Pastors and Bible study leaders do love to pick on Martha. You remember Martha? When Jesus came to the home she shared with her brother Lazarus and sister Mary, a large group of people gathered to hear Jesus teach. Martha was tasked with feeding them all, and instead of helping out in the food preparation, Mary took a seat among the men and listened to Jesus. When Martha complained to Jesus about her workload, He gently chastised her for her worries and concerns and said Mary had chosen the better part and it would not be taken away from her. But goodness! Where would our churches be today without the Marthas? I know every church has at least one. We call them church ladies and they provide a host of fodder for comedians both religious and secular.
Poor Martha! All she wanted to do was serve and instead she was admonished. Nothing more is said concerning the events of that day – what sort of meal was served, who, if anyone, helped with the clean-up, what provision was made for those who had traveled too far to return home that night, and so on.
But somehow in pastoral exegesis of this story, it seems to be assumed that Martha was ignorant of Jesus’ teachings because she was consumed with worldly issues.
Not so.
How do I know this? Let’s meet up with Martha in the only other passage about her in the New Testament. She is near the tomb of her brother Lazarus, mourning. Jesus arrives. Listen to what Martha says. “Lord…” She does not call Jesus friend or even teacher, but Lord, a title given only to nobility or divinity. “…if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Martha understood the power of life and death was in Jesus’ hands. When Jesus tells her that Lazarus will rise again, Martha says, “I know. I know that in the resurrection, he will rise again, I will rise again.” She understands there is more to this life than what we can see, hear, taste, smell or touch.
Then Jesus says those immortal words, “I AM the resurrection and the life. Do you believe?”
And Martha answers, “Yes, Lord. I believe.” Martha was not ignorant of Jesus’ teaching. She may not have been sitting at His feet as was her sister, but during the course of their friendship, Martha had absorbed the truth of Jesus’ identity – Son of So the Most High God.
So the next time you see your church’s Martha, whether she be staffing the nursery, teaching Sunday school, or serving breakfast, give her a hand. And then, when she has caught her breath, sit down with a cup of coffee and listen to the lessons about the faith that she has learned.
Kathy Kexel 