Luke 10:38-42--Martha and Mary

Luke 10:38-42
English Standard Version
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Martha and Mary
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But 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.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

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We've just seen how the lawyer was looking for a gospel of works--something he could do to earn eternal life, and the only one who could possibly have earned eternal life by His merits is Jesus, who is the one who is able to give eternal life to whomever He pleases.  We're now going to see two sisters here, Mary and Martha, who respond differently to having Jesus come to their home.

We know from later in the book of Luke that these women would later live with Jesus' friend Lazarus in Bethany, a little town close to Jerusalem, but this passage makes it sound like they live alone for now as Martha is said to own the house and is the one who invited Jesus to come over.  As the home owner, Martha feels it is her job to put the house in pristine order and cook a nice meal for her guests--especially for the guest of honor, Jesus.  Mary on the other hand just wanted to be close to Jesus and hung on every word that He said, so she just sat at His feet and didn't say a word.

After some time it appears that Martha got irritated that she had to do all the work and Mary wasn't helping because this was her home too.  She pleaded with Jesus to instruct Mary to get up and help her get things ready, but Jesus did not do that.  Instead, Jesus offers a soft rebuke to Martha to say that Jesus didn't ask for her to put on such airs because He was coming over and that she took on a burden that she was never meant to bear and was letting herself get "anxious and troubled by many things."  Boy do I know something about that statement.  Quite often I can become busy thinking I'm doing urgent things and get worn out with them forgetting to do the important things like sitting at the feet of Jesus.  Jesus tells her that only one thing was really necessary here--some people think this is referring to Martha only needing to serve something small for them to eat, but Jesus has shown He's willing to go without food on several occasions, so I don't think that's it.  I think Jesus is drawing a contrast here to the necessity of the Himself being the Bread of Life and the Water of Life that is essential for anyone that wants to have eternal life (the topic that Jesus was just talking about with the lawyer).  There is no amount of work that Martha could do in order to please Jesus (or the Father).  We can't clean up our lives enough for Him or do something that impresses Him so much that He forgets about the rest of it.  No, we must choose to love Him because He first loved us and chose us.  This is what Mary was doing sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to Him.

Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the better portion (has made the better choice) and that He will not take that away from her by telling her that she needs to stop listening to Him so that she can get up and help Martha with the cleaning and cooking and serving.  We won't see these two together again like this until John 11 which happens within a couple weeks of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection (right before His Triumphal Entry).  We learn a little more about these women from that passage.  First this Mary in this story is the same Mary that we call Mary Magdalene who was possessed by man evil spirits, and who anointed Jesus' feet with expensive ointment and wiped His feet with her hair.  (Probably recorded for us in Luke 7:36-50 but is definitely recorded for us in John 12:1-8).  Mary seemed to have been forgiven much and therefore loved Jesus much, but not in the sexual way that some try to make it out.  She was in bondage to evil spirit and He had set her free and forgiven her of her sins.  These women would also be there at that tomb on the day of Jesus' resurrection, but it would be Mary that would turn around and see and hear Jesus when the others were focused on the tomb.  So, we will see these names a few more times throughout Luke and the other gospels.  Suffice to to say that this family is important to Jesus and they are probably "like family" to Him even if they are not blood relatives.  Martha was Mary's sister and Lazarus was their brother.  Let us also choose the "good portion" and sit at the feet of Jesus to hang on His ever word.