Luk 10:39-42 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
Every time after reading the story about Martha and Mary, everyone will like to be Mary. Because she knew that hearing Word of God is the best part, which will not be taken away. This is absolutely correct. Honestly I think Mary is a fortunate woman, because she knows what the best is and can attend to Word of God. If between Martha and Mary to choose, I think most people would choose rather Mary then Martha. But it does not mean that all of us have to be Mary.
We should not forget, Martha who was the one to invite Jesus into their house, she opened the gate of gospel to their house and also because of her much serving so that Mary could sit at Jesus’ feet and hear his word. Wrong is that Martha she was worried and troubled while she was serving Jesus. How could a man who works for God have suffering? Although there are many works or maybe the ability or wisdom is not good enough to handle it, but if on right time she could pray for the strength and wisdom from above, and then this kind of serving will not drive her distracted, rather feel more joyful and thankful God because he works with us together. The wisdom in spiritual will not only increase, but also a living wisdom. And I believe the Lord will remember all the effort she paid and be written in heaven.
Another question, are the works really lots to do? Could they just not big deal or tiny things? It needs to pray for the help of God too. If really just for the tiny things could not hear God’s Word, it is definitely a pity! The most important is when we are troubled, we must turn to pray not to scold.
Eph 4:1 [...] beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Actually, we need this kind of people like Martha who willing to work in church, otherwise in such a huge family it will be in a mess. So in my opinion, being Martha is not because someone wants to be, rather someone has no choice to be. If everyone can do something for church or share the works with others even a small part, and then Martha would not always be Martha. She can also be Mary, sitting at Jesus’ feet and seeking the truth of God.
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4 comments:
The point that Jesus is making here is to bring awareness to Martha (and a lot of us) that His words are more important than just food and work. The words of the Lord is spirit and they are life which leads to eternity. He is not trying to say work is not important, but rather His words are more important than food and work. :)))
To recollect some of the statements Jesus uses to reaffirm His emphasis/focus/purpose of His existence at that time and the importances of listening to His words. Jesus said:
"I am the bread of Life, he who comes to me will never go hungry"
"The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life"
"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you"
"My food is to do the will of the Father who sent me"
"Man does not live by bread alone but by every words that proceeds out from the mouth of God"
Similarly, what Jesus was telling Martha is to bring her the attention that His words are more important than anything else in life.:))
Good sharing :) Very true that everyone should be Martha and Mary at the same time. Because church cannot fucntions with all Marys or all Marthas ^_^. And we should not let the burden of either be only upon particular people at church. Everyone should be able to share both roles with a balance, so that neither role is sacrificed. Because both roles are very important. One is us receiving from God, the other is us giving to God. And everyone should be both receiving and giving, not just one or the other.
Just thought of more...when reading this passage, sometimes you feel sorry for Martha. Maggie made a very good point, that Martha is doing all the good things. Her error was not in the work she was doing, but rather in her heart; that she was worried and troubled in her servitude. Actually, if we refer to the parable of the talents, we can say that to be able to be Martha, you are actually more advanced than being Mary.
In the parable, the servants could only perform work after they were given the talents. Without the master giving them the talents, they could not do any investments for the master to give back to the master. Therefore, to receive is actually the first step of the whole process.
Mary was the one who was receiving. Martha is actually in a more advanced step that she has already received and is now trying to give back to God. However, in doing that, she forgot that the first step is always necessary, the receiving and renewing. It's like a car that needs periodic oil changed. Without getting a periodic oil change, the car will still run, but it will become more and more damaged. Eventually, the damage would be so great that the car would be totally destroyed and not run anymore. That even after receiving its first dose of new oil and being able to run smoothly for a while, it still needs periodic maintenace and renewal of oil to continue to run smoothly.
Therefore, we must remember that even though we have been blessed by God and have already received much from God, and we are ready to give back to God now; that we remember to receive new oil and renew ourselves, so our engine can always run smoothly :)
hm thanks for the insight. Hab ne zeitlang auch über diese Geschichte nachgedacht und bin nicht weitergekommen. Maybe one thing that can be seen in the english translation is that Martha is not only worried a lot but also distracted. From what? Maybe from listening to Jesus. So then can we do both at the same time without being distracted? I liked only a vessels auslegung that the action is a step further than the listening. Cause you put the words into action. But still Jesus said to her in a pity full voice that the word of God is a good part. He did not say is the better part, only that it is something good and as already mentioned something that is really really needed.(especially to prevent what only a vessel describes in mark 13)
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