Martha and Mary—New Look

Where did your desire for more begin? What does “spiritual desire” look and feel like for you?

When did you realize that the Bible in your hand was passed through many translations, versions, and languages? 

Did you know the headings above passages are not part of Scripture? 

When did you realize your questions were not always welcome? 

Did your faith falter a bit when all the passages and verses you memorized, prayed, and quoted had  become just words— neither truth nor meaningful hope?

The journey I want to share with you has changed my relationship and understanding of Scripture, church, history, and of myself.  Most importantly, my love for God has grown in an unexpected fashion.    More and different are my new mottos. To see more than I have seen or known before. At the same time, dive into different- different interpretations, understandings from other cultures, other voices, and different historical understandings of a passage.

The Beginning

Martha and Mary. The Mary and Martha stories recorded in Luke and John were the first texts with a high irritation factor. I am sure the gospel writers had no idea how two women’s interactions with Jesus would cause so much pain and torment for Christian women thousands of years later. Comparisons would be made from pulpits, some women shamed, and others vindicated.

Based on the story in tenth chapter of Luke:

• Martha is hard-working, worried, consumed with earthly responsibilities, who complains to Jesus about her sister not doing her share of the work. 
• Mary boldly abandons her familial responsibilities to sit down with the disciples and other men to listen to Jesus teach. 
• Jesus challenges Martha, praises Mary, and the story of sister rivalry is carved in the proverbial Christian stone.

Sermons frequently set up a rivalry, pitting the two sisters against each other.  That approach diminishes both women. None of it made any sense to me. Most women have been in the position of having to host a large group, manage the food, but at the same time desiring to join the conversations around the table. Not feasible then and not feasible now. To me, Jesus always seemed a bit harsh to Martha.

Then came the books forcing you to choose who you most resemble. Women began to describe themselves as one or the other. How about neither? This was just a snapshot of two women and their brother with Jesus and others for a meal.  Pretty sure Luke was not making a statement on women’s psychology, desires, or emotional makeup.

Finally, I took this irritation, questions, and discomfort to action. I performed a deep dive into more than just the “plain” text but rather into history, how other Christian denominations interpret and preach the texts, and searched for the opinions of writers, theologians, and church historians.

Joy of different

I was surprised and a bit overjoyed that Martha and Mary are greatly revered in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. I was surprised that many denominations call Martha’s profession of faith at Lazarus’s tomb (John 11:21-27 is the mirror confession to Peter’s Christ confession (Matthew 16:16). Martha is the first person to whom Jesus directly says “I am the resurrection and the life”.

I learned about shame and honor cultures. Ancient Israel, as most Middle Eastern cultures, is shame and honor-based. As a 21st-century reader, we often miss actions or situations where honor and shame are involved. In this passage, historians identify Jesus as breaking cultural norms for women. Luke specifically states “Martha opened her home to him (Jesus)”.  An honorable host would be expected to serve all the visitors a full meal.  Martha is doing what the culture and her guests would have expected. Deep shame would be brought on her if she failed.

What does Jesus do? He invites her to sit at his feet with her sister and his disciples! Mary had already set herself up for shame as well by usurping the male only privilege of sitting at Jesus’s feet and learning with the men. 

What does Jesus do? He praises Mary for her choice and then calls Martha to also step out of her culture and into his kingdom. Jesus ignores the “shame of this act” and invites Martha to bypass her own shame of making the hospitality a priority and move right into his inner circle with her sister.

I do not think Jesus is scolding Martha for fulfilling the requirements of her culture. If anything, he is at this moment, clearly reordering the culture to reflect the Kingdom of God.

The irritation I had for decades with this story died.  The historical ancient church reveres both of these women and their brother as devoted followers of the Lord. The Orthodox Church has beautiful icons of both women.  The Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Episcopal churches have feast days dedicated to specifically to Martha and Mary. 

The Scripture is like a diamond. Turn it one way and you see one flash of light, turn it the opposite way and there is a new flash.  Both beautiful and filled with light. Turn the Scripture that bothers you and see it in a new light. There is always more.WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!