THE LATER JUDEAN MINISTRY

-Jesus is the Guest of Martha and Mary

-Luke 10:38-42

-Jesus visited the village of Bethany and was a guest in the house of Martha and Mary.  (We

 know the village was Bethany due to the fact that John 11:1 specifies it as “the town of Mary

 and her sister Martha.”)

            -Martha, Mary and their brother, Lazarus, were friends to Jesus and very hospitable to Him.

            -In the midst of ongoing opposition from the Jewish leaders, a household of friends must

             have been very refreshing to our Lord.

-On this occasion we see a contrast between Martha and Mary.  Martha was “cumbered” (KJV),

 “distracted” (NASB/NIV) with the preparations and arrangements for their Guest.  She was

 busy and concerned with the tasks at hand.  In contrast, Mary was not involved with the physical

 tasks but sat quietly and still at the feet of Jesus and listened to His words.

-Martha, displeased with the lack of help from her sister, complained to Jesus.  Perhaps she

 didn’t feel that her sister would listen to her.  “...[S]he was indignant of what appeared in her

 eyes as a slight of duty on Mary’s part; and she called for the Lord to rebuke it” (Coffman, 1975,

 pgs 232-233).

            -“There seems to be a reproach to Jesus in her speech as she asked if he did not care that

             Mary had left her alone to serve” (Boles, 1940, pg 227).

            -“Martha honored Christ as Guest, but Mary honored him as a Teacher”

             (McGarvey/Pendleton, pg 478).

-We find that Jesus delivered a kind rebuke to Martha.  The words, “Martha, Martha”, as spoken

 by the Lord must have surely had a calming effect upon His busy, frantic friend.

-Jesus contrasted the “many things” that Martha fretted over to the “one thing” that Mary

 focused upon.

            -“...[T]hat contrast is not only in regard to number, but also in regard to kind” (Boles, 1940,

             pg 228). 

            -Obviously, this is a contrast of the physical tasks at hand to the spiritual words of Jesus.

-The spiritual superseded the physical...and still does.

            -How many times have we, like Martha, been distracted by the many physical, worldly tasks

             at hand to the point of being distracted from that which is most important, the spiritual?

            -The things of this world contribute to anxiety but a focus upon Christ calms.