Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola make some often overlooked observations in their new (2012) book, Jesus: A Theography:
"When Luke wrote his gospel, he referred to the twelve disciples with the shorthand phrase 'the twelve.' But he also used another shorthand phrase: 'the women" or 'some women':
The Twelve were with him, as well as some women: Mary called Magdalene; Joanna, the wife of King Herod's cupbearer; Susanna; and many others. They provided for them out of their resources." [Luke 8:1-3]
And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid." [Luke 23:55}
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.' [Acts 1:14]
"Jesus and His disciples were not beggars; discipleship did not equal destitution. Jesus and the Twelve had financial backers who supported the ministry, many of whom were women. In fact, they had sufficient funding not only to warrant a treasurer but to elicit Jesus' insistence that His and the disciples' taxes be paid to Rome.
"The Twelve lived with Jesus for three and a half years. They followed Him everywhere. But Jesus also had a group of female disciples. Luke used his shorthand phrase for them, 'the women,' the same way he used 'the twelve.' They were the Lord's disciples also -- the female counterpart to the Twelve. The women followed the Lord wherever He went, and they tended to His needs. And He was not ashamed. [Footnote: "The wording of Luke 8:1-2 indicates that these women were followers of Jesus just as much as the Twelve were. The phrase 'with Him' (syn auto) is terminology used for discipleship in Luke (Luke 8:38; 9:18 NIV; 22:56). See the discussion in Green, McKnight, and Marshall, Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 178 (see chap. 4, n. 1)].
"There is no question: the greatest disciples of Jesus Christ were not the Twelve. They were the women. The reason? Because they were more faithful.
"When Jesus Christ was taken to die, the Twelve fled. They checked out. All the disciples except John said, 'See ya!' But the women stayed with Him. They didn't leave. They followed Him up to Calvary to do what they had been doing all along -- comforting Him, taking care of Him, tending to His needs. And they watched Him undergo a bloody, gory crucifixion that lasted six long hours.
"To watch a man die a hideous death is something that goes against every fiber of a woman. But these women would not leave him. They stayed the entire time, close enough to Jesus to experience the full impact of the blood, sweat, tears, and other bodily fluids that rained down from the crosses of those being tortured. Yet He was not ashamed of their presence.
"Following His death, it was the women who first visited His grave. Even after His death, they were still following Him. They were still taking care of Him.
"And when Jesus rose from the dead, the first faces He met -- the first eyes that were laid upon Him -- belonged to women. And it was to the women he gave the privilege of announcing His resurrection, even though according to Jewish law their testimony wouldn't hold up in court. Later, on the day of Pentecost, these women were also present in the Upper Room along with the Twelve, waiting for Him to return.
'Unlike Jesus' male disciples, the women never left Him. They followed Him to the end. Their passion for and dedication to Jesus outshined that of the men. And God was not ashamed.
'Throughout the Lord's life, it was the women who tended to His physical needs. It was the women who looked after Him and funded Him.' It was the women who cared for Him up until the bitter end, as well as at the glorious climax. Not the men. The women were indispensable to Him. And He was not ashamed.' [pp. 144-46]