Mary vs Martha

Many choose the path of Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. Lu 10:39  This is a good thing but often admonish Martha for not doing the same.  Jesus even says "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."  This begs the question, should Martha stop what she is doing in favor of what Mary is doing?  Jesus didn’t invite her to.  He didn’t say that Mary has chosen the thing that everyone needed to be doing at that moment.  He said that she was doing what was good and everlasting.  Whenever two words are used in tandem such as verily, verily or Martha, Martha, it is for emphasis but not necessarily condemnation.  The scripture ends here on this subject so we don’t know what Martha decided to do.  We do have other references though.

In John 11:20, we get a picture of Martha leaving the comfort of friends and family to run to Jesus.  She then says in mature faith that she wished that Jesus had been there to prevent her brother from dying, but everything is still ok.  Jesus is pleased with her belief and trust.  Then Mary runs to Him, says virtually the same thing as Martha and Jesus is grieved because of her doubt.  Jesus groans when He sees her (and everyone else’s) tears and hears their lament.  The term used here is Embrimaomai which means to groan or admonish, but clarification comes from its root, Brimaomai which means to snort with anger.  It next explains that Jesus wept (Jn 11:35).  He wasn’t weeping because he was sympathetic or missed Lazarus!  He was weeping because the woman sitting at his feet didn’t have the full knowledge of what was happening or who He was, like her sister.  He groaned (embrimaomai) in His spirit and wept.

The point that I wish to make, is that too often people stay simple and unclear about their beliefs.  They would often tend to just sit at Jesus’ feet as reasoning to do nothing; study or commune forever and never do the dishes.  Although Martha got “caught up” in the work which needed to be done and either missed an opportunity or didn't recognize the importance of what was happening with her sister, she still knew that she was called to do the work, and by reference already had an understanding of the saving grace which Mary was just learning.  The next time you get the inclination to brag that you are more of a Mary than a Martha, read back through John 11 and recognize that Martha was the one with the mature and solid faith in Jesus.