Extraordinary Faith: Part Two

​Lessons from Martha and Mary

Last month, we looked at an extraordinary woman whom Jesus met at the well outside Samaria. If you were listing the exceptional women in the Bible, would you have started with the Samaritan woman at the well? Maybe not, but I love the interaction and conversation that Jesus has with her. As a result of their conversation, this woman made SURE of her salvation, and then she was compelled to SHARE her faith!

​She was the spark that ignited a multi-day revival in the city of Samaria. I can’t wait to meet some of those people who trusted Christ because an extraordinary woman was willing to deal with her eternal destiny and then cared enough to point others to the One who could give them living water as well.

Today, I want to look at a couple more extraordinary women. We find them in the same story and even in the same family living in the same house. I have been challenged by reviewing and studying these women once again, and I hope that you will be as well. Let’s start in Luke 10, looking at Martha first and then her sister Mary.

MARTHA – SERVED the Lord and Others
This pair of extraordinary ladies is almost always talked about together. They were sisters and close friends of Jesus while He was on earth. Let’s look at them in the text. Read Luke 10:38-42. As you read, pay careful attention to Martha in particular, and then we will return to look at Mary.

Have you ever heard this passage used as a contrast of what Martha did wrong and what Mary did right? I think there are some areas that we could zero in on for that contrast, but the more I read and studied these two extraordinary women, I find them BOTH to be equally extraordinary and relatable. Let’s start with Martha!

One thing that is often overlooked when we read about Martha here is that she sat at Jesus’ feet, too! Look again at Luke 10:39 – it says that Mary “also sat at Jesus’ feet….” Martha was not ignoring the teaching of Jesus. She was not bad, and Mary was not the good one here. I will come back to this point in a few moments. Martha’s focus was on industry and service in the household. She was caring for the physical needs of her guests and showing excellent hospitality, which is something that we should all take note of. Martha does show her fleshly nature amidst her serving – she gets focused on all that has to be done and responds by complaining to the Lord that Mary could be helping in Luke 10:40. She is asking Jesus for help because their hospitality was important to Martha.

Have you ever, in a busy season of life, found yourself complaining to the Lord about how much you are doing for Him when others around you seem to just sit and do so little? I’m there with you, and so was Martha.

The focus of this passage is usually the rebuke of Jesus on Martha’s preoccupation with serving and getting all the details right. We know that she was careful to treat her guests well. She and her siblings, Mary and Lazarus, are often spoken of in the Gospels for their hospitality in their home in Bethany. Jesus and His disciples spent time there and ate there throughout His earthly ministry. Martha was never caught unprepared for hosting guests. She never had to apologize for the things in her home that weren’t suitable for guests. Wish I could say that about my house!

This work of caring for people and feeding them physically is NOT what Jesus rebuked her for at the end of this passage. In Luke 10:41, Jesus calls attention to her spirit –she was careful or anxious and troubled or distracted about many things! He calls this out in the midst of her service. He never rebukes her service, but He focuses on the anxiety of DOING that had DISTRACTED her from WHOM she was serving.

Luke doesn’t tell us here what her reaction or response was to Jesus’ rebuke. However, the next time Martha emerges on the scene, her brother has died. She is the one in John 11 who runs to meet Jesus and asks for His help through her great sense of grief. We don’t have time to analyze this portion of Martha’s life, but I believe that Jesus was helping her to change her focus, and I believe that she was responsive to His working in her life. Why do I think that? Well, we see her again in John 12, but this time she doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t complain about what other people are doing or not. The Gospel record merely says this, “There [in Bethany] they made him [Jesus] a supper; and Martha served…” (John 12:2).

She is still serving! But her spirit was changed. She didn’t complain about Mary’s act of worship, which we will talk about soon. Maybe she was even part of the act in contributing to the cost of the ointment. She wasn’t distracted and anxious about her serving. She was instead calm and trusting of her sister’s act of love and devotion to the Master. Martha is an extraordinary woman when we see her servant’s heart as she SERVED Jesus and others.

What about Mary?
​I see Mary’s extraordinary character in her being SERIOUS about the learning of Christ. Let’s read Luke 10:38-42 again, focusing this time on the mentions of Mary in this scene. What a wonderful commendation the Lord gives to her – she chose the good part that would not be taken from her. Wow!

Mary was SERIOUS about learning about Christ. She was not distracted by anything else. She was a responder to Christ’s message and a participant in His teaching. Unlike her sister Martha, who was dealing with preparation for the guests, Mary spent time with the guests, in this case with Jesus, and listened intently to His teaching.

In other Gospel accounts, we find that Mary was present when Lazarus was resurrected and then again in John 12, where Martha was serving. It is in John 12 that she stops listening and worships by anointing Jesus with a very costly perfume. In this act of worship that is spoken of poorly by the disciples, especially Judas, she displays that her SERIOUS learning from Christ has opened her eyes to what He has been saying. He is going to give His life for every sinner, including her, and she anoints His body ahead of that death and burial. She was really one of the only ones who “got it” before Jesus died!

Mary was a servant of the Lord just like her sister, and her SERIOUS learning helped draw her even closer to the Lord! She learned to listen and when to act on what she had heard. Matthew 26:13 tells us that her act of worship is something that will always be remembered – that seems pretty extraordinary to me! Her small act of obedience based on what she had learned had a widespread effect, as we are still talking about it here 2000+ years later!

Both of these women were extraordinary in their own ways. One wasn’t better than the other! So, what’s the application for us to learn from these extraordinary women, Martha and Mary?

First, service for Jesus still requires spending time with Jesus. Don’t miss the fact that Martha was also at Jesus’ feet.  Are you spending time with Jesus? It will fuel your service so that you don’t end up distracted by all the things that have to be done! The reality is that there will always be SOMETHING that needs to be done in life, especially as women who care for the home and the family as God designed. But we need to see Jesus’ admonition here – don’t neglect that one needful thing of spending time with Jesus.

Second, we are not all the same types of people, and that doesn’t make one right and the other wrong. What do I mean? Remember that Jesus did not rebuke Martha’s service but her attitude, which took her focus away from ministering to and learning from people. I can imagine that the readers here at IE represent a variety of differing gifts. Some of you are natural servants. Some are natural students. Some are not sure who you are. But all are precious in God’s sight. Your service or study does not have to look like the lady sitting next to you in your Bible study or small group. Remember Jesus’ admonition — Don’t be so anxious and distracted by the DOING that you forget WHO you are SERVING!

Finally, I think we can all take away positives and negatives from both of these women. The church needs both of these women in it in good balance – a little of Martha and a little of Mary, the practical and the spiritual, making possible the blessing of the commonplace! May the Lord help us all to properly balance the time we spend with the Lord at His feet with our Bibles open and our hearts ready to learn with the service to others for our Lord. Don’t get into the trap of comparing yourself to other women – Paul tells us that is not wise (2 Corinthians 10:12)! Just ask the Lord to help you be that extraordinary woman who is both SERIOUS about learning of Christ while also SERVING others!

This has been just a short series about some extraordinary women in the Bible. We have only scratched the surface! I encourage you to find others who sought to be unique in their attitudes, actions, and aspirations toward God. But before I leave you, let’s review these extraordinary women one more time.

• The Samaritan Woman at the Well was extraordinary in making SURE of her salvation and in SHARING her faith.
• Martha was extraordinary in her SERVICE for the Lord, and Mary proved extraordinary in her SERIOUS learning of Christ.

​Friend, in what areas do you align with these few examples? What has God spoken to you about today? May I encourage you to spend some time with Him, asking for HIs help to foster that extraordinary woman within you.

​How can you, like Martha and Mary, balance the call to serve faithfully and to sit attentively at Jesus’ feet, so that neither distraction nor comparison keeps you from wholehearted devotion to Him?