Mary And Martha5

Mary and Martha These two women had completely different personalities and due to this they expressed their devotion to Christ in different ways. In Luke 10:38-42, we see that Martha “was distracted by preparations” in order to serve Jesus. Yet, Mary chose a better action (v.42). She was sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning from Him. There is not a question in the fact that Mary was a disciple. A disciple (in this time period) would typically be found sitting at the feet of the rabbi in order to learn. Yet, we should not question Martha’s dedication due to her momentary distraction. She was the focus of this passage (Luke 10) because it was a unique learning experience for her. Martha was willing to be a servant to Christ and a dedicated hostess to Him as her guest. Jesus Himself said that the greatest was that of a servant. Therefore, the heart of Mary was correct. However, the timing was off. She would not always have her Lord with her and should make the best of the moment. She should hear His every word face to face. As a disciple and as a woman, this would have taught Martha that her priorities need to be correct. Later when Lazarus died, it was heart breaking for Mary and Martha. The situation tested their faith. They were only able to see their tears and were caught up in the moment of their loss. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (Luke 11:21). Martha’s words reflected to Jesus the hurt and confusion that was lodged up deep in her soul. She could not understand why her Lord would have left and allowed this to happen. All she knew was that He could have prevented it, if His presence was there earlier. Jesus helped Martha to understand that His people will live (John 11:25-26). Then Martha made it vocally expressed to Jesus that she believed that “He was the son of God” (John 11:27). Despite her pain and confusion over her brother Lazarus’s death, Martha still believed in Jesus. In the end, both Mary and Martha understood that the overall trial of their brother’s death was to reveal Christ’s power, compassion, and glory. He did not leave them, but through hard times taught them to trust in Him. He proved that His people will live by raising their brother Lazarus from the dead. This trial of Mary and Martha teaches us that God is sovereign. That we can express our true emotions with Him and He listens. He also feels are pain, for “Jesus wept” over Lazarus’s death. Finally, whether we like it or not, sometimes God allows are needs to go unmet temporarily in order to teach us to rely on Him…maturity often comes in extreme adversity.