I am sure you are all familiar with the story of Mary and Martha found in Luke 10:38-42. Martha works hard in the kitchen while Mary sits at the feet of Jesus. Martha gets frustrated that Mary is not helping and goes to Jesus and tells Him to basically send Mary into the kitchen to help her. Jesus tells her that Mary has chosen the right thing. Was Martha wrong for being in the kitchen? Was Mary wrong for not helping Martha? Was Jesus getting on to Martha?
So what is this story really about? For me I don't think we can get a full understanding of this story without looking at the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, also. The two stories are intertwined and go hand in hand. It takes one to understand the other. So this blog will cover both stories.
Let's do some digging.
Jesus is intensifying his training of His 12 disciples. He has just sent them out on their own and told them not to take anything. They have returned to report the healing of people and casting out of demons. Then the five thousand are fed. The transfiguration occurs and the disciples witness it and want to build three monuments: one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. God speaks from heaven and tells them to listen to Him. A demon is cast out; the disciples argue over who is the greatest; Jesus rebukes them. Seventy other apostles are sent out. They report their happy results of all that they were able to do in His name. He pulls the 12 aside and encourages them. Then we have the story of the good Samaritan. Stuck right in the middle are five short verses, the story of Mary and Martha and then Jesus goes right back to His teaching of the disciples where He teaches them how to pray.
vs. 38 Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village;
Even though Bethany is close to Jerusalem there is nothing in scripture that I have found to suggest that Jesus and His disciples had been there before. So most likely this is their first visit to this small village. They will return there again later, at least once. We will look at that in a minute.
...and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.
This was not a planned visit. But it was customary in this day for people to invite people of interest, dignitaries and other important travelers into their homes. We see often that Jesus was invited into the homes of others as he traveled around. In Luke 7:36 He dined in a Pharisee's house, in Luke 19:7 He stayed in the home of Zaccheus, just to name a couple. It actually was considered an honor to have someone of importance to come to your home. Martha has requested that Jesus and His disciples come to her home obviously for dinner and rest from traveling. If you invite someone to dinner, the polite thing to do would be to fix dinner. I believe that Martha may very well have had the gift of serving after she was saved but I don't think she has accepted Jesus as her personal savior yet. I will explain why in just a second.
vs. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord's word, seated at His feet.
Mary was exactly where she was supposed to be. We know that because Jesus will tell us that in just a couple of verses. Mary was listening to Jesus and seated at His feet. What a beautiful picture of where we should be. The only thing important to her was Jesus. Obviously that was a good thing. But does that necessarily mean that Martha was doing a bad thing or the wrong thing? I think we often think she was because of her over reaction and our misinterpretation of what Jesus said to her. First lets look at her reaction.
vs. 40 But Martha was distracted with all of her preparations;
First of all Martha was busy doing what she felt she needed to be doing. She was distracted. Many a pastor has compared her distractions to our own distractions that pull us away from spending time with God. This is a great analogy for us to apply to our lives but I don't think this is the main focus of this story. The Bible says she was distracted with all of "her distractions" those things that she felt were important. Those things that mattered to her. She could not just simply say I will forget about those and sit down, they were important to her. After all she had an important dignitary and his followers in her home for dinner. Someone needed to prepare the meal. To sit her down now and say listen to Jesus would be like asking a new mother to sit and listen while her baby was crying in the other room. She would be distracted and not able to pay attention and Jesus knows this. Martha begins to feel overwhelmed with all that needs to be done and reacts in the flesh, which is typical of anyone who does not know the Lord.
...and she came up to Him, and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me."
Lord is used as a title by her not as referring to the Lord. She questions the Lord and basically says I'm working my fingers to the bone in here, tell Mary to get off her bottom and help me. In other words if you want to eat, I need some help. I think Martha has wallowed in self pity so long that it has finally bubbled to the top and boiled over. She has kept her peace as long as she can and now she has actually directed her anger at her guest and indirectly at Mary. Isn't that how we so often act when we react to something in the flesh. We lash out, and often times try to hurt the ones we love. Also I think it is worth noting that often times when we are doing what the Lord wants us to do, it is family members who rebuke us for doing it. Mary was doing what the Lord wanted her to do and Martha is rebuking her for it. So how does the Lord respond to her outburst. Does He get on to Martha? Does He make her feel bad? Or does He simply give her something to think about?
vs. 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and bother about so many things;
Jesus looks into her very soul and her character and says to her you are worried and bothered about so many things. It was her nature to worry and to be bothered and Jesus knew that and is telling her that He knows that. He is getting her attention. Pulling her attention away from all of her distractions and causing her to focus totally and completely on what He is about to say...
...but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
Only a few things are necessary, only a few things really are important, we don't need anything fancy to eat just something simple is fine. But if you want to get right down to it Martha, there is really on one thing that is important and Mary has found that today. She has chosen the one thing that can never be taken away from her. And that is all He said. He teased her. Right now Martha is wondering what is it that Mary has chosen, what is it that I have missed. Did Martha sit down and listen or go back to the kitchen. We don't know because that is not what is important. The focus of the story is not that Martha was doing something right or wrong but that Mary had found Jesus, the one thing that could never be taken away from her. Now Martha has time to think about it, ask questions about it when she was not distracted. God works in His own time and so often we try to force salvation on someone when they are not ready. God must work in their life for the grain to ripen before the harvest. For some the ripening time is short, for others it is longer. It is our job to be obedient and present the gospel and let the Holy Spirit do his job, to bring that seed to a harvest. Sometimes God may use us to harvest a seed that someone else planted but some times God may use us to plant the seed. Either way it is not our job to decide when a person should decide about when they should accept Jesus. This story is a beautiful example of how God gave Martha the time she needed to realize the decision she needed to make. How do we know that? Turn to John 11, the story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus to get the second half of this story.
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