Mar 30 2014 - Mary and Martha

Last Sunday, the passage read at our evening service was Luke 10:38-42. The passage tells of how Jesus and his disciples travelled to a village where “a woman named Martha opened her home to him.” Note that it was Martha’s home and she had invited the Lord and his many disciples to come and stay with her. She must have been concerned to look after them properly and so she busied herself – with preparation for meals, I imagine.

Martha’s sister Mary was also in the house. We are not told whether they lived together or whether Mary had come to her sister’s house to meet with Jesus. What we are told is that Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to him as he taught his disciples – she seems to have hung on his every word.

Now when Martha protests that she has been left to do all of the work and asks Jesus to tell Mary to give her a hand, she seems to receive a rebuke. “Martha, Martha”, says Jesus, “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.”

I am sure that many of us feel some sympathy for Martha. Her concern (her “worry”) was only that Jesus and his disciples might be looked after properly. She was doing no more than might be expected of a good host. It seems quite unfair that she should have been rebuked for her diligence.

How do we read this passage of Scripture? It’s all too easy for us to divide Christians into two groups: there are the activists who are always busy in the work of the kingdom – determined to serve Christ to the best of their abilities; then there are the contemplatives, who love to be still and listen for the voice of God. Are the latter here commended at the expense of the former?

As I thought about this question, I found it helpful to think of the life and character of the Lord Jesus himself. He was one who was utterly devoted to the work of the kingdom. In Capernaum, after he had healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law the crowds came seeking Jesus and begged him to stay with them. Jesus replied, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because this is why I was sent” (Luke 4:43). Jesus seems constantly driven in his ministry. On another occasion, Jesus told his disciples, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4).

And yet Jesus never seems hurried; he always had time for others. He had time to stop and talk and listen to those to whom no one else paid attention – to the tax-collector, the leper, the woman at the well in Samaria. And he often spent time alone with his Father. Activity and rest, busyness and communion with his Father were equally vital elements of his life (see the whole of Luke 4:42-44).

Above all, Jesus was a man filled with, led by and empowered by the Spirit of God. He sought always to do the will of him who sent him, whether that meant hurrying on to another town or stopping to talk, listen and heal.

How are we going to learn to become like Jesus – neither to be worried by the pressure of all we want to do for him nor unfruitful in the work of the kingdom?

To ask the question is to answer it – we need to learn of him. It is that for which Mary was commended.

As I thought about this perplexing passage, my mind turned again to Jesus words in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

Jesus does not want us to be burdened and weary – not even with the work of the kingdom. He calls us to come to him and to rest in him. Yet this rest involves taking his yoke upon us. The yoke is a picture of being made ready for work – as oxen are yoked to pull the plough. But it is Jesus’ yoke that we are called to take upon us. We are to be yoked to him and to join him in the work the Father has given him to do. And as we are yoked to Christ and bound close to him in his work we learn of him, for he always takes the lead. And now, in his work, we find rest for our souls – a continuous refreshment of spirit as we learn from him and work with him.

It is in Christ alone that the conflict between work and rest, activity and contemplation, finds its resolution.

Let’s learn of him by being closely yoked to him.

Peter Misselbrook