Martha, Martha, Martha

Martha, Martha, Martha!

Luke 10:38-42

In the middle of Luke’s gospel is this short passage. It seems to stand alone as it does not seem to be closely connected to the passage before it which is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Following it in Chapter 11 is Luke’s version of the Lord’s prayer. But this does not mean that it is significant. Much can be learned by this encounter.

It seems this is the earliest mention of Mary and Martha in the Gospels. Mary and Martha are also in the passage of the raising of Lazarus in John 11. John, along with Mark and Matthew mention them in conjunction with Mary anointing Jesus for burial. The composite picture of them appears consistent concerning their personalities.

We know from John 11 that Jesus knew Mary and Martha as well as their brother Lazarus and that he loved them. This implies that they has an ongoing relationship of which this passage in Luke is one of those occasions. We know from the gospels that the two sisters lived in Bethany near Jerusalem. Luke only refers to “a certain village.” How long they had known Jesus at this point is unknown, but they invited Jesus into their house. Part of the hospitality involved preparing a mean for their guest, washing the feet, and other acts of hospitality. Where Lazarus might have been, we do not know, but it seems that the tasks centered around the comfort of the guest fell upon the women. Martha understands this and attends to the many tasks. The text says she was burdened by them. Se wished that her sister would get up and help, but Mary remained seated at Jesus’ feet and was listening to His teaching. Although it could be considered hospitality to listen to the guest, there is more here involved with her sitting. She was sitting as a rabbinical student under the Rabbi. She was being discipled by Jesus.

We don’t think so much about a woman learning from a religious teacher. But this detail would be somewhat unusual in Jesus’ day, to put it mildly. Women were not encouraged to learn the Torah. Some Rabbis even held that it was better to burn the Torah than for a woman to read it. The role of women was to be a servant. They were to be busy doing rather than hearing. The expounding of the Scripture and the learing of it was for the men only. Some of the more “enlightened” synagogues would allow women to overhear the men being taught in synagogue, but they were to remain as silent observers. If they had questions, they needed to wait until they got home to ask their husbands. If the husband was willing, he would answer her question.

Martha was annoyed at her sister. Perhaps she was jealous of her. Perhaps she saw her sister acting inappropriately as far as “the rules” were concerned. She does not even tell her directly but appeals to Jesus to send Mary to help. But Jesus did not see Mary’s seated at his feet as objectional at all. Without condemning Martha’s desire to serve, He makes it clear that Mary was choosing the better part. “Martha, Martha, you are troubled about many things” He says. “It is more needful to do what Mary is doing right now than to be distracted by tasks.

We can see from the Gospel of Luke especially, that Jesus’ views of the role and status of women was unorthodox, as far as the rules of Judaism were concerned. Many of these manmade rules, called “the tradition of the fathers” were intended for the Jew to keep the Law of Moses. If one kept these rules, they wer properly observing the Law. They were a hedge put around the Torah. But instead of helping one keep the Law, they were acting as a barrier to the Law. One could not see the will of God through the hedge that was placed around the Scripture. And women were hedged out from even the hedge. Jesus’ teaching broke though these walls and brought people to hear God’s word. And women were included into learning. Women had no reason to be excluded, and even a casual examination of the Old Testament shows that God was interested in both men and women learning and obeying the Law.

Luke brings out in 8:1-4 that several prominent women provided material support for Jesus and His disciples. The women acted as breadwinners in supporting God’s new household. Mary Magdalen, who was one of these women would be the first witness of the resurrection. Other women also saw the risen Jesus and became the first preachers of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Women could not even testify in court because they were considered “hysterical,” which is the Greek word for “womb.” To be hysterical was to act like an emotional woman. But Jesus broke these barriers down. The curse of Genesis 3 was being reversed.