Chuza

Biblical Record

Chuza appears in Scripture only in the Gospel of Luke 8:3. The passage introduces the women who accompanied Jesus and the Twelve as they went through the cities and villages of Galilee proclaiming the kingdom of God. These women were Mary Magdalene, "Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward," Susanna, and "many others," who "ministered unto him of their substance" (Luke 8:1-3).

The Herod mentioned here is Herod Antipas, who ruled Galilee at the time as tetrarch (a ruler who governed part of a territory under the Roman emperor). A steward was a person entrusted with managing a master's household affairs and property. Scripture says nothing about Chuza's exact duties or about whether he followed Jesus.

In the Korean Revised Version, the syllables "Gusa" (the Korean rendering of Chuza) also appear within other names, such as Kushaiah (1 Chronicles 15:17), Augustus (Acts 27:1), and Syracuse (Acts 28:12), but these have no connection to this person. He is also distinct from figures with similar names, such as Cush.

Significance in Scripture

Chuza is mentioned in order to identify his wife, Joanna. Joanna appears again later as one of the women who saw Jesus' empty tomb and told the apostles (Luke 24:10). The note that her husband was an official of Herod's court shows that Jesus' followers included members of the upper class connected to the ruler's household. In Acts 13:1 Luke also mentions Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and some interpreters take this as evidence that Luke had a particular interest in people associated with the court of Herod.

Interpretations and Issues

• Was he the nobleman of John 4?: In the Gospel of John 4:46-54, a "nobleman" living in Capernaum asks Jesus to heal his son, after which it is recorded that "himself believed, and his whole house." Some interpreters speculate that this nobleman may have been Chuza, an official of Herod Antipas. John's Gospel, however, does not name the nobleman. There is no biblical basis for identifying the two as the same person, and the suggestion is offered only as conjecture.
• Luke's accounts of Herod: The Gospel of Luke contains distinctive material about Herod Antipas (Luke 23:8-12, among other passages). Some scholars suggest that this information may have come from someone connected to the court, such as Joanna. This, too, is regarded as a hypothesis.
• The text gives no account of Chuza's faith or life. Any sermons or materials that tell such stories should be recognized as imaginative additions from outside Scripture.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or Sunday school lessons devoted to Chuza are rare. He is generally mentioned only in passing when Joanna is introduced, typically in teaching on Luke 8:1-3 that addresses the devotion of the women who served Jesus or service rendered through material resources.