Hold onto your halos as we move into another full week of saintly thrills and spills! With only three matchups left in the Round of 32, we'll soon find ourselves in the Saintly Sixteen. Time flies when you're spending time with the saints. (Oh, and for those of you who didn't get Friday's results, Harriet Tubman drubbed Julie Billiart 83% to 17%).
Please know that if you haven't yet joined in the fun, it's never too late to leap into the Madness. Whether you've voted in the previous 13 battles or are just jumping in now, we welcome you. Especially as more people move into online forms of spiritual devotion in the current climate, we're glad to have you here. We just won't shake your hand.
Speaking of which, on Saturday evening Tim and Scott shared some online prayer resources and a dose of hope in a post titled Lent Madness Carries on, which you can read here. If there was ever a time for online community, that time is now.
Today it's Joanna the Myrrbearer vs. Junia in a matchup of Biblical women. Time to vote!
Joanna the Myrrhbearer
When Joanna—along with Mary Magdalene; Mary, the mother of James; and several other women—told the other disciples they had found Jesus’ tomb empty, the Gospel of Luke tells us her words “seemed to them like nonsense.”
But Jesus always believed the women he encountered, and he believed in Joanna. Jesus believed in Joanna enough to trust her to take the news of his resurrection to his disciples.
Jesus believed in Joanna enough to invite her to follow him as a disciple and learn from him. The two angels who met her and the women with her at the tomb said to them, “He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again’” (Luke 24:6-7). Then they remembered Jesus’ words—meaning they had been with him when he spoke them the first time.
Jesus believed in Joanna enough to trust his earthly ministry to her. Luke also tells us that she, along with several other women, was traveling from one town and village to another with Jesus and the disciples, “helping to support them out of their own means.”
It’s clear Joanna was wealthy. Her husband, Chuza, was Herod’s steward, according to Luke. (This is the same Herod who imprisoned and beheaded Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, and Orthodox tradition says Joanna retrieved John’s head and gave it an honorable burial.)
She didn’t just stop at giving money to support what Jesus was doing, though. She followed him to the margins. She allowed him to inconvenience her, to lead her beyond her comfortable life. She followed him to the end, when the other disciples fled and deserted him—and even after. She followed to see where his body was laid. She prepared myrrh and other spices and perfumes to care for his body after death. She carried them to the tomb early that first Easter morning, where she was surprised to meet angels instead.
And today Joanna is believed and remembered in Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox traditions.
Collect for Joanna
Almighty God, who revealed the resurrection of your Son to Joanna as she faithfully came bearing myrrh to his tomb: Grant that we too may perceive the presence of the risen Lord in the midst of pain and fear, and go forth proclaiming his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Junia
Junia is known to us from a short verse at the end of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul had not personally been to Rome, and he wrote the letter as an introduction (though it did take him sixteen chapters. Seriously, Paul, get to the point!). In chapter 16 Paul greets a series of people: twenty-seven believers in Jesus, ten of whom were women (hello, matriarchs of the faith!). These people, who were known and respected by believers in Rome, would ostensibly vouch for Paul.
In Romans 16:7, Paul writes, “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.” In this short greeting we learn a lot about Junia. First, she is a fellow Jew, likely married to Andronicus. She, like Paul, has suffered imprisonment. She is prominent among the apostles, i.e., the people who have encountered the risen Christ and been commissioned to proclaim the good news. Paul would not use this term lightly. He has specific ideas about apostleship and is frequently at pains to defend this category. Further, we learn that not only is Junia an apostle, but also she is prominent among the apostles. That is to say, she’s an exceptional apostle. Finally, Junia has been in Christ longer than Paul. Paul was an early believer in Jesus. This statement puts her squarely in the first generation of followers of Jesus.
In spite of Junia’s universal recognition as a woman leader in the church for the first thousand years of Christianity, in the twelfth century, doubts about her sex began to emerge. Her name was thought to be a shortened form of the man’s name, Junianus. Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible helped popularize this (quite improbable) understanding. By the nineteenth century, Junia was almost universally thought to be a man in the Western Church (the Orthodox folk knew better).
In recent decades biblical scholars have revisited the question and found unequivocally that Junia was, in fact, a woman leader. She is a reminder of the struggle that women have had to find their voice in the church. As such, here and now, in this opening round of the 2020 edition of Lent Madness we formally acknowledge Junia to be the patron saint of gaslit women.
Collect for Junia
Almighty God, whose Son, the risen Christ, sent forth your apostles Andronicus and Junia to proclaim the gospel and extend your reign: send us forth in your Holy Spirit, that women and men may minister as one in faithful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit in perfect unity, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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162 comments on “Joanna the Myrrhbearer vs. Junia”
A particularly challenging matchup. Joanna gets my vote as an early follower of Jesus and the person entrusted with the news of the resurrection. But I hope to see the patron saint of gaslit women in a future edition of Lent Madness, should Junia not triumph in today's.
Joanna - a”comfortable “ woman who stepped out of her comfort zone to follow Jesus. That’s enough for me.
Junia gets our vote today. This year our strategy is to vote for the lesser-known saints.
Nancy, I'm with you. In the first few days of Lent Madness, the folks for whom I voted came out on top. The last few have been---"trounced" I think is a good word. At any rate, it was, as always, good to learn about less-familiar saints.
There's a hymn in the 1982 Hymnal--"The first one ever"--that mentions Joanna in the last verse. It's a wonderful hymn about women who were the first to recognize the importance of Jesus, and the tune sounds like a folk song.
<3 this hymn!
Yes! And with that, Joanna gets my vote at last. Now I want her and Junia to be the same woman—a truly great apostle.
I have never seen the movie "Gaslight," so I checked Rotten Tomatoes. Here's their description:
George Cukor's remake of the 1940 film Gaslight is the story of a beautiful, innocent woman (Ingrid Bergman) who marries a charming man (Charles Boyer) who tries to drive her insane. Boasting a lavish, detailed production that perfectly recreates the Victorian era, Gaslight is one of the greatest psychological thrillers ever made, thanks to Bergman's stellar, Oscar-winning performance. Gaslight was later shown in a computer-colorized print.
Cukor was a great director. Now I have to see this movie.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gaslight
The movie is great. Charles Boyer is suitably slimy as the gaslighting husband. Enjoy!
To the person who commented about the move Gaslight - Was the movie Rotten Tomatoes or Fried Green Tomatoes?
And Paul wrote those sixteen chapters and only used ONE period! :))
Very hard choice today. Thanks for the diversion.
Hahahahaha!!
Paul was a great eighteenth-century prose stylist.
When I made up my bracket, I had Junia. Female apostle! Today, I cast my vote for her in memory of Bishop Barbara Harris, ordained and consecrated a bishop in apostolic succession, the first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion.
Patron saint of gaslit women! Perfect! Thank you for acknowledging that. Junia for that phrase alone.
Joanna and I have had a lengthy relationship. At least a dozen years ago, a "stewardship" sermon I heard said that Christians "should, of course," make their tithe to the local ministry that serves themselves. A verse of the Bible was cited for this proposition. Being someone who likes to know the context of "sound bites" from the Bible, I looked it up. Then I did a whole study of such verses, using a Concordance. ALL of them were actually in a context where money was being raised from people in one place, to send to people in a different place, EXCEPT, at the beginning of Luke Chapter 8. There, we are told that Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and some other women had been traveling with Jesus and his merry men since Galilee days, financing the ministry out of their own funds. And Mary Magadalene was someone from whom Jesus had cast out several demons, so she was supporting a ministry from which she had benefited directly. That is the only one I could find that supported what had been preached to me. (The priests and other Bible scholars here may feel free to tell me if there are some I missed.) Learning that Jesus's ministry was actually financed by women was huge for me, at the beginning of my faith journey. (Learning that people who preach will sometimes, presumably accidentally, mis-use scripture sound bites was also huge.) Plus, my middle name is Jo. So I'll go with Joanna, wife of Herod's steward, today.
Did your mom love "Little Women," Amy Jo? Not to try to draw too close a comparison, but my dogs are named Jo and Beth for that reason!
Nope, "Amy" comes from an old Ray Bolger song, "Once in Love with Amy," which my father loved. And Jo is just what they thought sounded good after Amy. I loved Jo March, though!
Rooting for Junia to break the glass ceiling.
Voting for Joanna especially because of that beautiful collect. How appropriate to our world’s current struggles.
Yesterday, I went to 7:30AM Eucharist at my church, because the group would be small and would probably contain no sick people. (We have to worship by live stream next week and the week following, at the least.) The sermon included this thought: This is not the fast I would have chosen for Lent. Instead of merely fasting from chocolate, I'm required to fast from contact with other people, from singing with the choir, from receiving the elements from one of our priests at Eucharist, etc. But this fast is OK, because it's Lent. This is the path that has been laid out for us, and it's important to trust our path. Our path is the same as it's always been: to love God, to love our neighbor, and to love one another.
I found it very helpful to re-frame this voluntary confinement to home, as a Lenten fast. Be well, everyone.
Wow, beautiful thought, Amy. Profound. Thank you for this.
Let me add my thanks as well, Amy. It's been a rough couple of days for me. Thinking of it as a lenten fast is very helpful.
Yes, it is. My thanks also.
It’s a Twitter thing.
Well said Amy - good way to look at it.
I’m a thurifer. Myrrh. No question on this one.
Jania has to defy many things (her husband, King Herrod’s man, the King himself, people wanting her to be a man, being a leading apostle as a woman, etc.). She is a woman who followed Jesus despite the risks. Girl you rock!!
Jun - i - a Jun - i - a Jun - i - a !!!! Although both candidates are truly worthy, please vote for the less well-known underdog this time - the FEMALE APOSTLE Junia. Think how the world would have been swayed if her devotion to Christ had only garnered more words in the NT!! Think how the world might still be swayed if her legacy gained more attention now - VOTE JUNIA!!!
Both these women are voteworthy, for sure. BUT In seminary I wrote a paper arguing that Phoebe was a "deacon," not a "servant" or "minister" or "deaconess." As further support for my argument that women held official positions in the early church, I cited Junia, "prominent among the apostles." So I had to vote for her. (My professor's comments on the paper: "Good paper, well researched, well written, you convinced me, B+)
For me, this was the hardest choice so far. I planned to vote for Junia. Then I suddenly had a vivid picture of how Joanna must have felt as she went to the tomb to prepare Jesus' body for proper burial. I thought of her willingness to provide financially for his ministry, of how much she must have loved him and believed in him, and how grief-stricken she must have been. I think I might have collapsed in despair, but she didn't do that. She did the final loving service for him. I had to vote for Joanna.
I was really torn between these to women, leaders of the early church. While each woman has her claim, I finally decided to vote for Junia, a named apostle. However, I feel bad because the myrr bearer supported Jesus’s works and was steadfast in her faith, she never quite made it to a ‘named’ apostle. In my mind she most assuredly was an apostle like Junia and Mary Magdalene.