Women of God
Mary & Martha
Most of us have heard the story of Mary and Martha several times. Martha is the busy body, and Mary is the quiet listener. I’ve listened to this story and rolled my eyes at Martha (as if I could never act like her). But in re-reading Luke 10:38-42, the Lord has shown me that Mary and Martha are two sisters who both love Jesus very much.
Martha is so…human. So…like me.
While Martha’s intentions are good, her mind, her focus, and her priorities are entirely in the wrong place. Let’s look into both Mary and Martha’s characters.
Martha’s Character
- Martha “open[s] her home to [Jesus and His disciples]” (Lk. 10:38). From her first introduction, we can see she has the gift of hospitality.
— “Her” home indicates she is the eldest sister and most likely unmarried.
- Yet Martha is distracted (vs. 40). By what? By “all the preparations that had to be made” (NIV). The New American Standard Bible version says “all her preparations”. I like both versions.
— “Had to be made…” Hmm…Do all of her preparations really have to be made? “All her preparations” immediately puts focus on herself.
I used to think, “Jesus is in her home. How can she be distracted? How can she be doing other things? It makes no sense!” Yet I feel ashamed when I look back on all the times I’ve thought about my own to-do list during church services or quiet times, all the times my focus has been all over the place. It’s the same kind of offense as inviting Jesus to dinner, sitting across from Him, and scrolling through social media the entire time. When we become distracted, our focus is not on what matters most: Our relationship with Christ.
Let’s see what, or, more accurately, Who, Mary is focused on.
Mary’s Character
- Mary is sitting “at the Lord’s feet” (vs. 39).
— Pause right there. Already, we have a visual in our minds of Mary’s heart. She’s at the Lord’s feet…Lord, meaning Master. She isn’t standing; she has made herself lower than Jesus by sitting at His feet. What a perfect picture of surrender and obedience.
- What is Mary doing? She’s listening. To what? To Jesus’ Word.
— Mary’s focus is solely on Christ. Martha is distracted; Mary is not distracted in the least. The picture in my mind is that she is so enamored and awed by Jesus’s words that a semi-truck could crash through her home and she wouldn’t even blink. Jesus is the only One who matters.
** This is what Martha is missing! She’s so distracted by what she is doing for Jesus, that she isn’t paying any attention to what Jesus is saying to her, to Mary, and to His other disciples. Do you see the difference between service and plain business? The key difference is God’s Word. Serving should always be a result of the impact of God’s Word.
Business puts works before God. It doesn’t LISTEN. It has that go, go, go mentality, whereas scripture says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).
Let’s get back to Martha…
What’s so wrong with wanting to work hard to prepare a nice home environment for Jesus?
Absolutely nothing. Again, Martha’s intentions are good. She loves Jesus. She takes joy in serving. She desires for her home to be as warm and welcoming for Him as possible. She just wants to please Him. None of these things are bad. In fact, hospitality and acts of service are very good. After all, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).
BUT…Faith in Christ comes first. Always.
Good works are only good when we put our faith in Christ and allow Him to work through us. Who was in Martha’s home? The ONE person/deity who guides and leads us in all things. What was Martha concerned with? Everything else except the ONE way to the Father.
- All of Martha’s preparations not only distracts her but frustrates her. She takes her frustration to Jesus when she says:
“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Lk. 10:40).
— While on one hand, coming to Jesus with our frustrations is a good thing (Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened…”), Martha places doubt on Jesus’ character by accusing Him of being uncaring.
In this instance, Martha reveals the only item of importance is her own to-do list. And someone should take notice, for heaven’s sake! Can you hear the me, me, me mentality? Aren’t we all guilty of being exactly like Martha at time? I know I am! There have been moments I’ve gone to the Lord in prayer and said, “Don’t You care?”
Our own to-do lists, our own accomplishments, will only get us so far. While the feeling of crossing off tasks can feel wonderful, there will always be more stuff to do. More chores. More stains to clean. More imperfections to make “perfect”. That’s what we do when we create and follow our own plans: We try to be perfect, when only Jesus has that title. That never-ending list of distractions I create for myself makes me restless, and I become “too busy” to have the quiet time with Jesus that is so necessary.
How Does Jesus Respond to Martha?
- From verse 41, we learn that Jesus is so kind. He doesn’t grow angry with Martha; He doesn’t raise His voice. In fact, His very first response is, “Martha, Martha…”
— The repeating of her name carries the gentle tone that says, “Woah, slow down—take a breath.”
- We also learn that Jesus knows and speaks the truth. He says, “…you are worried and upset about many things.”
— He knows Martha (and myself) has a tendency to worry about MANY things. But what does He calls those things? THINGS!
** Jesus doesn’t tell Martha she’s distracted by her acts of service or the meal preparations or the dishes that need washing. He calls all of that THINGS. This word alone makes all of Martha’s preparations so small, so insignificant, so unnecessary. That’s because, compared to Him, those things are small and insignificant.
In John MacArthur’s Twelve Extraordinary Women, MacArthur says,
“It is a danger, even for people who love Christ, that we not become so concerned with doing things for Him that we begin to neglect hearing Him and remembering what He has done for us…Whenever you elevate good deeds over sound doctrine and true worship, you ruin the works too.” (pg. 167)
- Jesus is the only thing that is necessary. Verse 42 says, “…but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better.”
— Listening to Jesus and His Word is never a meaningless task. Filling our lives with business causes us to become distracted and lose sight of Christ and His peace. This is why we become worried, anxious, stressed, impatient.
- In verse 42, we also learn Jesus is kind but firm. He tells Martha, “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
— In other words, Martha has a choice. She can choose to sit at the Lord’s feet with Mary, or she can go back to her list of chores. But she will by no means steal the peace Mary has already chosen. Jesus won’t allow it.
Aren’t Jesus’ words comforting? When we choose the Lord’s peace, nothing and no one can steal that away from us. The only time that peace will ever be “stolen” is when we make the choice to turn away from Christ and follow our own plans. But how merciful it is for God’s grace to forgive us when we repent and run back to Him!
Remember, you can lose a lot of things, but you will never lose Jesus; He will always be there. At the end of the hardest days, and amongst all the business this world has to offer, He is always waiting and desiring for you to come sit at His feet, listen to His Word, and take hold of the peace He freely offers.