10:38-42
The village will be Bethany, which is where Mary and Martha lived (John 11:1). As is often the case with Luke, we see the emphasis on women, and in this section the emphasis is on the importance of women paying attention to God’s word. Martha is mentioned as opening her home, and it is likely that she was the elder of the two sisters.
The younger sister, Mary, sat at Jesus feet listening to Him. Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She was exasperated by all the things she thought needed to be done, and Mary’s failure to help. She also rebukes Jesus! Just consider for a moment what is going on here. She is rebuking the Son of God. It says she “asked” but it looks pretty much like a rebuke to me. Maybe, this is just a cultural thing, with a more direct approach being more acceptable than it sometimes is with us. Note the reality of the situation. We all know people who are like Martha, and we may well be like that ourselves.
Jesus urges Martha to get things into perspective. The Son of God has come to visit. What is more important, to learn from Him, or to get the meal ready? As I write this I think that Martha’s attitude is typical of many women, especially of my wife! But I had better not say anymore as she does read this blog! However, there is a lesson for us all in this, male and female. When we are worried about things we tend to focus on practicalities, to the exclusion of the spiritual things, think we cannot afford to spend time on them, the situation is too urgent! Now practical things do matter, but if you are beset by worry, then a good thing to do is to praise the Lord, study His word, pray for others. The things that are demanding attention are not always as important as they make out.
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