Mary and Martha

Luke 10:38-42, "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I once heard Beth Moore teach a lesson on this passage. What I remember has always stood out to me so I will now try and expand. In this passage we will only be looking at Mary, we will look at Martha in another verse.
Jesus stayed with a woman named Martha, and her sister called Mary. Here one sister is named and the other sister is called. If Mary was "called" maybe her real name was something else. What does the name Mary root from and why would she be called Mary?

Mary stems from the name Miriam or Mara. These names in the bible represent rebellion, disobedience, or bitterness. Example, Ruth 1:20, “But she said to them: Call me not Noemi, (that is, beautiful,) but call me Mara, (that is, bitter,)”

What if Mary had been rebellious, disobedient, or filled with bitterness. What if she just needed to sit with Jesus because she was so broken that she could not help her sister right now. Maybe there was nothing wrong with Martha's heart and what she was doing. Maybe she was right where she needed to be because her heart was not broken. Mary may have had a broken heart and the ones with the broken hearts need to kneel at the feet of God until they find their healing with their Savior.

Another passage, John 11:17-37. In this passage Lazarus, Martha and Mary's brother, had been dead for 4 days. "When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 'Lord,' Martha said to Jesus, 'if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.'” After a conversation with Jesus she answered Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

With these passages I see Martha as the one who is strong in faith and who has a strong heart. She is the one who is not broken, but meets Jesus in her pain of loss and says, "But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." She had a "but" in her meeting with Jesus, one that Mary did not have. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to Him. Mary stayed at home until she heard that He was specifically asking for her. When Martha arrived, she had a "but" in her plea of pain. "I am hurting Lord, but I know even now God will give You whatever you ask for. You are the Messiah. You are God."

I absolutely love the twists and turns that the bible can take. So often we hear of the story of Martha as a woman with her priorities out of line with what was really important, but maybe she was a woman strong with her faith. Maybe she was a woman who knew who Jesus was and had a wonderful relationship with Him. Maybe it is like when your good friend comes over and you are always with them, you often do not stop everything and sit and visit. You still wash the dishes while you visit. But if someone comes over who you do not see often, you stop what you are doing and sit and give them your undivided attention. What if Mary was rebellion, disobedience, and bitterness. What if she was a woman who had a sordid past. Maybe that is why Jesus did not make her get up. Maybe that is why He said that He would not take this time away from her. For when you are hurt, you cannot get up and work. Sometimes you just need to sit and soak. You need to be able to sit at your Saviors feet and just allow Him to speak into your broken heart. Maybe where Martha went wrong is that she was not looking at where Mary had come from. Maybe she was only seeing where her relationship with Jesus was. For later we see that she was the one who was strong in faith and knew the strength of her Lord.

Whenever I now hear the story of Mary and Martha, I immediately go back to my own time of being the woman called Mara, the woman of rebellion, disobedience, and bitterness. I hear this and see a woman broken and needing to sit at her Savior's feet and just soak. But I do not want to remain that woman. I want to be in a strong relationship with my Lord so that now I can be the one to go and do as He has done for me. John 13:14, “And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each others feet.” I am loving my time as Martha. But when my time of being called Mary comes again, as often it does in this world, I pray I can give myself enough grace to be able to sit again at His feet and soak. Our needs will differ on our journey. Our time of pain and suffering comes. Can we see when it is time to sit? Can we allow others their time? When it is time to get up, because now we are strong, can we wash others as Christ has washed us? Who are you? What is your name? Is it your name, or are you called mara? Can you find peace in the place where God has you right now? When pain comes again for me am I going to be able to greet Him in my pain with an all important "but".