We continue our study of Jesus’ visit to the home of Mary and Martha with a look at Mary’s choice. In our last post we looked at Martha, what kind of a person she was, the responsibilities and cultural expectations she bore, and the choice she made.
In this post we’ll focus on Mary, Martha’s younger sister. We’ll see that, faced with the same set of circumstances and the same cultural/societal expectations, Mary chose something completely different.
The story
Here is the story of Mary and Martha as recorded in Luke 10:
“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’ ” Luke 10:38-42
Mary’s story
As we learned in a previous post, Mary was the younger sister of Martha. Together they lived with their brother Lazarus in the town of Bethany, about two miles from Jerusalem.
The thing that stands out about Mary in this story is her love for Jesus. While the defining characteristic of Martha is her desire and willingness to serve, the thing that defines Mary is her total focus on Jesus. Martha is busy taking care of her guests, but Mary can do nothing until she has listened to the words of Jesus.
We see this characteristic of Mary in this story and several other stories in the gospels as well. In John 11 we see Mary as she falls at Jesus’ feet in grief over the death of her brother Lazarus. In John 12 Mary anoints the feet of Jesus in an act of worship and preparation for His death.
Again and again the Scriptures show Mary at the feet of Jesus, taking the posture of one who deeply loves and reverences Jesus as her Lord and Master.
Mary’s choice
As Jesus entered her home, Mary was faced with the same dilemma as Martha. God’s chosen one had come to her village and was staying in her house. He was speaking the words of God to those who had assembled there. She didn’t want to miss this!
At the same time, Jesus and His disciples needed to be made comfortable after their journey. They needed food and drink. There was a lot of work to be done.
In choosing to be with Jesus at that time rather than serve her guests, Mary gave us a look into her values. There was nothing more important to her than being with Jesus. She valued that time with Him over everything else, including the expectations of her culture and of her own sister.
Mary knew the value of being with Jesus, even if it meant neglecting other duties for a while. While there were urgent tasks to be done, Mary judged that spending time with Jesus was more important.
We will conclude this series in the next post. In the meantime, what will you choose today? Will you choose the urgent demands of the day, or will you first spend time with Jesus?