Brothers and sisters often fight with each other as they grow up. Sometimes these traits carry over into adulthood, especially when a sibling is still displaying the childish behavior he had when he was younger. In Luke 10: 38-42 We see the story of two sisters, their attitudes, and how Jesus responded to the situation.
Mary (one of the women present in this passage) sat at the feet of Jesus. Martha, who had offered hospitality to Jesus, was upset by her sister’s attitude. Jesus reacted in a very different way than, surely, all of us would think.
If you want to know this story in detail and its teachings, continue reading. We have broken down each of the verses and explained separately. You can also learn how to carry out what Jesus taught us in Luke 10: 38-42.
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Luke 10 38-42. Explanation
Below we will break down the quote and explain what each of these means:
Verse 38
As they continued on their way, they entered a village; and a woman named Marta received him at her house.
This verse tells us a lot about Martha.. She was hospitable and wanted to help Jesus and his disciples. To accommodate the large group traveling with Jesus, she must have had a good supply of food and her house must have been large.
Since he apparently had no servants, he must have been a very responsible and hardworking person to have such a large supply of food. Not only had she worked hard to accumulate such provisions, but she was willing to share them with others to help in the ministry.
The qualities of each person
Everyone has different talents and abilities. But our abilities are good for no one until we are willing to share them with others. Not everyone can play a musical instrument, not everyone can sing in the choir or bring the Sunday sermon.
But we all have gifts we can share. We have talents and abilities that the Lord has given us to be a blessing to others. Martha’s talent was in her organization and resourcefulness. This is a good talent to have. And she was willing to share what she had with others.
What Marta’s act involved
His decision to welcome Jesus and the disciples implied a great sacrifice On your part. It meant that he would have to work a lot to prepare all the food for such a large group. It meant that he would be spending much of his time on preparations.
It also meant that she had to be willing to part with some of her food stores, which no doubt had been accumulated with great effort. But she wanted to help, so she was willing to go through all this trouble.
whatHow much trouble are we willing to go through to be a blessing? for everyone else? Sometimes it can take a great deal of our time and effort and even our resources. Are we as willing as Martha to reach out and be a blessing to others?
Verse 39
Marta had a sister named Maria, who sat at the feet of the Lord and listened to his teachings. He was probably younger.
“From the fact that the house into which Jesus was received belonged to Martha, and that she generally took the initiative in action, it follows that she was the elder sister.” Maria was one of these people who led with her heart. later in John 12:3 we see her anoint Jesus. But now she is sitting at his feet. She was fascinated by the teaching of Jesus. She wanted to learn everything she could from him. She listened intently to every word she said.
She sat down to listen, which denotes great attention. Her mind was serene and she resolved to listen: not to catch a word now and then, but to receive all that Christ gave. To sit at the feet of Christ and listen to her word signifies a readiness to receive it, and a complete submission and resignation to her guidance.
We might ask ourselves to what extent we are interested in the teachings of Jesus. Do we spend time alone with him, at his feet, every day to learn from him? Do we spend time reading his teachings in the Bible? Are we faithful to the church? Or are we too busy to spend time learning about Jesus and his teachings? Many of us have very busy schedules, but we need to make time for God in our daily routine.
verse 40
But Martha was distracted with a lot of service; and she approached him and said: “Sir, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then that she help me.”
Martha was distracted with all the work. It turned out to be a bigger job than she had anticipated. And instead of helping her, her little sister was sitting. Maybe Maria had been like that as a child, a bit lazy, always trying to think of ways to get out of work. Perhaps this was what Martha thought: my lazy sister is not as willing to help as she was when she was younger.
You will see that Martha had become so involved in all her duties that she was not listening to what Jesus was teaching. She didn’t stop to think that maybe Maria needed this instruction right now. All Martha could think about was her own worries and her own embarrassment at not being able to keep up with the ration.
Our mistake as Christians
Sometimes we are so busy doing our own thing that we lose sight of what others may need. Notice that this verse says that Martha was distracted by a lot of service, a lot of diaconate. There are times when we get so involved in our own ministry in the church that we lose sight of the needs of others.
As ministers, and we are all ministers, our job is to serve others; not let others serve us. Ideally, our priority in the church would be: how are we going to help others? Our duties should not distract us so much that we lose sight of our true purpose; be a blessing to others.
I think Martha had very high standards and was alarmed that she was falling behind on her homework. She may have been the only one who noticed this, but she was very upset. I wanted to be a blessing to others, but instead she was beginning to seem like an inept hostess. She felt frustrated and confused.
If you ever get like this, sit at the feet of Jesus. Look into his Word and see what He has to say. This will help you with your chores, you will dig a better ditch, you will mow the grass better, and you will study your lesson in an amazing way. Your work in the office will be easier and you will be able to drive your car like you never imagined. Just take the time to sit at the feet of Jesus. Maria chose that.
Verse 41
But the Lord answered her: “Marta, Marta, you are distressed by many things.”
Notice that Jesus does not condemn Martha for trying to be a good hostess. Rather, he tells her that the problem is that she has become anxious and worried about these things. She had lost her perspective of why she was serving in the first place. She wanted to do something nice to help Jesus and his followers.
But he lost sight of his mission. She must not seem like a wonderful and competent hostess. Rather, her mission should have been, and probably was at first, to provide a place for Jesus to teach others and to care for his needs. She had lost sight of that and in fact she interrupted Jesus to vent her frustrations.
teachings
From this interesting narrative we learn:
- That the cares of this life are dangerous, even when they seem to be the most legal and laudable. Nothing of a worldly nature could have been more appropriate than to provide something for the Lord Jesus, and supply his needs. However, the Lord Jesus gently rebuked her. This tells us that we must be careful not to neglect the things of God because of our duties.
- It is more important to pay attention to the instructions of the Lord Jesus, than to occupy yourself with the affairs of the world. The one will remain forever; the other will be for a short time.
Have we lost sight of what is important? Are we busy doing many things, but don’t have time for God? Does our work for the Lord cause us anxiety and anguish? If so, then we’ve forgotten the reason we’re serving it in the first place.
Verse 42
One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken from her.
Jesus gently rebukes Martha. Everything Martha was doing was important, but it wasn’t the most significant thing in the kingdom of God. Our work in church, or with our family, or at work may be important, but it is not the most important thing in the kingdom of God. If we are so busy with other things that we don’t have time to pray, read the Bible, or share our faith with others, then we are too busy.
Jesus said that although what Martha was doing was important, there was only one thing that was necessary. What was that one thing? She was sitting at the feet of Jesus learning from her teaching. When we neglect time alone with God, and when we neglect the time to learn from his word, we can feel anxious and worried about many things.
John 11:5
Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister and Lazarus.
I wanted to end with this verse. It is easy for us to think that Jesus showed favor to Mary and disapproval to Martha. But this verse tells us that he loved both Marta and Maria. She wanted the best for both of them. There may be times when we feel frustrated and worried like Martha. We can be so upset as to say or do stupid things. Then we can feel that God no longer loves us.
But notice that Jesus loved Martha and Mary. He loves us. No matter how often we fail him, no matter what mess we get into, he still loves us. He is willing to help us. There may be times when he gently chides us, as he did with Martha, but he always does it out of love. No matter how much you think you have failed God, remember that Jesus loves you just as much as he loved these two sisters. He cares about you and he will take care of you.
Sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to His Word is the only thing necessary in life
That is the main message of this little story which allows us to see an incident in the life of Jesus and two sisters who invited him to dinner. The story is incredibly concise, and yet packed with power. Lucas seems to put it here both to contrast it with the previous incident and to develop part of it.
In this story, Martha welcomed Jesus into her home. There is a big difference between challenging someone and welcoming them. In the first part of the story, we can quote the two great commandments, love God and love your neighbor, but the emphasis of love for your neighbor is in the parable of the good Samaritan.
In this story, we see an example of what it means to love God., when Mary sits at the feet of Jesus. If we only had the story of the Good Samaritan, we could allow service to God to take precedence over devotion to Him….