acts he writes, "The former account I made, O Theophilus." We don't know who Theophilus was; some think he was a benefactor, others that the name—meaning "lover of God"—simply refers to the church. He describes his Gospel as the account "of all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day He was taken up."

In Luke 1 he tells us his purpose: he wrote "an orderly account... that you may know the certainty of those things in which you have been instructed." This is key, because there are those today who claim the story of Jesus is just a well-constructed myth. Even the most skeptical historians—men like Bart Ehrman, who is not a believing Christian and has written against the "Jesus myth" crowd—argue that there really was a man, Jesus of Nazareth, who lived in Galilee. What they doubt are the miracles and the resurrection. But the historical accounts hold up.

If you want to know who Jesus is, what He did, and what He said, go to the primary sources: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In over 25 years of ministry I've found many people hold strong opinions about Jesus they've never validated in Scripture. They lean on secondary sources—culture, tradition, popular caricatures, hearsay. Someone once told me, "Jesus said, 'God helps those who help themselves.'" My answer is, "That's interesting—can you show me where?" Because they can't. It isn't there.

It's not a terrible thing that people around us have wrong ideas about Jesus—at least they know something. I'm grateful to live in a place where the name of Jesus still carries recall; there are places in the world where they don't know His name and have no Gospels to turn to. But we still need to introduce people to Jesus as He is actually revealed in Scripture.

Four Things in Three Verses

We're only going to get three verses into chapter 8 today—seventy-five words. I had planned to go much further, into the parable of the sower, but something in these opening verses stopped me like a speed bump. One of the occupational hazards of being a pastor is familiarity: "Oh, I know this part, I'll jump ahead." That's dangerous, because there are things we skip over that God wants to speak to us through. If this is inspired Scripture, nothing is here by accident.

Four things stand out in these verses: the movement of Jesus' ministry, the mission of His kingdom message, the method of His discipleship, and the means of His ministry.

The Movement of His Ministry

"Now it came to pass"—this phrase, used 28 times in Luke, carries an implied movement. Mark uses "immediately"; Luke uses "and it came to pass." Both picture Jesus on the move, always accomplishing the work He came to do. There was no idleness with Jesus. That doesn't mean He never rested—He told His disciples to come aside and rest, and He honored the Sabbath—but you could never call Him lazy or slack. As Peter later wrote, "The Lord is not slack."

Solomon warns repeatedly against idleness: "Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers become wealthy" (Proverbs 10:4). "Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave" (Proverbs 12:24). And famously, "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise" (Proverbs 6:6). You'll never see an ant the same way again.

Part of why Jesus was not idle is that He knew His time was short and wanted to make wise use of it. We lose sight of that, especially when we're young, when older years seem far away. Moses prayed in Psalm 90, "The days of our lives are seventy years... so teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Paul exhorted the Ephesians, "Walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil"—or, as the New Living Translation puts it, "make the most of every opportunity."

Point one: wise disciples redeem the time, because time is a stewardship. The most wealthy people on earth—Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos—have the same minutes in a day that you and I do. The word "afterward" here, the same word Luke used for an "orderly account," reminds us that Jesus' life unfolded one purposeful event after another. And one day we will give an orderly account to the Lord for how we used our time and resources.

The Mission of His Kingdom Message

Jesus did many things—fed multitudes, healed the sick, cast out demons, walked on water. All of them great and important. But what was His primary focus? Early in Mark, when crowds were searching for Him after a night of healing and the disciples said, "Everyone is looking for You," Jesus answered, "Let us go to the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth" (Mark 1:38). He never lost sight of His primary purpose: the message of the kingdom.

If the kingdom message was of utmost importance to Jesus, and I am His follower, then it should be important to me. Point two: wise stewards embrace His mission and message as their own.

The Method of His Discipleship

"The twelve were with Him, and certain women." Everywhere Jesus went, His disciples were with Him closely. We think of Peter, James, John, Andrew, Thomas, Bartholomew. But remarkably, especially for that culture, among them were women followers—Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others—learning from Him.

Robert Coleman, in The Master Plan of Evangelism—a book Billy Graham often recommended—writes: "Having called His men, Jesus made a practice of being with them. This was the essence of His training program... He had no formal school, no seminaries, no outlined course of study... All Jesus did to teach these men His way was to draw them close to Himself." Jesus was His own curriculum.

This in-motion method produced great fruit. The early religious leaders looked at the first followers and called them unlearned and untrained men—but they marveled that "they had been with Jesus." There's almost nothing you can do better than spend time with the Lord in the Scriptures, in prayer, and in fellowship with His body. Point three: the wisest followers are found nearest to the Lord, in His presence.

The Means of His Ministry

Now look again: "and many other women... who provided for Him from their substance." That last clause is so easy to pass over—like a footnote. But God inspired Luke to record it. The word "their" is feminine—these women weren't just followers, they were funders.

It's hard to imagine the King of Kings needing benefactors. Yet how did Jesus go from village to village preaching the gospel? It's the aspect we overlook until the lights don't turn on and the doors don't open: there's funding behind the work. These women had means, and they used those means to support His ministry.

I know that when a pastor starts talking about money, some get on edge—if this is your first visit, you might think, "I knew it, that's all they ever talk about." We infrequently talk about it. But the Bible has a great deal to say about wealth and finances, and if we're going to be faithful in going through it verse by verse, we'll eventually reach passages like this. The gospel advances through proclamation, but it also advances through provision.

Point four: wise disciples don't just follow the Lord—they partner with Him through generosity. The kingdom work is spiritual, but it is sustained in very practical, material ways. Those who go to the mission field will always be a minority; the majority make it possible for the goers to go. That's not a bad thing—it's how God made it. Notably, the only male follower interested in the finances was the one who carried the purse: Judas. We'll get to his story.

What Scripture Says About Wealth

People ask why God is so interested in finances. I'd object: He speaks about it so frequently not because He is focused on money, but because we are. Our possessions often don't belong to us—they possess us. Anyone who owns a house understands this. I remember when everything I owned fit in one carry-on bag for a year in Germany. Now that bag is wadded up in a garage I can hardly park in. Jesus said it plainly: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6: "Command those who are rich in this present age that they not be haughty, nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

You may think this doesn't apply because you're not rich. So consider this: if the clothes you're wearing aren't your only clothes, if you came in a vehicle you pay for, from a home you pay for, and took a shower with hot running water this morning—you are wealthier than most people who have ever lived, and wealthier than the vast majority alive today. We are the rich.

So Paul's words land on us. First, don't be haughty. If you've ever thought, "I have what I have because I worked hard, and if others worked hard they could get ahead too"—Paul has a word: stop it; that's arrogance. Deuteronomy 8:18 says even your ability to earn wages was given by God. Second, don't trust in uncertain riches—remember Job; everything could be gone tomorrow, and none of it goes with you into eternity. You'll leave it to someone who will squander it, as Solomon said. Third, recognize that God gives these things to be enjoyed and to do good with—be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share.

And note the cautionary, even frightful word in verse 19: how you use your wealth now is "storing up for yourself a good foundation for the time to come." Your retirement account, your property, your possessions—none of it follows you into eternity, but how you use it now will change your experience then. How I steward my time, talent, and treasure will influence how I experience eternity.

The Wisdom These Women Learned

You can tell a great deal about a person's heart by how they handle their wealth. Mary, Joanna, Susanna, and the others were the benefactors of Jesus' ministry. They paid the bills so He could go from city to village preaching the kingdom. I count them among the wisest of His followers, because point five: the wisest of Jesus' disciples learned the wisdom of His teaching—it is more blessed to give than to receive.

So in three short verses we see it all: wise disciples redeem the time, because time is a stewardship; wise stewards embrace His mission as their own; the wisest followers stay nearest His presence; they don't just follow but partner with Him generously; and they learn that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Mary, Susanna, Joanna, and the others learned that lesson well—and you can be certain, great is their reward in heaven.

Closing Prayer

God, thank You for Your Word. It is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. In some ways it can be deeply challenging and convicting to us. If in any way we've been convicted today, it's an opportunity to come to You and say, "God, I confess, would You forgive me?" And You have said You are always ready, willing, and faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. So make us more like You—good representatives of You and Your kingdom, lights shining in a dark place. Help us to be exemplary in the way we understand our place, our position, and our possessions in this world. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those who agreed said, Amen.