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.” (Luke 10:38-42).

To be completely honest, this story was initially very puzzling to me. We are introduced first to Martha who is carrying the burden of preparing the food and all the other duties that come with being a hostess and then to Martha’s sister Mary, who is seemingly lounging around and contributing nothing to all the hustle and bustle of the preparations. Yet somehow, Mary comes out on top in this story. None of it really seems to make sense! Let us take a deeper look and see what we can figure out.

We can start with Martha’s perspective. Jesus is passing through Martha and Mary’s village, and they have the privilege of having him in their home. It appears as though Martha is taking this privilege very seriously. The passage says that Martha was distracted by everything that needed to be done. I am sure we can all sympathize a little with Martha here. Imagine having Jesus, the Son of God, into your home. That is a pretty big deal! I do not believe that it is a situation many would take lightly. Martha is worried and upset and is frustrated that her sister is not helping her. Finally, the emotions overwhelm her, and she takes it to Jesus. I truly believe that Martha feels pretty justified in her outburst and she even seems to be slightly frustrated with Jesus himself for allowing Mary to sit and listen to Him.

I followed the story pretty well up until this point. I felt empathy towards Martha and almost found myself getting frustrated with Mary! I do not know exactly what response I expected from Jesus. Maybe I expected some sympathy for Martha, or maybe for him to simply command Mary to help her with the preparations. However, Jesus’ response was quite the opposite.

He is pretty straightforward in telling Martha that Mary is the one in the right. He tells her that Mary has chosen the better thing, the thing that will not be taken away from her. Let us not get mixed up here. Serving is very important to Jesus. He says that He came to serve and not be served (Mark 10:45), and countless different verses throughout the Bible also point to the importance of a servant’s heart (Galatians 5:13,1 Peter 4:10, Ephesians 6:7). It seems as if Martha’s motives are in the right place as well. She wants to be hospitable and welcoming to those she has invited into her home.

So, if it’s not necessarily a problem of actions or a problem of motives, what is it? I believe that it can be summed up in one word: priorities. Simply put, Martha’s priorities were in the wrong place. The greatest commandment according to Jesus is to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37). In other words, that is the biggest priority. Mary understood that. She wanted to know Jesus, to hear his words and draw near to him. Deep down, Martha probably wanted the same thing, but at the time she was focused more on the second commandment, which is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39).

I would like to make an important point here. The things that Martha was doing were not bad. They were both good and important. She desired to love and serve others. And she chose a good thing. But the problem was that she did not choose the best thing. In her heart, she had elevated the second commandment above the first. Loving others is important, but loving Jesus is the most important. I truly think all of us must assess our lives frequently and double-check that our priorities are straight. Yes, we must make sure that we are loving and serving others, but we have to be careful that it does not overtake the importance of loving Jesus wholeheartedly. Our souls should long after him (Psalms 42:1). He is all that we need.

The main takeaway from this passage in Luke is that we are to focus our full attention on our relationship with Christ. I believe that if we can do that, serving and loving others should be a byproduct. We can relate the situation to that of a tree. If we nurture the seed and take care of it, it will produce a healthy tree that provides good fruit. Martha, while well-intentioned, was focused more on the product than the producer. Once again, I challenge you today to take a good look at your own heart and see where your priorities lie.

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