The One Thing


Luke 10:38-42
38Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

The story of the beleaguered Martha has long been the subject of discussion and the taking of sides. Who among us can’t sympathize with a woman who has a houseful of people who need to be treated as honored guests? And yet Jesus chastises her, albeit gently, for not choosing to sit at His feet as Mary does. And who among us can’t sympathize with a woman who is visited by the Lord of Universe and finds that all other things drop away as He becomes the only focus? Luke provides us this story because we can understand both of these sisters’ actions.

First of all, let me point out that Jesus honors Mary for her rapt attention to His teaching. Jesus respected, honored, and taught women.

Though women could attend synagogue, learn, and even be learned if their husbands or masters were rabbis, for a rabbi to come into a woman’s house and teach her specifically is unheard of. Thus, not only the role Mary assumes, but also the task Jesus performs in this story is in contrast to what was expected of a Jewish man and woman
(B. Witherington III, Women in the Ministry of Jesus:  [Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1984] 101).

Once again, Jesus walks outside of the expected social norms, which He does on numerous occasions in His dealings with women. He viewed women as equal in value, intellect, and purpose as men. This alone may have have made Him revolutionary and unique.

So – who is doing it correctly, Mary or Martha? The answer is given us by Jesus Himself, so we won’t get it wrong; it’s Mary. But why? I believe it is because Mary has allowed Jesus to be in the proper place in her life. Even though He is guest in her home, He is the Son of God and is truly the only one who has something of value to give. He must be allowed to go first. We are always and forever first and foremost receivers of what God has to bring us. Jesus is the One with gifts to bring, not us. Then our response is fall before Him in humble adoration and worship. Maybe when that has worship has exhausted itself (can that even happen?) it is time to get up and serve the food. Martha got these two things out of order and thus is corrected by Jesus. He honors Mary for her proper choice and I sincerely hope that Martha got the message and sat down next to her.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more