Bible Study series: Luke 10:38-42. Mary and Martha have two different responses to Jesus’s visit. Do you see yourself in one of them?
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I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 10:38-42
38 And while they were going along, he entered a particular village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and began listening to his message. 40 Martha was distracted by all the serving. She stood over him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to serve? So tell her to help me!” 41 The Lord replied and told her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled by many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Obviously, Mary has chosen the right part, which shall not be taken from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)
Comments:
This is the story of two sisters, one dominant, the other compliant.
This is a beloved pericope, which makes it into all the women’s conferences ever held! Or maybe it has been skipped over! But it should be studied more carefully.
I learned some surprising and clarifying truths after I looked at the pericope in Greek. It is not about service per se, but anxiety and distraction and domination.
No one should read my commentary in this section in bad faith. In no way am I carelessly putting Martha down out of meanness. We have all had our bad days (Martha) and good days (Mary) in our walk with the Lord, regardless of gender. I see myself in both of them, depending on my connection to the Father on any given day.
38:
Luke 17:11 still shows that Jesus was traveling between Samaria and Galilee, in the north. So it is probable that Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus had a house up north, which explains why Jesus knew them. He was from the north, as well. However, Martha, Mary and Lazarus also had a house down in the village of Bethany, two miles away from Jerusalem (John 11:1, 18). This indicates the three siblings were wealthy. In any case, Jesus was in their house in the north, here in this pericope.
Or John’s Gospel says Jesus went to Jerusalem often, so he may have stopped by their house in nearby Bethany.
Let’s talk about John’s account of the raising of Lazarus down in Bethany, whom Jesus loved. We can learn some parallel truths about Martha and Mary. Martha was the dominant personality and Mary the gentler one.
First, John says Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Why was Martha named here? Not clear, but when Martha heard that Jesus was outside their village, she went out to meet him, while Mary stayed in the house (11:20). Second, Martha proclaimed her faith in Jesus as the Christ, Son of God who comes into the world (11:26-27). Mary also saw him and fell at his feet (note how Mary sat at Jesus’s feet in Luke 10:39) and his power to heal fatal illnesses (11:32). Third, when Jesus got to the tomb and asked the stone to be rolled away, Martha again takes the initiative and informs Jesus that no one should roll away the stone, because Lazarus had been dead four days, and he would smell (11:39). (Note how Martha told Jesus what to do in Luke 10:40). In reply, Jesus told her to believe, and she would see the glory of God. Fourth, then six days before Passover, Jesus reentered Bethany (John 12:1). And Mary was no wallflower. After the earlier miracle resurrection of her brother, she anointed Jesus’s feet in preparation for his death and burial (John 12:1-3).
The bottom line and application of John’s story to Luke’s: In John’s account Martha is clearly the one who takes the initiative and is outdoorsy and somewhat bossy, while Mary is comes across as gentler and more spiritual than her sister. This matches perfectly with Luke’s version of the two sisters.
The verse starts off saying that they were traveling along. Apparently all of the disciples, beyond just the twelve, but including some or all of the seventy-two and the group of women, were in the vicinity. They must have scattered to buy food and get their water from a local well. Or it could be that some of the disciples were seated in Martha’s and Mary’s house, so this prompted Martha to busy herself with serving. This provoked anxiety in her. After all, Jesus began to teach, and his audience was probably more than one person, Mary. Whatever the case, Martha and Mary were about to learn valuable lessons.
39:
Luke omits some of the customs of hospitality like washing the dusty feet of travelers. Rather, he goes right to Jesus teaching his message, and Mary sitting at his feet. This sitting at his feet was countercultural. It was rare for women to do this in conservative Jewish culture.
We should see Jesus sitting on a chair or some other furniture, not on the floor. I don’t see him as standing.
Bock cites a passage in the Mishnah (see v. 1, for what this is): “Let your house be a meetinghouse for the sages and sit amid the dust of their feet and drink their words with thirst” (M. ‘Abot 1.4). Then he continues: “That a woman has this position is somewhat unusual, paralleling the Samaritan’s surprising response in the previous account” (p. 1040).
In Acts 22:3, Paul said that he “studied under” (NIV) or literally “sat at the feet” of Gamaliel. So Mary is acting like a disciples-student. This is countercultural.
“message”: it is the Greek noun logos (pronounced loh-goss and is used 330 times in the NT). Here it could be translated as “his teaching” or “his word.”
40:
Now we come to the verses where I learned some surprising and clarifying truths. Once again, I implore the readers not to read my comments in bad faith. I don’t mean to frivolously put down of Martha. I see myself in her on some days and in Mary on other ones. People behave like this regardless of their gender.
“distracted”: BDAG. a thick Greek lexicon, says the verb means “(1) to be pulled away from a reference point, to be pulled / dragged away”; (2) “to have one’s attention directed from one thing to another, be or become distracted or overburdened.”
So what was happening to Martha was that she was bouncing all over the place, being pulled in this direction and then in another. Jesus was the reference point, but her anxiety dragged her away from him. She lost her anchor.
“all the serving”: literally “much service.” Here it means service in practical, household preparations. The issue here is not her making preparation, but the distraction and anxiety that motivated her. She lost her peace and sight of her anchor, her reference point. She could have listened to him while she prepared.
“stood over him”: The word picture here is that Martha suddenly stood over Jesus and demanded that he tell Mary to help her. She probably stood in between Jesus and Mary, while stirring something in a bowl. Martha was losing self-control! She was becoming bossy—too bossy. Service and preparations are one thing, but distractions and anxiety and the absence of calm and being dragged down and around (peri-) by all of them is quite another. She needed to get a grip over her mind.
“don’t you care”: now she scolds Jesus for not caring or being concerned. Her sister has left her alone to do all the work! Don’t you care? What about me? Yes, once again, service and preparations are all right—they need to be done sooner or later—but dominating the scene as she is doing is misguided.
“left”: Martha felt abandoned and neglected, but she had no right to cause a commotion or bring down confusion on the teaching scene.
“So tell her to help me!” Literally, “Therefore, tell her so that she would help me!” Bossy again.
“to serve”: Once again, there is everything right about serving, but Martha lost her cool.
41:
Luke records that Jesus used the same speaking formula that he did against his opponents or outsiders or the insiders who challenge him or the insiders who weren’t getting it. “He replied and said.” I usually translate it as “In reply, he said.” Jesus definitely felt challenged. She was trying to drag him and her sister down in her whirlpool of anxiety and distraction. But Jesus would have none of it. Here comes the push back.
“Martha, Martha”: A double repetition of a name often indicates a warning or exhortation or a call to stand at attention. Something important is about to be announced. Jesus is firm here, not to say stern. Other double allocutions and responses: “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am!” (Gen. 22:11); “Jacob, Jacob!” “Here I am! (Gen. 46:2); “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am!” (Ex. 3:4); “Samuel, Samuel!” “Speak, for you servant listens” (1 Sam. 3:10).
In the NT: here and Simon, Simon! (Luke 22:31).
Martha is not allowed to be so domineering. She has failed to recognize the best part or portion. It is time for teaching.
“worried”: it means in this context: “to be apprehensive, have anxiety, be anxious, be (unduly) concerned” (BDAG). In other contexts, it can mean “to attend to, care for, be concerned about” (BDAG again). Here it clearly means the first definition.
“troubled”: it is the verb, which means simply “troubled” or “distracted” (BDAG). Liddell and Scott, another lexicon, but of the large Greek world outside of the NT, says it comes from the verb thorubeō (pronounced tho-ruh-beh-oh), and BDAG says this latter verb means (1) “throw into disorder”; (2) “to cause emotional disturbance, disturb, agitate.” Both words are related to the adjective thorubos (pronounced tho-ruh-boss), and BDAG says it means (1) “a raising of voices that contributes to lack of understanding, noise, clamor”; (2) “state of confusion, confusion, unrest”; (3) “state or condition of varying degrees of commotion, turmoil, excitement, uproar.”
Let’s not exaggerate Martha’s emotional state! She wasn’t exhibiting all those definitions at one time! But she was causing confusion and a commotion. She was out of order.
One more time: it is not wrong to serve and make preparations, but Martha’s service got out of hand.
So Jesus sized up the situation and called her out. Martha! Martha!
“Obviously”: here it means a clear inference drawn from what went before, particularly from a clear affirmation or exclamation (BDAG). In simple English, Jesus just explained that Martha was out of order and there is only one needed or necessary thing, and now the conclusion is obvious, as follows,
Mary chose the “good portion” or “made the right choice.” It was right and good that Mary would sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to his message. Her choice will not be taken from her.
Translation to Martha: “Martha, Martha! Back off! You are throwing my teaching into confusion and causing a commotion. Service is a good thing, and you and Mary can both offer the custom of hospitality a little later. But right now be seated and listen to my teaching, like Mary is doing. It is time to learn. Choose wisely now. Her perceptive and right choice will not be taken from her.”
|
Mary |
Martha |
| Sits at Jesus’ feet | Welcomes Jesus; serves |
| Listens to Jesus’ words | Distracted: full of cares and troubled |
| One thing | Many things |
| The needful thing (commended) | Implied: unnecessary things (rebuked) |
| Quietly listens – discipleship role | Working in kitchen = women’s work and fussing |
| Garland, comment on 10:41; source: Loveday Alexander in Women in Biblical Tradition | |
GrowApp for Luke 10:38-42
1. There is nothing wrong with service, but Martha was suffering from panic and confusion and creating a commotion during a teaching time. Study Is. 26:3. How do you keep your mind in perfect peace?
2. Have you ever gotten your priorities out of order? How did you get back on track?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
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