Are You a Mary or a Martha?

³⁸As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰But 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, ⁴²but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42).

Mary comes across as a person passionate about the things that count. She knows that she is expected to be helping Martha with the food and drinks, but how often does one have the God of the universe over for tea and crumpets (or whatever they had for tea in that day)!  She saw the eagerness on the face of Jesus as He began to answer questions and discuss the Scriptures. Wild horses could not drag her from the room! She made a conscious decision to ignore the unwritten rules, obligations, and expectations to help Martha in the kitchen. There are higher priorities than laying the table and pouring drinks. I am sure Mary had questions stored up in her heart. She was waiting for the words of Jesus to feed her soul. Mary was right in putting the word of God as her highest priority.

Martha strikes me as a person whose self-esteem was bound up in what she does for Jesus more than who she is in Christ. She was a task-oriented person, and there is nothing wrong with that. We need task-oriented people. God has gifted them in their inner DNA to be like that. It was her home, so she felt the responsibility to treat the Master right. After all, if the Lord Jesus was coming to your house, wouldn’t you try to prepare a nice spread of food in hospitality to the visiting Rabbi? 

By the time Martha made her final outburst to Jesus, she was getting as steamed up as her kitchen was! I can picture Martha banging the pots around, making plenty of noise to remind Mary of her duties in the kitchen. Martha’s focus shifted from trying to get Mary’s attention to blaming Jesus. She couldn’t get Mary’s attention, so instead, Martha accused Jesus of not caring: “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!’” (v. 40).

Martha wanted Jesus to redirect Mary; however, Jesus wanted to redirect Martha! Martha attempted to get Mary to serve Jesus in the same way that Martha did. Martha's irritability grew to the point where she was commanding Jesus as to what He should do. We must give room to let people be different to ourselves. We are all given different temperaments for a reason, i.e., to learn to live with one another's moods. It wasn't that Martha was wrong and Mary right, but that we should imitate Mary in our worship and Martha in our work. To achieve a balance in both, we must put first things first.

Martha felt like she had to do everything and felt let down because Mary was not pulling her share of the load. She thought this was unfair. Have you felt like that before? Some of us have heard these words from our parents: “Life is unfair! Get used to it!” Jesus did not respond to Martha’s protesting commanding words, however. He got straight to the heart with Martha. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her" (vs. 41-42). How tenderly He responded to her. These are not words of anger or disappointment leveled at Martha, and the doubling of her name reflects deep emotion on His part. 

Some would say that Jesus was only after one thing on Martha's menu instead of an elaborate meal. Bread and water would have been quite sufficient. It is more logical to interpret the "one thing" to be Mary's attitude of hungering after Christ's presence. Time was short. The time of Jesus' crucifixion was drawing near, and the food was not on Jesus' priority list, but Martha and Mary were! They were His priority! The Lord did not stop by Martha's house for the food but primarily to spend time with them.

What if Jesus were coming to your house today, would you be too busy for Him, or are you a Mary and love to sit at His feet? 

Taken from the more detailed study 26 in Luke entitled “Jesus Martha and Mary.” Keith Thomas