New Covenant Testaments from Faithful Women

By M.D. House

Someday we’ll see the countless testimonies recorded on scroll, tablet, or plate by the women who helped lead and nurture the early Christian church. All of it has been recorded in heaven, and can therefore be reproduced when the time comes.

Mary the Mother of Jesus

Gabriel, the angel who first visited Mary, called her “highly favored” and “blessed” among women, noting that she had “found favor” with God. (see Luke 1:28, 30)

Mary had lived her life worthily enough to bear the Savior of the world, to nurture him in mortality, and to teach him and suffer with him. To be his mother.

Mary was a descendant of David’s royal line, making Christ so as well, as prophesied. Many scholars believe Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy, influential member of the Sanhedrin, was her uncle and significantly influenced her family, including Jesus. We know he provided the tomb for Jesus’s short-lived burial.

Mary almost certainly received a good education, so she could record her thoughts by her own hand; how poignant and spiritually insightful many of those must be! Did some or all of what Luke recorded of Gabriel’s visit come from Mary’s written account? What did she write about Jesus’s birth, his early life, his teenage years, his rabbinical studies and apprenticeship, his ministry, the completion of his glorious mission, and the days, weeks, months, and years that followed? What a delight it will be when those records are revealed!

Mary Magdalene, First Witness of the Resurrection

One of the most mysterious and fascinating women in the New Testament is Mary of Magdala, she from whom Jesus cast seven devils, and who became one of his most devoted followers.

Both Mark and John record that Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Lord. A few apocryphal records of or about her are purported to exist, but surely there is more. Much more. A heart so full of the refining fires of Truth delivered from the Master’s own lips couldn’t have kept the words inside.

Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod Antipus’s Steward

Joanna was a woman of worldly means and one of Christ’s early disciples. She had been healed by Jesus of some malady (see Luke 8:2-3). Her connection to Herod’s household may have provided some tactical and logistical advantages for Christ’s ministry, but the scriptures record that she and other women, like Susanna, also provided funds to support the Lord’s ministry.

Her insights into the ugly perversions and political scheming of Herod Antipus, who had killed John the Baptist to fulfill a foolish oath, would provide interesting and educational reading. Perhaps Paul, knowing much of political schemes himself, was also influenced by Joanna’s experiences (see Ephesians 6:12).

Priscilla, wife of Aquila, from Rome

Priscilla and Aquila had left Rome when Emperor Claudius expelled all the Jews from the city. Paul met them in Corinth and stayed at their home while he preached there, then took them with him to Ephesus, and later to Syria. In Ephesus, they met the eloquent, well-studied preacher Apollos, who they helped to become a powerful testator of the risen, triumphant Lord.

Priscilla and Aquila likely returned to Rome, as Paul makes mention of them in his epistle to the Romans, probably written in about 57 AD (see Romans 16:3). Their records will provide a treasure trove of understanding about the incredible progress of the early saints, who collectively, with the Lord’s help, gobsmacked the world.

We may not yet have their original words, but all these women have inspired me in my writing about the lives of the early Christian saints. For that, I am grateful.

M.D. House is a recovering corporate cog. As an author, he started out writing science fiction, but became fascinated with the stories of Barabbas, Cornelius, and the Apostle Paul, which led him on an amazing, three-book Christian fiction writing journey. You can learn more about him at mdhouselive.com.