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Reflections on: Women Disciples of Jesus
Part 3: Martha of Bethany, Woman of Faith and Mary of Bethany, Woman of Contemplation
An Online Retreat prepared by Women at the Well Ministry, St. Paul, Minnesota
Eleanor Lincoln, CSJ and Catherine Litecky, CSJ
Courtesy of Ansgar Holmberg, CSJ
“Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Messiah.” (John 11:27)
How do you identify with Martha and Mary of the gospels?
They are two of the best known and best loved women in the gospels, these sisters from Bethany, a town within walking distance from Jerusalem. Their home is a haven for Jesus as he travels about doing his ministry. Jesus feels comfortable coming to their home which they share with their brother, Lazarus. And they feel free to call on Jesus whenever they have need.
The story we most often hear about Martha and Mary appears in Luke 10:38-42. Martha is the hostess who welcomes Jesus into her home. She is the practical doer, and if Jesus comes there for friendship, rest, and a good meal, she is the provider.
Meanwhile Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, her teacher. Together they both serve and learn, just as any disciple must.
Luke and John give these sisters a prominent place in their gospels, holding them up as models of discipleship of faith, hospitality, and prayer. Luke's gospel was written for one first-century Christian community while John's was written later for another Christian community which gathered around him. We later disciples need to see the women from both writers perspectives. While Luke's gospel seems to favor Mary over Martha, John in his gospel shows Martha to be a powerful believer and disciple and Mary still a passive woman who rises to the occasion to anoint Jesus in preparation for his death.
The context for the story is what is called the journey narrative section in Luke's gospel (9:51-19: 27). The Martha-Mary story, which appears between the parable of the Good Samaritan (10:29-37) and Jesus' teaching of the “Our Father” to the disciples (11:1-4). shows that both compassion and service, along with prayer, are needed by all disciples.
As disciples Martha and Mary show their compassion in hospitality and their contemplation in listening to and reflecting on Jesus' teaching. The sisters are living out their discipleship by following the words of Jesus in their lives. They are not competing with each other.
Turn now to your New Testament to read their story in Luke 10:38-42. Look to see who says and does what.
Jesus urges Martha not to get so caught up and worried about the tasks of every day as to lose perspective. How helpful it would be in interpreting Jesus' words if we knew his tone of voice when he says, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.” Jesus is not telling Martha to forget about hospitality but reminding her to listen to his words as Mary is doing. To sit at the feet and listen to a teacher is one form of discipleship. This is contemplation, trying to be attentive to God's loving presence.
Jesus praises Mary for realizing the importance of listening to his words, but he also recognizes Martha's compassion in serving others. She is not only providing for the material needs of Jesus, but more importantly, responding in her own way to the call of discipleship. A balance of compassionate service and contemplative prayer characterize all disciples, then and today, who walk with Jesus.
Take a few minutes to reflect on your own struggle to achieve balance in your own life. During the last week how have you shown compassionate service to others? How have you entered into contemplative prayer?
Martha symbolizes active Christianity. Many contemporary women see her as a model for themselves in their service to the church. They admire her practical , matter of fact, take charge role in service to others. In this story her request to Jesus to ask Mary to help her strikes them as a reasonable one. Jesus would certainly commend her for her service as he did the “good Samaritan.”
The story of Martha and Mary in John's gospel is a long one (11:1-45, 12:1-8). If you look at chapter 11 in your New Testament, most likely the story is headed “The Raising of Lazarus.” It might better be called “the belief of Martha” because the account consists largely of Jesus' conversation with his friend, Martha, with also some conversation with Mary.
Lazarus, dead, never speaks and is mentioned in only seven out of the 44 verses of the story! The Jesus-Martha conversation transforms the Lazarus miracle story into a story about the fullness of new life possible to all who believe in Jesus.
Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha . . . . So the sisters sent word to him, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. (John 11:1-6)
Jesus loves Lazarus and the family loves Jesus! Notice how confident they are in Jesus. They send word that their brother is ill, but they don't ask Jesus to come or cure. Jesus says the illness is for “the glory of God,” (a phrase that neither we nor Martha understand until later).
Jesus' disciples warn him of the danger that may come to him in nearby Jerusalem, When they arrive in Bethany, they learn that Lazarus has already been dead four days. Meanwhile many of the Jews have come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha hears that Jesus is coming, she goes to meet him; but Mary sits at home relying on the more active Martha to take care of the practical. Here the sisters play the same roles they play in Luke's gospel.
Martha says to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (But) even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus says to her, “Your brother will rise.” (John 11:21-23)
While Martha again does not ask for a cure for brother, what she says shows her complete faith in Jesus. He rewards her with good news: “Your brother will rise.” He means right now, but Martha doesn't get a sense of the immediacy. “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day,” Martha says to him (John 11:24).
Then Jesus makes one of the greatest statements of the gospel: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
This is one of the seven great “I am” statements in John's gospel; the first is in the story of the Samaritan woman: I who speak to you am he [the Messiah]).
Like the Samaritan woman Martha responds with a great profession of faith. Note her firmness and conviction: “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” (John 11:27)
Compare this tremendous insight with Peter's profession found in the other three gospels in answer to Jesus' question: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers in Luke's gospel (9:20): “The Christ of God.” In Mark's gospel ( 8:29) Peter says with assurance, “You are the Christ.” Peter's longest answer appears in Matthew: You are Christ the son of the living God (Matt. 16:16).
Martha is probably unaware of Peter's statement because Jesus told him to talk of it to no one. But she comes to the same degree of faith! The similarities between Martha's and Peter's professions of faith are striking. Martha's statement is the theological heart of the story called “the raising of Lazarus.” His death is the occasion but the words are hers.
Peter's profession of faith has been emphasized for years, in the lectionary and in homilies. But Martha's is equally powerful! Like Peter she doesn't yet know the full implication of her statement, but she realizes it by what happens next.
In your experience of listening to sermons how often have you heard about Martha's great profession of faith (compared to the number of times you have heard about Peter's)? If you have not heard a lot about Martha's faith, why is that? What can you do about it?
After she proclaims her faith, Martha now calls for her sister secretly, telling her: “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” Mary says to Jesus the same words Martha has used, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Here she is showing that she too has great confidence in Jesus. (John 11:28-32)
This is a time of great emotion; Mary weeps, Jesus weeps. The Jews present know the great love Jesus has for his friends. But perhaps he weeps also for his own death which is to come in Jerusalem.
When Jesus comes to the tomb, he asks those present to take away the stone. Martha is ever practical--and honest about death: “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days” (11:39). This shows that she does not yet fully understand what resurrection will mean, if she is thinking about bodily corruption.
However, Jesus is thinking beyond death to the glory of God: “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:40)
Martha who has just proclaimed that Jesus is the Messiah (Christ), the son of God, has not yet seen the glory of God, but is about to see it in the glory of her brother's resurrection. Lazarus comes forth from the tomb in a dramatic scene. We can assume that the two sisters then unwrap the body of their beloved brother.
Now Martha has seen the glory of Jesus raising her brother from the dead, a miracle performed by the one who told her: “I am the resurrection and the life.”
We can see several stages in the deepening of Martha's faith. She now believes in a raising from the dead and believes more fully Jesus' statement, “I am the resurrection and the life.” What a tremendous response she has made to Jesus: “Yes, I believe.”
Reflect on any events in your life that have deepened your faith. Try writing your own profession of faith. What do you really believe?
The raising of Lazarus by Jesus caused the Jewish religious authorities great alarm. They feared that Jesus would cause an uprising and that the Roman officials would destroy the Jewish people. So from that time on they planned to put Jesus to death.
Shortly after the raising of Lazarus and before the Passover Jesus comes to dine with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus his close friends. Because Martha and Mary want to show their deep gratitude to Jesus for raising their brother from the dead, they prepare a banquet. In typical fashion, Martha serves the meal, Lazarus dines at table with Jesus (as is the Jewish custom), and Mary in atypical behavior puts herself forward in a striking way. She does not say anything, but her action speaks louder than many words as she lovingly anoints Jesus' feet with costly perfumed oil from an alabaster container.
By this act of sheer extravagance Martha's house is filled with a wonderful fragrance, allowing all present to enjoy the scent. Some of those present, especially Judas (who later betrayed Jesus) objects to what he considered to be a waste of money, the equivalence of three hundred days wages! Judas maintains that the money should have been given to the poor.
Jesus, however, approved of Mary's action saying, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me” (John 12:7). Mary of Bethany openly shows her love for and gratitude to Jesus by anointing him while he is still alive.
In a few more days Jesus will dine with his chosen disciples at the Last Supper. Here he will wash their feet as a sign of the humility and service to others that discipleship requires. Jesus has given them a model to follow, “so that as I have done so you, you should also do” (John 13: 15).
Likewise Martha and Mary have given us a model to follow. As disciples we too are called to show compassion in service and live with a contemplative attitude.
With Martha and Mary as models, how do you see yourself as a disciple?
Although they are sometimes seen to represent the active and contemplative aspects of Christian life, neither way should be seen as superior to the other. A great teacher of prayer, St. Teresa of Avila, counseled her sisters to leave prayer if necessary to care for someone in need.
How can reflecting on the stories of Martha and Mary help you blend action and contemplation into your own spirituality?
Now turn to Part 4: Woman of Samaria
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