In our bible study, we looked at Jesus’s words to Martha and Mary, two sisters who feature in three places in the Gospels (Luke 10:388-42, John 11 & 12.) Though they are associated with the great miracle when Jesus raised their brother, Lazarus, from the dead, in terms of the words Jesus spoke to them, we learn much from these encounters.
Luke 10:38-42 shows us the differences between the two sisters clearly, with Martha, the sister forever associated with service, coming to Jesus because she expects Him to nudge her sister into helping her. She is practical, hospitable, busy… and distracted. Instead of acquiescing to her demand to tell Mary to get up and help her, Jesus gently rebukes Martha, reminding her that Mary has chosen the better way, the ‘one thing’ that really matters.
Life can be incredibly busy, but Mary reminds us that we have a choice how we spend our time, and time spent listening to the words of Jesus is never wasted. Martha’s service and zeal were not grounded in devotion and spirituality. Indeed, they had led to expectations of others which were demanding and unreasonable. Service is most definitely needed, but service must be an overflow from relationship. If service is divorced from relationship, it fails. Similarly, Jesus reminded us that our sustenance comes from the word of God and not simply from bread alone (Matt 4:4), something Mary had grasped. This passage reminds us that motivation matters as much as ministry, and we need service to be an overflow from our relationship with Jesus Himself.
