“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.” Luke 10:38 Martha seems like a hospitable woman. I wonder what opening her home meant – was it that Jesus and his disciples were going to stay there several days? They would need places to sleep and food to eat. Someone needed to take care of the physical needs of the travelers and Martha apparently ‘signed up’ for the job. Or did she feel obligated? Some people, by nature, are very hospitable. They know just what to do to make everything perfect for their guests. They fuss and plan and do all the extra things that make people feel special. They spend two days preparing exotic foods and then thrive on people’s expressions of pleasure.
Because Martha likely had such grand plans, she needed help and was not happy with Mary for choosing to sit at Jesus feet listening to his teaching. She came to Jesus and asked him to get after Mary for not helping. And of course the Lord said, “Mary, your sister needs help - you had better go help her in the kitchen.” Not!
“’Martha, Martha,’ the Lord said, ‘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.’” Luke 10:41-42 Did we read that right? Did the Lord actually tell Mary it was okay to not help Martha? I wonder what Martha thought at that moment. Why did Jesus say Mary had chosen the better thing? I wonder if Martha threw up her hands and said, “Fine – you all don’t need to eat!” Or if she pondered and realigned her plans to make them more reasonable so she too could sit down and learn from Jesus.
I wonder if Jesus was thinking that he wouldn’t be around much longer and he needed as many people as possible to understand his teachings so that they would be prepared to go on after he was taken from them. I wonder if he was thinking that after he was done teaching, they would all go to the kitchen and work together to prepare a meal. After all, he could cook – he made fish and bread for the disciples (John 21:9) And then, I wonder why this is recorded and what I am to learn from it.
There are many things in that simple response from Jesus. First, Jesus is giving women permission to learn just as the men did. In their culture, women were not allowed to be students of a rabbi. But Jesus made no differentiation when he was teaching. He accepted women as students.
Secondly, he was giving permission to Martha to not go crazy with preparations for them. A simple stew would have done nicely. She didn’t need to make twice baked cheesy potatoes to go with the slow roasted meat with savory sauces and a seven-layer salad with homemade dressing. She didn’t need to put chocolates on all the pillows. Sometimes it is more important to visit with the guests rather than separate ourselves by all of our outrageous preparations to impress them. Being a student of our guests may be the best way to serve them. As we listen to their story, we have opportunity to encourage them and fellowship and pray with them. That likely will have far more impact than a chocolate on their pillow or flowers on their nightstand.
Thirdly, he was giving permission to Mary and Martha to pursue their hunger for Jesus’ teaching. In fact, he was saying it was the better choice and protecting Mary’s desire to learn. He was saying that a woman’s self-esteem does not need to come from housework and meal preparation. It can come from knowledge of God’s Word.
While this message seems to be aimed more at women, there are lessons here for men as well. Even in a society where women have achieved many rights and are no longer considered here to serve men, there are many subtle leftovers from previous generations. What are our expectations of women when we open our homes to guests? Do they have ample time to fellowship with the guests or are they saddled with all of the preparations and clean up? Are they encouraged to dig into God’s Word and become knowledgeable followers of Christ?
Lord help us all to find the balance between serving physical needs of our guests and being students of them in order to learn what pleases them and what pleases you.
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