JESUS MEETS ONE WITH WORDS OF LIFE AND THE OTHER WITH WORDLESS ACCEPTANCE.
"But the Lord answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; 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" (Luke 10:41-42).
In Luke's account we are now some six months away from the final Passover feast. It was now October 15, and the Lord was in Bethany, two miles outside of Jerusalem, where he was going to celebrate with the nation of Israel the Feast of Booths, a seven-day feast in which the Jews were to remember the days when they lived in booths in the desert for forty years some 1500 years earlier.
Now the Lord and his men had just arrived at this small village located in the hill country of Judea. It appears that a couple of the 70 disciples that he had sent out before him had already preached in Bethany about the kingdom of God and the fact that Messiah was going to visit that town, because later these women would call him their Messiah in John 11-12. Now, as he entered Bethany, "a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home," along with the 12 disciples.
From all we can gather out of this passage and John 11-12, Martha lived with her sister Mary and their later to become famous brother Lazarus (who is not mentioned in this passage). It appears that Martha may have been widowed for she is manager of the household. Later we will find that Martha was a woman of faith who would confess in John 11:27: "I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." Mary appeared to be a younger single adult living under the same roof. Whereas Martha was a very activity-oriented person, her sister appeared to have more of a meditative nature. If you have time to read John 11-12, you will find a picture of a godly Jewish family, each member of which was in their own way seeking to please God in this small village.
Now it is obvious that Martha had a loving and open heart toward strangers, for she opened her home to Jesus and his disciples, and then she was willing to offer them a meal. It seems that after Martha invited them into her home she introduced them to her sister Mary, and then both of them began to prepare a large meal. As they went about their task, it appears that they both were conversing with the Lord as well as listening to him, but in time there was something about the words of Jesus that drew Mary away, and she listened intently and then just quietly sat at the feet of Jesus, eager to hear every word that he spoke.
Somewhere during all the preparation for the meal Martha somehow became distracted. You can almost see Martha checking the meat, and then asking Mary to set the table. As they busied themselves with the tasks of their hospitality, the Lord Jesus was conversing with both of these godly women. You can also hear them asking Jesus, "Lord, where have you been, and why are you here in Judah at this time? The last we heard from our friends you were ministering up in Galilee. Share with us!" Meanwhile Martha thinking that Mary was out in the dining room setting up the table, let her mind drift away from the conversation and back to the meal. Note that nothing was out of order at this moment. Martha's heart and motives were right, for it was she who invited Jesus into their home. Unfortunately, Martha's dinner preparations were slowly coming unglued, because she was becoming distracted by the many details of preparing that meal. She lost the main focus of the moment, for here before her, sitting in her home, was the Son of God, who was going to the cross, a man mighty in miracles and teaching. Here was the Messiah; here was Life! She was trying to listen to the words of Jesus, but she was having trouble listening and preparing the meal at the same time.
Now, we all have to admit that we have this same problem from time to time. However, we must spend time with the Lord first, asking him to take control of our distractions so that we might live a life pleasing to him in the midst of all these voices.
Then Martha fell to pieces. In order to remove some of the pressure of the moment Martha may have become jealous or resentful because Mary had left the rest of the preparation of the meal to her. Something about the character and conversation of Jesus drew Mary to stop what she was doing. Our Lord may have been telling them about the coming events in his life, for soon the shadow of the cross that had been falling across his life and ministry would become a reality. Being so near Jerusalem and realizing that within six short months he would offer himself up as the final Passover Lamb, he may have spoken of his forthcoming death, burial, and then the hope of the resurrection and ascension. This conversation and perhaps the tone of his voice drew Mary to the point where she found herself sitting at the feet of Jesus. She was hungry, but not for the present meal. She was hungry for spiritual food, starving for some spiritual reality although she lived only two miles from the temple in Jerusalem. She wanted to hear the words of eternal life, and here he was in her home-who wants to eat! She was being fed, deeply.
Martha had not only allowed the preparation of the meal to distract her, but apparently she was so busy that she was also out of touch with Mary's spiritual needs. But rather than take the problem directly to her sister, she wanted Jesus to get on her side, so she said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." To Martha's way of thinking, Mary was being selfish and irresponsible.
Everything had been going along fine with Martha up to this point, where she made two mistakes at once. The first mistake was when she crossed the line from being a gracious hostess to becoming a critical spirit. When she permitted herself all this resentment and jealousy, the meal became of first importance. Her second mistake was that she tried to involve Jesus in the whole affair, to manipulate him into taking her side. "Lord, you tell Mary to come back to the kitchen! She would come quickly if you told her!”
Then we see the Lord evaluate Martha's activity. It was at this moment that the guest was placed in a position where he had to challenge Martha's heart. He didn't rebuke her because of her hospitality or her preparations for the forthcoming meal, but because she became distracted, which in turn permitted her to have a critical spirit. "Martha, Martha..."-the repetition of the name was an expression of affection and concern.”...you are worried..." That is, she was anxious, going to pieces over all the things she imagined she had to do before everything would be ready. "...and bothered [upset, troubled] about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one..."
Then the Lord in speaking to Martha evaluated the choice that her sister Mary made by leaving the kitchen and the preparation of the meal and listening to the Lord's words, seated at his feet as a disciple listening to the words of her Lord and Master. She was drinking in every word he has to say. It was a "teachable moment," and she wasn't going to miss it. For from his lips were coming the words of eternal life as he spoke of his forthcoming death, the importance of his death as the final Passover Lamb, his burial, his resurrection and his ascension. Surely she was thinking of the implications all these events would have for herself as well as her beloved family and her world. We will meet Mary two more times in the Scriptures, and each time she will be found at the feet of Jesus. In John 11 we find that Mary's brother Lazarus had died and she was at home weeping when Martha came in and told her that Jesus wanted to see her. She arose quickly and was coming to him. "Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet..."
On a third occasion just six days before the Lord's final Passover, Jesus came to Bethany and "they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus [now risen from the grave] was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary therefore took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume." (John 12:2-3.)
Our Lord then said to Martha, "...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." What did Jesus mean, "The good part"? Was he speaking about food or her choice of sitting at his feet and listening to words of eternal life? I believe Jesus was speaking of Mary's choice to sit at our Lord's feet in order to learn the secret of how he was able to handle his present reality. For he was able to see Mary's heart, a heart that longed to know him, and in knowing him she would learn the secret of how to handle her own present reality. He was surrounded by activity, pressure, demands, distractions, crowds, and suffering humanity and Mary was willing to sit at his feet to learn his secret the same way he was willing to sit at the feet of his heavenly Father before dealing with his present reality: the shadow of the cross. The reason Jesus so respected Mary in this episode was that she was living out what he wants all of us to live out, because it was what he was living out. It was the fact that in order not to lose the focus of his life and ministry, he would constantly turn to his Father before he did anything, before he said anything and before he went anywhere, for he told his disciples, "I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." (John 6:38.) "For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent me has given Me commandment, what to say and what to speak." (John 12:49.) That was "the good part."
Now, Mary was a beautiful example of the type of relationship our Lord wants all men and women to have with him. It is a lifestyle of submission to the will of the Father. We cannot understand the will of the Lord unless we are willing to take time to "sit at the feet of Jesus" and listen to him when he speaks the words of eternal life. His words will enable us to discern the difference between what is urgent and what is important. They help us discern the difference between what is of the flesh and what is of the Spirit, what is good and what is evil, what is of God and what is of the world.
What kind of hospitality does Jesus receive in your life? Are you so busy planning and running your life that you neglect precious time with him? Or do you respond to him by listening to his Word, then finding ways to worship him with your life? It is that kind of hospitality he longs for from each of us.
(Some thoughts are from R. Ritchie)
