The women who watched the crucifixion from afar had “followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him” (Mt. 27:55). I’d like to consider what it would mean to minister to Jesus, and how we can continue in these women’s footsteps today, ministering unto the Lord.

Jesus had a following of faithful women, as I mentioned in the previous post, and they must have been preparing food for Him, getting water for Him, perhaps washing His feet, and any number of other things. This was their ministry to the Lord, the One who made Heaven and Earth: to give Him a drink of the water that He spoke into existence.

To minister is to act as a servant, to provide and care for. The women who served Jesus used their hands and feet. Mary even used her hair and her tears to wash His feet (Luke 7:36-50). Their ministry to Him was tangible. Jesus could taste it, drink it, and smell it.

How can we continue their ministry now that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven? Remember Jesus’ words: “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me” (Mt. 25:35-36). “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me” (vs. 45).

In other words, our ministry to Jesus is how we extend ourselves to others here on earth. First to our families: we feed and clothe and comfort and nurse our own people, old and young. When you wash your children and put them in clean clothes and feed them that after-school snack, you do it unto the Lord. He receives it. When you invite visitors for dinner and show them around town, you do it unto the Lord. When you visit the sick and remember those in prison, you do it unto the Lord. These things you do for your families, cooking, cleaning, baking, washing, are sanctified by our Lord. When your little people need their noses wiped or their hair combed or their dirty t-shirts washed, and you take care of it, these things are sanctified by our Lord. This is our ministry to Him. And when we fail to do it because we are too busy with our own “important” duties, we did not do it unto Him.

To live like women of the cross, like the women who followed Jesus all the way to Golgotha and then to the tomb, we must keep our hands full of ministry to others. Jesus sees this and receives it and puts it in His account. What a blessed way to view our service to others, as unto the Lord Jesus.

Serving others is a kind of death, and those acts of service are put in the ground and raised with Jesus. They are glorified beyond our wildest imagination. What? A drink of water for the kids when I’m busy getting dinner on? Yes. That’s it.

00