Endeavoring Women of the Bible: Martha
Hello Endeavorers! We are jumping to the NT today! I know there are so many more women, but I am just highlighting some of the less studied women.
Which takes us to this week. Now you probably have heard of the story of Mary and Martha. And Martha is this woman in the bible who kind of gets a bad rep. Like she is this busy-body who focuses too much on work and forgets about just simply resting with Jesus? Sound familiar? Whether you’re a mom with too much work, or someone who stresses about throwing the perfect party and making sure everyone is content… Martha might be more relatable than you think. So, let’s take a look!
Martha
Location: bethany, a tiny village on the eastern slope of the mount of olives
Context: she is the older sister to mary and hr brother is lazarus
Passage: Luke 10:38-42, John 11
We first encounter Martha in the book of Luke in chapter 11. In the previous section, Jesus had told the Parable of the Good Samartin, which is a bit fitting. And at this point, I don’t know if Martha and Mary actually had met/knew Jesus, but we find Martha opening her home to Jesus as he is on the road with his disciples. The first verse reads:
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him”
(Luke 10:38)
So the first little thing we learn about Martha is that she is a great hostess. In the culture, hospitality was highly valued and important. Throughout the Bible we can learn about the “code” of hospitality at that time. In the desert setting travelers could expect people to offer hospitality, but there was also importance in those meals. Travelers couldn’t complain and they were culturally obligated to certain things (like accepting food, etc.). And this “code” has a lot of implications like the Eucharist and such but today I just want to look at Martha’s specific story in regards to hospitality.
So continuing on in Luke it says:
“[Mary] had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.”
(Luke 10:39-40)
Have you ever been in a situation like this? As someone who loves hosting, I feel like I can relate to this so much. I’m someone who is more detail oriented and logistical. My husband is so good with engaging in conversation and connecting with people, so you often times can find me in the kitchen or preparing things. That is kind of where I am more comfortable. You may be similar. I’m a lover of a well displayed cheese board and perfectly arranged dishes. You may want all the dishes cleared or to be sure everyone knows where the coat closet is. But do you ever have someone who is just “hanging out”? Satan loves to twist our heart and take our eyes off of what we are doing and where our hearts are and compare. We see this sneak into Martha’s story. How do we know? Well let’s look at the next verse:
“She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’”
(Luke 10:40)
So she is basically like “Um, Jesus can you tell Mary to be more like me and pick up some slack?!”
So what does Jesus say? My memory of the story was Jesus saying that Mary is right to hang out and Martha was wrong to be working so much. And that is why I kind of always disliked this story. I felt like it was saying that I was bad for trying to have it all organized. But let’s look at what Jesus actually says:
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[f]Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
(Luke 10:41-42)
Some manuscripts but only one thing is needed, but you get the idea.
So it is kind of a hard pill to swallow. Martha kind of eggs Jesus on to hate on Mary and what does Jesus do? As he so often does he turns it to her and towards her heart. I love that my Bible also refers to the passage in Matthew about worry. I don’t know Mary but I think if she is like me, she probably was jealous. What I think was key for me was to look at this verse and see that Jesus doesn’t say “just stop what you are doing”. He knows her work is important. But instead he tells her to focus her heart and to not worry. People experience and serve God in different ways and Jesus knows that. He isn’t trying to just scold Martha. By checking her heart he wants to release her and rescue her from her worry.
So after this passage, we next encounter Martha in John 11. Jesus at this point has been preaching at villages past the Jordan when he got news that Lazarus was sick. What is interesting is Jesus did not leave immediately but waited two days before returning to Judea. Because he was fully man and fully God, he knew Lazarus would be dead upon his arrival. Let’s jump in to this chapter:
“Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
(John 11:1-7)
What is interesting to note here is that it does note that Lazarus was from the village of Mary; however, we see later that it says “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus”. If you thought from the passage in Luke that Jesus just favored Mary, you see differently here. They were all dear to him.
So he goes decides to go back to Judea. The disciples do try to dissuade him and remind him that many tried to stone him there. But he tells them Lazarus is sleeping. They say that Lazarus probably needs rest, but Jesus knows that this sleep is different. That Lazarus will be dead.
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles[b] from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
(John 11: 17-20)
I think this passage is really interesting because Mary runs to greet Jesus and Mary stays home. We don’t really know why each chose the actions they did. But I see in Martha a reliant and desperate love and faith in her Savior. Once she reaches them they have a discussion:
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Martha gets a lot of hate from the story in Luke, but I think this scripture shows the beauty of her faith. When Jesus asks her the difficult question, Martha answers with a response that Jesus asks of us. I absolutely love that.
It goes on to say:
After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.”
(John 11: )
So we see Mary then join them. And she as well tells Jesus that if he had been there then Lazarus wouldn’t have passed. In the next few verses it is interesting to see that Jesus is “deeply moved in spirit”. Jesus wept is one of those joked about verses, but this is a very interesting passage in regards to the actions of Jesus (which is a total other lesson!) but we see that he was saddened by Lazarus’ passing and mourned with everyone else. So what does he do? Well he pulls a miracle working God move:
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Now this passage gives me the chills. Not only because it reminds us of how God does work miracles, but also because it shows that a dead man has found new life.
What is interesting about Martha in this passage is she is again thinking about the details. Man, I think so many personality types can relate to her! Thinking logistically! It can be hart to not think that way. So what does Jesus say to Martha when she essentially says “Logistically, that can’t be possible!”? He says:
Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?
I absolutely love that.
The last place we really see Martha is after Lazarus is resurrected, again hosting Jesus and the disciples. We see this at the start of the next chapter:
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.
(John 12:1)
From Martha, we can learn so much. Some major take aways:
Worrying
The first thing I love about Martha is she gives us an example of worrying and how Jesus handles it. Martha, although we don’t exactly know what she was like, was most likely the oldest child which can come along with the feeling to be responsible for everything (Women from the Book). I think of Enneagram 2’s or the more “structured thinking” personality types. I think it is beautiful that Jesus doesn’t devalue her skills but instead tries to connect with her and let her know she doesn’t need to let the worry consume her.
Comparison
In Luke we see Martha compare herself to Mary. And as her wording is phrased, it kinda seems like she sees her work ethic and style better than Mary’s. What Jesus I think teaches here though is that people serve and experience God in different ways. Mary chose to sit with God and that was her form of worship. We need to evaluate our own hearts before we compare ourselves. And ultimately, like Martha experience, comparison doesn’t bring us closer to and engaging with Christ.
Growth
I think Martha is also this cool example of growth. It is interesting to see her interaction in Luke, but then also in John. In John we see her eagerly running to Jesus while Mary stays home. Quite the contrast to the earlier passage. And we see her tell Jesus she believes that he is the Messiah. I People may tend to give Martha a bad rep but I think her story is so cool that is shows she grows in her faith, but she continues utilizing the gifts of hospitality, as we can see she still is hosting dinners!
Miracle working God
I’m just slipping this one in here, but even when Martha doesn’t understand how it could be possible. Jesus raises Lazarus. I think she reminds us that God is beyond our understanding. He literally raised Lazarus from the dead. I love when Jesus says “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” And we even see Lazarus dining with Martha and Jesus later on! God can do things beyond our wildest expectations. Is there a grave or a pain that you feel that God is saying “Take off those grave clothes. Go.”?
Again, Martha is such a relatable woman to me and I think her story is really interesting! As Jesus was fully God and fully man I absolutely love looking at how he handles situations. As the classic WWJD emphasizes, we need to look at how Jesus handles situations and learn from them. Therefore, I love learning through Martha’s story and ultimately learning more about God. I hope this week you can analyze your heart when your to-do list feels too long. Ask yourself what GOD requires of you. It may be something different than the multiple items on your riflepaper notebook.
Lord, I pray for the endeavorers reading and listening this week. I pray that in our to do lists and hurrying we don’t miss you. Don’t let our worry hinder our love and sight for you. We repent of the times our heart was in the wrong place and pray that you can draw us near this week. We praise you because you are a miracle working God. And what you require of us may be different than what we think. Help us serve you with our whole hearts this week and thank you for all you do.
Sources:
Bratcher, Dennis. “Travelers and Strangers: Hospitality in the Biblical World.” The Voice: Travelers and Strangers: Hospitality in the Ancient Middle East, 2018, www.crivoice.org/travelers.html.
Life Application Study Bible - NIV. Zondervan, 1997.
https://womenfromthebook.com/2012/09/04/birth-order-reasoning-martha-and-mary/
