Extraordinary Women of the Bible

Extraordinary Women of the Bible



　"Women in Christ's Time"
Martha & Mary

Martha & Mary: "The Master is Come"

Key Scripture: Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-12, 12:2

Their Name Means:
Martha: ‘Lady of the House’
Mary: ‘Wise Woman’

Their Character: Martha, the practical one; Mary, the thinker.

Their Strengths: They both possess great faith in their Lord.

Their Sorrow: The seemingly death of their brother, Lazarus. 　

Their Joy: Martha served her master with a loving and caring heart. Mary gave her love and ointment.

Pre-Story: After two years of ministering in Galilee, Jesus returned to Judea, territories near Jerusalem, to minister there. "Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house." (Luke 10:38).

Their Story: Mary and Martha are mentioned in each of the four gospels in various narratives. There is no mention of husbands in any of these accounts. The two sister's lived with their brother, Lazarus, in Bethany, a small village within easy walking distance of the old city of Jerusalem via the Mount of Olives. Martha seems to have been regarded as the mistress of the home. (Luke10:38).

After Jesus left His natural home at the age of thirty to enter upon His public ministry It was to the warm, hospitable home at Bethany that He stayed most often. He loved the three who lived in it, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. The only people mentioned by name in the Gospel as being loved by Jesus. (John 11:15).

They offered hospitality to their friend Jesus of Nazareth, a respected but controversial Jewish rabbi. Martha and Mary were both devoted disciples of Jesus. Martha, assuming the role of hostess, went to prepare the evening meal for their friends and honored guests. Being hospitable and serving a meal was an almost sacred duty in the culture of that time.

"But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Jesus and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." So, Mary sat and listened to Jesus as he talked, while Martha objected to the fact that she was left with all the work. Luke records that "Martha was cumbered about much serving." (Luke 10:40).

*My personal thoughts... Possibly because I have always thought that I channeled Martha in my behavior.

Many assume that Mary always sat at Jesus feet, listening and learning, while Martha worked in the kitchen and complained about her sister's neglect. However, in Luke 10:39, Luke carefully explains that Martha "had a sister called Mary, which 'ALSO' sat at Jesus feet, and heard his word." Mary was the oldest and the caregiver of the home, so it would have been natural for her to be the one to get up and tend to her guests. Mary, the younger, was more used to Martha doing all the domestic work. Martha was a doer, and Mary ‘sat and listened.’ Someone had to feed their guests. After all, The Creator of the universe was coming to dinner! Both women are engaged in different aspects of ministry, or ways of following Jesus and his teachings. The point is that when we judge someone as we have perhaps judged Mary and Martha, we have forgotten that strengthening the individual and the family, serving in Church callings, and providing for temporal needs are all part of gospel living.

Next, the story revolves around Jesus raising their brother, Lazarus, from the dead. Lazarus was very ill, so Martha and Mary sent a message to Jesus, asking him to come. "LORD, the one you love is sick." When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."

In the meantime, Lazarus died of his illness. When Jesus eventually arrived, Lazarus had already been buried in the tomb for four days. As Jesus approached, Martha, she reproached him for being so long in coming. Jesus said to her "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Jesus went to the tomb, had the stone taken away from its entrance, prayed, and then called loudly to Lazarus. Lazarus appeared, alive, still wrapped in the linen strips of cloth used to cover his corpse."

In the last year of his ministry, Jesus again visited his friends at Bethany, just prior to going into Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. There Martha and Mary prepared a supper. Then after dinner; "Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."( John 12:1-12).

This is the last we hear about this family that Jesus loved so dearly. There is not mention in Scripture of either Martha or Mary attending Jesus crucifixion. Jesus apparently loved Martha and Mary very much and He felt comfortable in this home in Bethany because He chose to be there with them the last week of his mortal existence.

Their Place in God's Divine Plan: God used the story of two well-known women in the Bible to demonstrate how to use the type of relationship He wants with each of us.

Lesson We Can Learn from Her Legacy: Martha represents those dear religious women who allow themselves to be distracted overmuch with their home cares and obligations. Some are all Martha, and no Mary. Others are all Mary and no Martha. The happy combination is that of both Martha and Mary.

Genealogy: Mary & Martha
Birthplace: Palestine
Death place: Larnaca, Cyprus
Siblings: Lazarus of Bethany (Brother)