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“Now Jesus loved Martha…”

~John 11:5

Hello my beloved sister!

A lot of people think that Martha gets a bad rap. What do you think?

When we first meet the sisters in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has entered the village where Martha lives and she invites Him into her home. Her sister Mary is there as well, and as Martha, whose name means “Mistress” (the feminine of Master) in Aramaic, is busy preparing food for her honorable guest, Mary is entranced by Him and is sitting at His feet, respectfully listening to the Son of Man. Naturally, Martha wants to be in on the conversation too and is probably frustrated that she is missing out on some good information. (Don’t we all, as hostesses, sometimes feel the same way?)

So, as her culture allows, she appeals to her guest to instruct her sister to help out in the kitchen. Jesus replies that she shouldn’t worry about making anything special, but just throw something together and come sit to be with them.  

The first thing that impresses me about Martha is that it is she who initiates the visit with Jesus! Luke 11:38 tells us that “a woman called Martha welcomed Him into her home.” She didn’t wait until her house was in perfect order, but seized the opportunity to invite Him in! Her sister got the benefit of sitting at His feet and listening to Him while she performed her mistress/hostess duties. I don’t wonder that she felt a little left out! 

What can we learn from that? Jesus’ reproof is so gentle that I can’t imagine He was angry or frustrated with Martha. Most likely He didn’t want her to miss out on fellowship with Him. Jesus’ priorities aren’t what we eat or what we wear, although there is an eternal blessing in feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. Perhaps the ‘good part’ that Mary chose was to sit at the feet of the Lord while He was in the house.

Fast forward to the book of John where Jesus has indeed become friends with Martha, Mary and their brother Lazarus. In fact, verse 11:5 declares, “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus”!

He is coming to meet them because their brother has died. Martha, who is grieving at home with her sister and friends, hears of His coming and once again takes the initiative to go out to meet Him, but Mary sat still in the house.

Martha greets the Lord with a lament of faith, “if You were here my brother would not have died” and then a statement of faith as she expresses Jesus’ connection with the Father. Jesus comforts her by plainly telling her that her brother shall rise again! When Matha replies with her understanding of resurrection on the last day, Jesus opens her eyes a little bit more….. HE is the resurrection and the life! She responds with a statement that is not unlike Peter’s revelation! “Yes Lord, I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world!”

How the tables seem to have turned! Now, Martha, fresh with revelation, goes back to her sister, who was sitting at home. She alerts her sister to Jesus’ arrival quietly, but when Mary stands up, her friends stand up with her to go wherever she is going. 

When she sees Jesus, Mary greets Him with the same faith lament; “If You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Isn’t that interesting? Both sisters have different exposures to Jesus, yet they respond to Him the same way in their grief. 

God appoints a day of salvation for each of us! He knows our life stories, He knows when our hearts are ripe for revelation. If you think about it, we all are a little bit of Martha and a little bit of Mary. This is not a bad thing! Sometimes we get the idea that we should be all Mary and no Martha, but scripture teaches us that Jesus loved Martha, and her sister! 

You might say that in Martha we see works & faith in action and in Mary we see faith & works in action. In Christ, faith and works are brought into balance, for it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6), but faith without works is dead. (James 2:26) God never stops molding and making us, according to His good will & pleasure, as we are willing to yield to His loving hands.

How is God working in your life today? Is He calling you to draw closer to Him, or is He calling you to some work of faith? Let your ‘Mary’ be quiet before Him when the Lord calls to you to sit at His feet and let your ‘Martha’ come out when the Lord calls you to do His work!

God bless you as you discern the goodness God has for YOU, His beloved daughter!

With love, your sister, Celeste