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The Story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) occurs as Jesus "set his face to go to Jerusalem" and dispatches the seventy disciples ahead with no provisions; instructs them to waste no time; to travel lightly and to depend on the hospitality of anyone who would welcome them on their journey. Likewise, immediately preceding the visit to the home of Martha and Mary, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan, which reveals an example of extraordinary compassion for a complete stranger in need. So, in context of these preceding stories, are we not somewhat taken aback with his admonishing Martha and siding with Mary? Our instincts tell us that Jesus should not chide Martha as he affirmed Mary’s choice to join the disciples and disparaged her for being distracted with less important matters. Didn’t Jesus admonish Simon for being less than attentive to the needs of his “honored” guest (Luke 7:36) a few weeks ago? His affirmation of one woman's choice and criticism of the other seems out of character, especially because Jesus consistently emphasizes service and hospitality. So, what is the justification for his dismissal of Martha's attention to the care of her guests? We certainly can relate to Martha wanting the meal to go well, especially since we can assume that Martha and Mary were well aware of Jesus’ notoriety as an important religious teacher and they were honored to be able to host him…why else would they risk breaking the law by having a man in the house without the presence of a male relative? After all, isn’t Martha doing what is expected of her as a good hostess?
Our
natural inclination is to justify what Jesus does. But perhaps this story is
intended to disturb us. Luke portrays Jesus in an unexpected way to teach that
the coming of God’s kingdom is the first priority and while he acknowledges the
importance of Martha's service in ordinary circumstances, no earthly tasks
should get in the way.
Sometimes we
need our expectations to be challenged in order to hear what Jesus is trying to
tell us.
A couple of weeks ago, the epistle admonished Christians to "look to your own work." When we compare ourselves with others, we rarely find satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteBoth women had the obligation to provide hospitality. One did it the conventional way and one did it unconventionally. Things were going along just fine until Martha began comparing, which led to judging, which led to complaining , which led to an attempt at triangulating by drawing Jesus into the conflict. He would have none of it. Martha began, "Don't you care...?" Jesus did care...that she was about to burst a vein. "Take it easy," he said, "Don't complicate your life."
Fr. Don
I like your referencing Martha's asking Jesus if he cared as a way to "triangulate." It reminds us of how we try to get others to agree with us by manipulating the conversation. It's a clever "arms length" device that not only reflects our judging others but even worse, getting others to judge as well...idle gossip?
ReplyDeleteBob