As we learn how to walk with Jesus and spend time with Him, one of the best stories in Scripture to guide us is the story of Mary and Martha. When Jesus comes to their village, the dilemma faced by Mary and Martha and the choices they made are precisely the choices we face every day.
It’s such a short story – only 5 verses in the the book of Luke. But these verses are packed with the thoughts, desires, and beliefs that we still wrestle with today. Over the next several posts we’ll look closely at this story to learn from Mary and Martha about how to walk with Jesus.
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)
A simple interaction
This is the story of a simple interaction between Jesus and two sisters, Mary and Martha. Jesus and His followers had been traveling when they came to the small village of Bethany, about two miles from the city of Jerusalem. Martha, as was the custom of the time, invited Jesus and his followers to her home, where she would give them a place to rest and provide food and drink.
Luke tells us that Martha got right to work meeting the needs of her guests. But Mary, her younger sister, made a different choice. Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His teaching.
We can see that Martha is caring (she invited Jesus and his disciples into her home) and responsible (she served them).
As for Mary, we can surmise that her primary interest was in Jesus. She wanted to hear what He had to say.
The choice we face
The story presents a common dilemma: spend our time responding to the urgent demands of daily living, or put those things aside for a time and be with Jesus.
We’ll look more closely at this dilemma and what it means for us in the next post. In the meantime, ask yourself this question: Who in this story do I most identify with – Martha or Mary?