Martha, Martha…

Devo #5

There’s two scripture readings I picked out for this morning…

From Luke 10…

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feetlistening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. 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!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42

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From John 11…

17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles off from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

21 “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.”

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

John 11: 17-27

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One of my all time favorite podcasts is And Also With You, which is a podcast hosted by two Episcopal priests. Every single episode they share blows my mind and makes me see faith in a new light, and I can’t recommend them enough. One such episode was when they discussed St. Paul, and some of his ~takes~ on women in the Ministry. It was a great episode, and when I listened to it, I thought so much about Martha from the New Testament.

In the last year or so, I've had such a heart for Martha. When I was growing up, when I heard about "Mary and Martha," I always thought of the story in Luke 10:38-42. Martha was distracted, "anxious and troubled" as she hosted, asking for help from Mary when she was listening to Jesus speak. As a gal who struggles so much with anxiety and worrying, I felt this to my core. (Also, who among us hasn't super-stressed out when we're hosting though? Relatable!)

There's two visions of discipleship I see here: Martha serving, Mary listening. Both are important, and played a big part in the ministry of Jesus. And when I read Jesus's words about how Mary has chosen the "Good portion," sometimes I think he just meant that it was right and good that Mary had chosen to take the time to listen and open her heart to Jesus's teaching... not that what Mary was doing was more important than what Martha was doing (I.E. hosting the hordes of people that had come to hear Jesus’s words.) In my mind, I read it as "give Mary the space to worship me, Martha,” in addition to, “you don’t need to worry, I am here!”

Then, there’s Martha in John 11, when Jesus visits her and Mary after Lazarus has died. I think of how in verse 5, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." When Jesus came to see them after hearing of Lazurus's death, Martha runs out to see Jesus in verse 20-27. This may just be the English major in me, but in this passage and in this story overall, I feel the emotion of Martha running out to see Jesus. I feel the power of their friendship, and her discipleship. Even in the midst of her grief... and the strength of her pure faith and hope in Jesus living right alongside her grief. When I read this moment captured in scripture recently, it made me cry. I hope that in my own moments of pure grief and despair, I run to Jesus like Martha did.

From what I see in these two stories, Martha is one of the most complex female characters in the Bible. She is flawed, like us, and seems to be a worrier. However, amidst her anxiety, she can also show us how to so strongly believe in Christ that even in the depths of true despair, she knows all she has to do is run to Jesus.