Martha and Mary

I.  Story
A. Mary and Martha had Jesus over for dinner.
1. Mary was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.
2. Martha was occupied with all her preparations; and after a while she came up to Jesus, and said, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Please tell her to help me.”
3. But Jesus said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, and it shall not be taken away from her.”
B. Later we read that Jesus loved Martha and Mary (John 11:5 “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.”), but this may have been their first direct contact.
II. Observations
A. The custom was that women serve while men discuss and learn. And Martha thought Jesus would support this custom and back her up. But Jesus did the opposite.
B. Martha objected to what Mary was doing, but Jesus affirmed what Mary was doing, in spite of custom.
1. Others may not approve of your listening to Christ’s teaching.
2. Your own children may disapprove. They may want you to focus on them.
3. Your spouse may even disapprove. But what man disapproves of, God often endorses.
C. But He rebuked Martha – gently – not because she was serving instead of listening, but because she was anxious, troubled, complaining, self-righteous and resentful.
1. She wasn’t just irritated with Mary, she was irritated with Jesus for tolerating Mary’s behavior.
a. When we have a problem with another person, we have a problem with Jesus.
D. It’s a great thing to do to serve others. Jesus taught us to serve. He took a pitcher of water and a towel and washed his disciples feet, instructing them to do likewise.
1. But serving isn’t everything, is it? Serving by itself isn’t enough, is it?
2. Service which flows out of the promises of God is service that is done without anxiety, without grumbling, without resentment.
3. A life of service is a wasted life if that service is not born of feeding on Christ.
a. Martha needed to spend some time marinating her soul in the words of Jesus so she could serve with an attitude of love, gratitude and joy.
E. (The Sabbath principle)
1. On the other hand, you can't spend your life at the feet of Jesus listening to His words. Babies don't change themselves, after all. But you can punctuate your life with that.
2. Punctuate: a good word: stopping, pausing, framing, structuring, directing.
a. “I don’t have the space or time for punctuation.”
3. Coming in, going out. Coming in to Jesus, going out with Jesus to serve the world. Coming in to meet Jesus at church, going out to serve Jesus in your community. Coming in to listen to Jesus in His word, going out to serve Jesus in His world.
4. Eating- we all do it. We all spend some of our time doing it. You can't do it all the time. But you've got to do it some of the time. But it continues to help us even when we're not doing it.
5. One of the goals of this series is to help you develop a life-long habit of sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to His words.
F. Does this story make you feel guilty? That’s not to point of it.
1. Jesus doesn’t say, “Mary has chosen the best thing to do.”
2. It says, “Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
3. A portion is not a duty. It is a treasure. It is a gift.
4. Analogy: kids around the table dividing up their parents’ possessions.
5. Mary chose the good portion. And Jesus wasn’t about to rebuke her for her choice.
G. You see, this story tells us something about Jesus. Mary was given a priceless treasure. And she wasn’t going to live her life as if she hadn’t. She was a rich woman and she wasn’t going to live like a pauper.
1. You also have been given a treasure. You’ve also been given the word of Jesus. Treasure it. Glory in it. Listen to it.
2. You know what Jesus said a few verses earlier in Luke 10:24? “Many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
H. So many things versus one thing.
1. “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.”
2. Seek first the kingdom, and all these things will be added to you.
3. Fret over one thing: abiding in Jesus, walking with Jesus, being filled with Jesus, worshiping Jesus. According to Jesus, that’s the one necessary thing.
4. I have spent too many of my days worrying about many things. My house, my cars, my kids, my church, my sermons, my worship service, my teaching, my finances, my health, my clothing, my office, my desk, my email messages, my marriage.
5. But it’s so easy for me to neglect the most important thing of all: adoring Christ, listening to Christ, remembering Christ, thanking Christ, drawing near to Christ, resting in Christ.
6. Waking up in the morning:
a. There is Someone to be worshiped.
b. There is a Voice which must be listened to.
c. There is Something to be enthralled with.
7. C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity that the real problem of the Christian life comes the very moment you wake up each morning, when all your wishes and hopes for the day and all your anxieties and apprehensions about what faces you rush at you like wild animals. And our first job is to shove them all back and listen to that other voice, and take that other point of view and let that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.
I. A centered life needs to be cultivated. It doesn’t just happen.
1. Life starts from the inside. What we do, what we say, what we feel, how we act: these are all outflows of what’s going on in our hearts.
2. What is the fuel of your heart? Let it be the teachings of Jesus.
3. Jesus’ teachings aren’t just for scholars and professors; they’re not just for bishops and priests.
4. They’re for ordinary women and men like you and me.
J. Have you been given a healthy body? Has God given you a good job? Have you been given a good spouse? Have you been given the blessing of children?
1. You have been given something much greater than all of these!
2. You’ve been given the word of Christ.
3. May it abide in you richly. May it dwell in you richly.
III Conclusion
A. Luke tells us that Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to His word. Let’s talk a bit about Jesus’ feet.
1. This is the beginning of an interesting relationship Mary had with the feet of Jesus.
(1) Here she is sitting at His feet while Martha prepares the meal.
(2) Then in John 11 she is falling at His feet at the tomb of here dead brother Lazarus.
(3) And then we find her anointing His feet with precious ointment in John 12:1-8 (also Mark 14:3-9, Matt.26:6-13).
b. Three postures at His feet
(1) listening to His word, attentive to His teaching
(2) falling down in grief and in a desperate cry to Jesus
(3) adoration and appreciation
c. The story of Mary & Martha in Luke 10 occurs about in the middle of the story of Jesus. The story of Mary anointing His feet in John 12 occurs on the Saturday before His death, the day before Palm Sunday when He rode triumphantly into Jerusalem.
(1) In the middle of His ministry Jesus taught about being in His kingdom, loving others, etc.
(2) But about 4/5 through His 3 year ministry, the tone dramatically changed. Controversies with the Jewish leaders became regular and the focus shifted to the coming cross.
d. Why was she so focused on His feet?
(1) A place of humility and submission - like when we kneel
(2) That is enough to explain the first two episodes of Mary at the feel of Jesus. But what about the third episode where Mary is anointing his feet with precious ointment and wiping them with her hair?
(a) She anointed Him because He was the Anointed One, which is what Christ means.
(b) “How beautiful are the feet of him who brings good news!” (Is.52:7; Rom.10:15) It may be partially just a celebration of His coming by honoring the feet that carried Him there.
(c) But it seems likely to me that there is something deeper going on here as well.
(d) When Judas criticizes Mary’s gift, Jesus defends her by saying she’s anointing His body for burial, reading more into what Mary was doing than perhaps Mary even had in mind.
(e) And then can’t we take this a step further? If this act was preparing Jesus’ body for death, it is not likely that it was preparing His feet for their important part?
(f) Was it not His feet which were said to be the place where He would be bruised by the serpent in Gen.3:15 “I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your seed and her seed [Jesus]; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”?
(g) And were not these the feet that were soon to be pierced through with nails? And were not these feet soon going to crush the head of the serpent?
(h) Isn’t it likely that Mary was anointing these feet for their great task?
B. One day we will see Him face to face. We’ll see the feet which carried Him on this earth. We’ll see the feet which were crushed on the cross. We’ll see the feet which crushed the head of the serpent to accomplish our salvation.
1. But for now, the feet are gone. The salvation remains, and the words remain.
2. These words are your life! How blessed are your ears that they hear!