Mary and Martha - Luke 10:38-42

Jerusalem is close in proximity to the town of Bethany where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived. These three individuals were very good friends with the Savior and I believe that he even stayed with them at their home many times on his journeys. We know that Jesus conversed with the young lawyer and gave the parable of the Good Samaritan in Jerusalem, so afterwards it makes sense that Jesus would have left there and gone somewhere else to continue his ministry, and “he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.” We have to remember that Jesus would have brought with him a large entourage, consisting of at least the twelve apostles, and probably many other disciple followers. When she invited the Savior into her home, she was accepting the responsibility for the comfort and welfare of not only Jesus, but his whole following. It’s daunting to imagine caring for the Savior alone, even though he wasn’t high maintenance, but to add to that at least a dozen others, the responsibility would have been huge. 

Not only would the common sense care have been a factor, but the IM tells us, “Hospitality was very important in Jewish society, and a woman’s honor and reputation depended partly on how well she fulfilled cultural expectations regarding the role of hostess.” There was probably a lot of pressure on Martha to feed everyone, get water for everyone to clean their feet, have places for everyone to sit, and probably start to prepare an evening meal for everyone, that’s a big job. It’s expected that Lazurus didn’t have the same hospitality obligation that Martha did, because he’s a man, but Martha did have a sister who would have been under the same responsibility. However, Martha’s sister Mary was not helping to serve their guests, she “sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.” 

It’s easy for us to look back 2,000 years to this situation and think, “of course if Jesus was in our house, nothing else would matter.” We have the benefit of hindsight where we know that one could only sit at Jesus feet and hear him teach for 3 years, 3 years out of the thousands that people have been around. Looking at it that way it’s easy to understand the absolute rarity of the opportunity Mary had, and we can easy say, “nothing would have stopped me from being in that situation.” However, it’s important to remember that Mary and Martha did not have the advantage of hindsight, so they were only doing what they thought was best at the time. I can definitely see myself running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get all these people something to eat, to make them comfortable in my house, I would absolutely be Martha. The idea of seeing someone else who shares the same responsibilities as me working like a dog while I sit, that doesn’t even make sense to me, I absolutely would not do that, but that doesn’t mean that I am right, only that I identify with Martha. 

Martha sees that Mary is not helping and that her tasks are many, and turns to Jesus for help saying, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.” JTC speculates that “She was talking to Jesus but really at Mary.” That is a non-confrontational way to bring the situation up. I always imagined that Martha interrupted Jesus while he was speaking, made her complaint and then waited for Jesus to publicly scold Mary, but now that I think about it, I don’t think that that’s how it went down at all. Interrupting would have been incredibly rude, and hoping for her sister to be publicly humiliated for shirking her responsibilities would have been cruel, and I don’t think Martha would have had the relationship with the Savior that she did if she was cruel. I don’t know why Martha appealed to Jesus for intervention, but JTC says, “It is reasonable to infer that Jesus was on terms of familiarity in the household, else the good woman would scarcely have appealed to Him in a little matter of domestic concern.” Maybe she thought that because Mary was with him, he should encourage her to leave him. 

Jesus did not redirect Mary’s attention the way that Martha had hoped, but replied, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Jesus has the excellent ability to remind all parties of their neglect at the same time, while encouraging and teaching them, so we can assume that  because Jesus did not rebuke Mary, as JTC explains, “we must supposed that Mary had been a willing helper before the Master’s arrival; but now that He had come, she chose to remain with Him. Had she been culpably neglectful of her duty, Jesus would not have commended her course. He desired not well-served meals and material comforts only, but the company of the sisters, and above all their receptive attention to what He had to say.” 

If Jesus had told Mary to go and help her sister, instead of listening to the Master teach the gospel, there are many inferences that could have been made about that action. We could deduce that only those who have fulfilled their societal obligations are able to take part in gospel learning. We could deduce that only men need to hear the Savior’s teachings and that women were to serve the men while they learned. We could ascribe the importance of the gospel to be below that of household responsibilities, but instead we learn the opposite. JTC reminds us that by focusing solely on physical well-being, many homes are ruined when “she denies to her dear ones the cheer of her loving companionship… There is a time for labor inside the home as in the open; in every family time should be found for cultivating that better part, that one thing needful- true, spiritual development.” 

This account is a reminder for me to focus more on spiritual things, instead of just physical things, if the house is clean, if dinner is made, etc. The IM quotes Elder Dallin H. Oaks as teaching, “Just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives. Jesus taught this principle in the home of Martha… It was praiseworthy for Martha to be ‘careful and troubled about many things,’ but learning the gospel from the Master Teacher was more ‘needful.’ The scriptures contain other teachings that some things are more blessed than others… Consider how we use our time in the choices we make in viewing television, playing video games, surfing the internet, or reading books or magazines. Of course it is good to view wholesome entertainment or to obtain interesting information. But not everything of that sort is worth the portion of our life we give to obtain it. Some things are better, and others are best… Some uses of individual and family time are better, and others are best. We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.”