There are so many fascinating stories in the Bible and most of us can
recall many of them very quickly. Most of these stories were ingrained
in us as children from our Bible classes so well that we are able to
recall the characters, the details and even quote the passages. Some
stories are well known and seem to have gained more prominence than
others while some are, admittedly, more obscure. However, all of these
wonderful stories have something to tell us. Although the many stories
may be different in content, immediate purpose and details, they all
share a general theme that was designed, by God, to be shared with man.
The grand theme of all these stories is that of pointing man to God.
Each story reveals the condition of man and his deep need for the
presence of God in his life.
One such fascinating story is that of Martha, Mary and Jesus.
However, if an individual were interested in doing research on this
story, they would quickly discover there really is a lack of information
on it. Although one can find some material from various sources,
including the Internet, the information is still rather limited compared
to the many other stories found in the Bible. Even among our brethren in
churches of Christ there is very little material written about this
occasion. Although the story itself ought not to be considered obscure
because it has a great message, however, it still remains that way to
many people due to the lack of information, commentary and sermon
material. In fact, it would be safe to say that this story is only
occasionally referred to from our pulpits.
The story of Martha, Mary and Jesus is found only in the gospel of
Luke. No other gospel writer records this account. Luke places the story
at the end of chapter ten following the accounts of The Mission of
the Seventy and the parable of The Good Samaritan and before
his account of Jesus teaching His disciples how to pray (The Model
Prayer) at the beginning of chapter eleven.
38
Now it happened as they went that He entered a
certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him
into her house. 39And she had a sister called Mary,
who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 40But
Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him
and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me
to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." 41And
Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are
worried and troubled about many things. 42But one
thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will
not be taken away from her"(Luke 10:38-42, all quotes from
NKJV).
This brief narrative does not provide us with many details about this
occasion nor does it provide an exact time and place. In fact, there is
some disagreement as to when this occurred. According to Lamar, it was
typical of Luke to disregard a chronological order of events and that
Luke decides to turn his attention from events in Galilee to the
occasion of this story in Bethany. Lamar says, "While the main
course of his narrative is at present in Galilee, he turns aside for a
moment to record this visit to the two sisters" (Lamar n.d.).
However, according Edersheim, this event continues to remain consistent
and in chronological order and that there is no reason to object to
"its proper place" (Edersheim 1993). Edersheim is probably
correct here. It seems very likely that this event marks the close of
Christ’s excursion to the Feast of Tabernacles and that Jesus has
taken some time to visit with His friends in Bethany, which is roughly
two miles away from Jerusalem on the eastern side of the Mount of
Olives. This in no way demands that there be a chronological deviance as
Lamar advocates.
In just five short verses, Luke provides for us some monumental
details, which are seemingly hidden in the text until we take the time
to "unearth" them. Martha and Mary were the sisters of
Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead on another occasion. Although
Luke does not mention Lazarus in this narrative, it is rather apparent
that this is the same Martha and Mary that John writes about in the
miraculous rising of Lazarus in the eleventh chapter of his gospel.
Although the raising of Lazarus was an historical event by the time Luke
would write his gospel; he doesn’t mention Lazarus at all because he
wants to introduce to us the characters of Martha and Mary alone. H. Leo
Boles comments, "Lazarus is not named here by Luke; it seems that
Luke’s design was merely to present these two sisters with their
different traits and their relations to Jesus" (Boles 1991).
The story begins with Jesus and His disciples arriving in Bethany. Of
course, Luke says that they had entered a "certain village"
but we know that this village is identified as Bethany (John 11:1). It
is here that Jesus had departed from the disciples and met with Martha
and Mary alone. The disciples more than likely went to prepare
themselves for the Feast while Jesus stayed in Bethany visiting with
these two sisters.
We are not told the actual reason Jesus came to see Martha and Mary.
However, Edersheim states, "But indeed, the whole narrative implies
(comp. Luke 10:38), that Jesus had come to Bethany with the view of
accepting the hospitality of Martha, which probably had been proffered
when some of those ‘Seventy,’ sojourning in the worthiest house at
Bethany, had announced the near arrival of the Master" (Edersheim
1993).
Apparently, Martha was the older sister since she is mentioned first
and because she is the owner of the house. It is very likely that her
sister Mary and perhaps her brother Lazarus were living with her at this
time. Again not much is known about Martha and Mary as they are
mentioned only three other times in the gospels. Also, it seems worthy
to mention that the names of Martha, Lazarus and Simon were found in an
ancient cemetery in Bethany (Hackworth 1988). Whether or not these are
the actual people is unknown.
Martha was very involved in making sure that Jesus’ stay with her
would be an enjoyable one and wanted to make herself a very gracious
host. She went out of her way to be hospitable. According to Edersheim,
this festive time would have been a very busy time for any prominent
household and there might be many visitors at any moment (Edersheim
1993). We can well appreciate the effort Martha put forth in cleaning
her home and making tasty meals like many of our wives and mothers do
today, when guests are invited over to our homes. Much work can be done
in preparing the home for guests.
It might very well be that Martha’s plans for preparing the meals
and providing social time for herself and her Guest just were not
working out. While she was making all these preparations and doing the
brunt of the work, she began to feel a little frustrated and perhaps
helpless. Luke tells us that she was "distracted with much
serving" (v.40.) while her sister Mary was sitting down at the
feet of Jesus hearing Him (v.39). It may be that Martha had tried to get
the attention of Mary hoping she might come and help her "in the
kitchen." However, Mary may have been so caught up in hearing the
words of Jesus that she did not even notice Martha. In fact, this is
precisely the intended meaning of the Greek word, "akouo,"
which means "to listen", "to consider what has been
said," "to learn." Mary was so enthralled and intent on
learning what Jesus had to say that Martha could not draw her away. Mary
is a great example for us all as every person ought to pay close
attention whenever the Word of God is taught.
Finally, Martha couldn’t stand it any longer and she interrupted
their conversation and asks, "Lord, do You not care that my
sister has left me to serve alone?" (v.40). Martha’s protest
was made to accomplish two things. First, her blatantly open criticism
of Mary’s apparent and supposed lack of help was designed to make Mary
feel guilty in front of their Guest. However, it must be pointed out
that the actual rendering of "has left" is in the aorist
tense, indicating that Mary had previously been helping Martha before
sitting at the feet of Jesus. The second reason for her protest was to
subtly accuse Jesus of being insensitive toward her by occupying Mary’s
time when she should be helping her with the "real work."
It is at this point that Luke begins to subtly contrast the
difference in the spiritual attitude and character of both Martha and
Mary. Luke makes it obvious for us to see that it was Mary who was the
one actually attentive to Jesus while Martha was distracted from Jesus.
Luke further paints for us another subtle picture of the heart of Mary.
He explains to us that Mary sat at the feet of Jesus to hear what He had
to say. This is interesting because in the culture of the day it was the
custom for the student to sit at the teacher’s feet. The apostle Paul
was said to have gained much learning at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts
22:3). Luke portrays for us, ever so subtly, how studious and attentive
Mary was to Jesus. She had an intense desire to learn from the Master
and to hear the words of life He offered and would not be distracted
from this, even if it meant delaying the meal and the domestic chores.
On the other hand we see Martha, who, on the surface, seems to be the
one who is the hard working, virtuous woman. She is putting a great
amount of effort into the work at hand but she is doing so at the
expense forgetting the importance of visiting with her Guest. Here we
begin to understand what Luke is trying to tell us. Martha is overly
burdened and preoccupied with preparations that she neglects the company
and words of Jesus. In fact our text says she was "distracted
with much serving" (v.40). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
tells us not be filled with distracting anxiety because it gets in the
way of seeking the kingdom of God first (Matt.6:31-34). Satan has a way
of getting us to lose our spiritual focus at times and we allow
ourselves to become distracted by the affairs of life. When this occurs
we begin to neglect the most important part of us; our spiritual lives.
We are to give heed to spiritual matters first. Martha was preoccupied
with other matters and felt, at the moment, that those things were more
important than being with Jesus.
Martha then demands Jesus to have Mary help her (v.40). The word
"help" in this passage is the Greek word "sunantilambanomai"
meaning "to assist" or "to share in." This very same
word is used in Romans 8:26 where the Spirit is said to help at certain
times when we pray. The meaning is that it is something that we are
unable to ourselves. Martha is strongly suggesting that the job she has
before her is far too big for her to handle alone and is telling Jesus
that she will do her part if Mary does hers.
After recording Martha’s protest, Luke now provides for us the
response of Jesus. I would imagine Jesus felt her frustration as He
tenderly and softly objects to her protest. Jesus says, "Martha,
Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one
thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be
taken from her"(v.41-42). Jesus knew her heart and knew exactly
what the problem was. Often, the heart of the matter is indeed the
heart. Jesus, wants her to realize that she has lost focus. Jesus would
do the very same thing to the church at Ephesus when He charged them
with leaving their "first love" (Rev.2:4). He is pointing out
the fact that she had made a choice and she chose to b
distracted with worldly affairs rather than choosing to be solely
devoted to Him, His teaching and spiritual matters. Jesus basically is
telling her that He is the bread of life and that those with a true
spiritual appetite, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, will always
seek Christ first. Jesus wants His disciples to be totally devoted to
following Him and does not want insincere lip service (Matt.15:7-9).
Sometimes we can be involved with apparent outward service to Christ
when in fact we are not serving Him at all. Outwardly we may be going
through the motions but inwardly we are miles from Christ because of our
attitude, our heart. When we do not intently and sincerely seek Christ
and His Word, we will easily be disturbed. Our service to Him becomes an
agitation rather than a pleasure, an imposition rather than a delight.
Jesus goes even further to explain to Martha that He desires for us to
lean upon Him when times are tough and not going our way. We are to cast
all our anxiety on Him because He cares for us (1 Pet.5:7). Jesus is
teaching us about priorities. Martha should have known that there was
more of need for spiritual development than there is for social
intercourse. Cleaning the house was not as important as hearing Him.
Preparing a meal was not as needful as is the spiritual nourishment
Christ offers all.
Jesus reminds Martha that "one thing is needed and Mary has
chosen that good part" (v.42). One thing is needed and that is
and learning. This is the good part and it will not be taken away. The
gospel of Christ ought to be our main attraction and nothing else. Here
we learn that the teaching of the Word of God takes precedence over the
social, physical and selfish needs we may desire. The apostle Paul
explained the priority in his life when he tells us about the one thing
he did, which was forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forward to those things which are ahead (Phil.3:13). Paul’s focus was
on Christ and His kingdom came first in his life. This ought to be the
focus of all of us. Martha chose poorly while Mary chose wisely. The
difference was in their priorities, their devotion and their direction.
This story is full of lessons for us and because of this ought not to be
considered obscure. Mary stands forever as an example of devotion,
attention and commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ.
WORKS CITED
Boles, Leo H. 1991. "A Commentary on The Gospel According to
Luke,"
Gospel Advocate Company, Nashville, TN, 227.
Hackworth, Noah A. 1988. "Luke, That You May Understand The
Saviour," Fifth
Annual Firm Foundation Lectureship, Bellwood Church of Christ
– Murfreesboro, TN. Firm Foundation Publishing House, Inc., 256.
Edersheim, Alfred 1993. "The Life and Times of Jesus The
Messiah,"
Hendrickson Publishers, 573-574.
Lamar, J.S. n.d. "The New Testament Commentary – Luke,"
Gospel Light
Publishing Co., Delight, Arkansas, 160.