Jesus and His disciples continue on their way to a village were Jesus is welcomed at the home of a woman named Martha. While Martha was busy attending to the needs of her quests, her sister Mary “sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to what He was saying.” Exasperated, Martha complains to Jesus that Mary left her to do all the work by herself. Jesus answers Martha by saying she was “worried and distracted by many things,” while only one thing was truly needed. By the actions, Jesus suggested that Mary had “chosen the better part,” which could not be taken from her.
The passage is unique to Luke’s Gospel, although the sisters may be the same women mentioned in John’s Gospel. Really, in its own way, this incident is as radical as the preceding parable of the Good Samaritan. Whereas the parable overturned cultural precepts of neighbor, this story reverses traditional roles of women. Here, Jesus acts in contradiction to the accepted norms of that time by interacting with women who were not his relatives.
It also emphasizes that a major focus of Luke’s Gospel is to show Jesus as a prophet and the actions demonstrated by the two sisters, taken together, exemplify the proper response to a prophet of the Lord God. It also becomes clear that Jesus’ ministry depended upon the support of those who offered Him their hospitality, thus Martha follows the example of other women in Galilee who provided safe lodging. Mary, by sitting at Jesus’ feet, acknowledged the authority of Jesus as rabbi, or teacher. In this situation, listening to the Word takes precedence over all other concerns.
It becomes even clearer that hospitality was an important social obligation in Jesus’ time and included a number of practices that culture called hosts and guests to perform. In this story, Martha, in her attempt to provide the best possible welcome for her special guest, broke a primary rule of neglecting to pay proper attention to her guest. Martha’s efforts were not rejected by Jesus, but He wanted His message to be heard. Even if Martha had received Jesus as a prophet, she was missing His teaching.
Finally, this incident can also be understood as complementing the advice to the lawyer in the previous parable who was told to “Go and do likewise.” Luke’s Gospel repeatedly emphasizes that discipleship is characterized by service in addition to listening to the Word – each is dependent upon the other. Doing without listening is purposeless; listening without doing makes the words empty.
The story of Martha and Mary isn’t so much a reflection on human temperament because we must both have contemplatives and workers. It is the other side of the coin that is the dual commandment we call the Summary of the Laws. Mary exemplifies not the contemplative, but one who in that moment sets her sight on the one thing needful – to love the Lord her God with all her heart, soul, and mind.
This is neither a call to become an other-world ascetic nor a call to spend each waking moment studying scripture. This is a call to a blessed, abundant life. The hope of heaven isn’t just a reward: the hope of glory is the outcome of a life of discipleship. Our thoughts and actions con only be good when they serve God’s purposes. The whole reason we need Jesus so desperately is that without Him we lack the ability to serve God. God’s grace reaches out to us even when we have it wrong. We can’t even begin to find the right path until we can humble ourselves and realize we are broken people in need of redemption. We have no hope of maturing in our journeys of faith if we forget the grace of God offered so freely.
So maybe Martha knew what she was doing after all. Maybe she was afraid to listen to God’s Word. maybe she was afraid of the cost. Yet, it is when we open ourselves to the lively Word that we can realize we need to make some changes in our lives that we ae not ready to make. Then there is Mary, listening with the attitude of a disciple who takes in every word of the Master. Perhaps Mary allowed herself to be open to the Word because for her it was an imperative.
What, then, can we take home from all of this? Simply this. A lesson in discipleship. Luke skillfully places the story of Martha and Mary between the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the story of Jesus teaching His disciples how to pray. In the Parable, discipleship is defined in terms of loving one’s neighbor. In the story of Martha and Mary, discipleship is seen as attentively listening to the Word of God. Both are necessary and complementary components of discipleship. In the end, they are two sides of the same coin and all about love in action.
Source: © The Rev. Peter Groschner, July 17, 2016. Luke 10:38-42. Reprinted with permission from the author.