Bible Character Explorer
New Testament • 1st century AD
Joanna
Wife of Herod's StewardThe wife of Herod's household steward who used her means to support Jesus's ministry and was among the first to witness the empty tomb.
"It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles."
Luke 24:10 (KJV)
Overview
Joanna was the wife of Chuza, Herod Antipas's steward, a position that placed her within the highest circles of Galilean society and government. Luke records that she was one of several women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities and who, out of gratitude, ministered to Jesus and his disciples 'of their substance,' using their own financial means to support his traveling ministry. Her prominent social standing makes her presence among Jesus's followers especially notable, since it meant a member of Herod's own court had turned to follow the itinerant Galilean rabbi. Joanna is later named among the women who came to the tomb early on the first day of the week, found it empty, encountered the angels who announced the resurrection, and returned to tell the apostles, becoming one of the first witnesses and proclaimers of the risen Christ.
Gospel Connection
Joanna's place among the women who first discovered the empty tomb and carried the news of the resurrection to the apostles ties her directly to the historical foundation of the Christian faith, and her journey from a woman healed of affliction within Herod's own court to a first witness of the risen Christ shows the gospel's power to transform and use a life regardless of its surrounding circumstances of power or privilege.
Discover More
See how this life points to Christ in the Gospel Connection section above.