Jesus, engrave upon my heart—That Thou the one thing needful art.
As the two sisters of Bethany are always brought together in the Scriptures, we are doubtless intended to think of them together.
Unfortunately, this has sometimes led to partiality. In endeavoring to consider them individually, it is hoped that we may be preserved from making unjust comparisons, and that we may learn needed lessons from each of them.
The first occasion on which the sisters are mentioned is peculiar to Luke, and Martha is seen as the hostess (Lk. 10:38-42).
THE HOSTESS
That Martha was the daughter, or wife, or widow, of Simon the leper are pure conjectures. Her name means “lady” or “mistress.” She was, in fact, the lady of the house, on whom would devolve the management of household affairs, the reception of the guests, and the duties of hospitality.
As, on a later occasion, Zacchaeus received the Lord joyfully, so we may be sure when Martha received Him into her house she gave Him a royal welcome. Eager to entertain Him to the utmost of her ability, Martha was drawn this way and that, fretting and fussing over the multitude of things that seemed to require her attention, while her sister was seemingly content to sit at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. Instead of being delighted that her sister should be so engrossed and absorbed, Martha was cumbered about much serving; she felt herself to be slighted and neglected.
That it is a great privilege to serve the Lord, His own words declare: “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honor” (Jn. 12:26).
But it seems that Martha’s preoccupation with what she was doing caused her to forget, momentarily, that she was only a servant of the Lord, that it is He who directs. She became critical of her sister, and her words were lacking in respect to the Lord. Instead of quietly calling her sister to help, if Mary’s help was needed, she went to the Lord: “Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.”
Her words were a reflection on Him. Love “doth not behave itself unseemly” (1 Cor. 13:5); but, as someone has said, “Self is always captious, as well as important;” and on this occasion there seems to be undue emphasis on the personal pronoun “me.”
The Lord loved Martha; and, being “full of goodness” (Rom. 15:14), reproved her very tenderly and gently. With the dignity that was proper to Him, He recalled her to herself by repeating her name; and yet He addressed her with an expression of affection and concern, as when He said: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem” (Mt. 23:37), “Simon, Simon” (Lk. 22:31), and “Saul, Saul” (Acts 9:4). So now He said: “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” The word “careful” refers to the inner unrest of her soul: the word “troubled” to her outward agitation.
Many people are anxious about the things of this life: “What shall we eat? or, what shall we drink? or, wherewithal shall we be clothed?” Martha was anxious how she might please the Lord; she felt that she could not do enough for Him. Experience teaches that those who are the most censorious are usually those who are by no means conspicuous for their much serving; but, while this is true, the lesson for us all to learn is that we should not be so engrossed with our work for the Lord that our minds become diverted from the Person whom we serve. He would, therefore, have His words to Martha sink down into our hearts: “One thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.” That Martha profited by His words, and by His loving tone, her subsequent history shows.
The second occasion on which the sisters are mentioned is peculiar to John; and Martha is seen as a mourner (Jn. 11).
THE MOURNER
We can imagine how busy Martha was when her brother Lazarus was sick; but she and her sister knew to whom to turn in their need. They had such unbounded confidence in the love of the Lord that they felt they had only to let Him know that he whom He loved was sick, and He would come immediately. But when Jesus heard, He said: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” The sisters would naturally think of Lazarus, and of themselves. The Lord thought first of the glory of God. The sickness of Lazarus was the occasion for the glory of God being seen in a way in which it would not otherwise have been known.
So He remained two days longer in the place where He was. Did that seem like love? It seemed more like indifference. Yet it is precisely at this point in the narrative that we read: “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.” He loved each one of them. Martha, whom many would have placed last, is mentioned first; and Mary, whom many would have placed first, is not even mentioned by name.
There are two words for love in these verses: the affection of a friend, and a stronger word. The sisters in verse 3 and the Jews in verse 36 used the weaker word; John in verse 5 used the stronger word. The sisters knew the Lord had affection for Lazarus, but did not know the strength of His love. The Jews said, “Behold how He loved him,” but they did not know the depth of it.
It is the Spirit of God through John who uses the stronger word, and that at the moment when His love might seem to be in question. It was not lack of love but the perfection of love, and the light of His Father’s will, that detained the Lord. In the meantime, Lazarus died.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, instead of waiting in the house after the custom of mourners, she went to meet Him; in a place where she could tell Him all that was in her heart apart from the presence of the Jews and from the lamentations in the house. We can picture the scene as, with quivering lips Martha uttered the half-reproachful, yet half-hopeful words: “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know that, even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee.” She meant it as an expression of her faith, but she failed to discern His true glory: for she used the word “ask” which the Lord never used Himself in speaking to His Father. The attitude of a suppliant, and a petitioner, is fit and proper for us when we ask of God (cp. Jn. 16:23-24; 1 Jn. 5:14-15); but our Lord always addressed His Father on equal terms.
Jesus said to her, “Thy brother shall rise again.” Martha believed in the resurrection of the dead, and had no hesitation in replying: “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection in the last day;” but the prospect of resurrection seemed so remote that it could not heal the wound of bereavement. So it was Martha who first heard the words of the Lord, that have since been a comfort to many: “I am the Resurrection, and the Life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.” Although she answered, “Yes, Lord,” when He asked: “Believest thou this?” the full meaning of His words could hardly have been understood without the added light of the epistles. Martha’s confession was a remarkable confession, in the hour of her grief and disappointment: “I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world;” but it was hardly an answer to His question. Martha evidently felt that His words were beyond her. She must have felt like most of us feel when we are taken out of our depth.
Without staying for enlightenment, she called her sister secretly, to avoid attracting the attention of the Jews, and perhaps feeling that Mary would better understand, saying: “The Master is come, and calleth for thee” if anyone had been inclined to question the reality of the maid’s death, or the death of the widow’s son, there could be no doubt as to the death of Lazarus. When Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already, having doubtless been buried on the day he died. We can understand, therefore, that when Jesus said: “Take ye away the stone,” Martha said to Him, “Lord, by this time he stinketh.” She could not bear to think that the body of her brother, that must now have seen corruption, should be exposed to view. How tenderly the Lord answered her: “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?”
Tears have often been seen at the graveside, but when before was thanksgiving heard? Here was something new in the world’s history. Jealous above all things for His Father’s glory, Jesus lifted up His eyes and said: “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me; and I knew that Thou hearest Me always; but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” Although He was the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness (Rom. 1:4), He testified, in the presence of all who stood by that the power that raised Lazarus from the dead was exercised in dependence upon, and in fellowship and communion with, His Father.
“And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth; and he that was dead came forth,” an earnest of the unfolding of His power which will call every sleeping saint from the tomb, and an earnest of the power which will later call forth the unsaved dead to appear before the great white throne.
Who can measure the effect of all these things on the heart of Martha or appreciate the insight thus given to her of His glory? She had proved His love, she had seen His tears, she had experienced His sympathy, she had heard His thanksgiving, she had witnessed His power; and life for Martha could never be the same.
THE SERVANT
The third incident is recorded in Matthew 26:6-13 and in Mark 14:3-9, but John is the only writer who connects it with the family of Martha and Mary, and who notes the service of Martha. On this occasion Martha is seen serving without distraction (Jn. 12:1-8).
On His way to Jerusalem for the last time, the Lord came to Bethany where Lazarus was whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; and, in doing so, braved the wrath of the council who had given a commandment that, if anyone knew where He was, he should show it, that they might take Him. Their love for their Lord outweighed the threat of ex-communication; and, in the case of Lazarus, the threat of death itself. How fitting that those who loved the Lord should make Him a supper, before the bitter cup was presented to His lips on the cross.
True to her character, Martha was serving. Probably her feet and hands moved more quickly than ever; but there is not a word about being “distracted” with much serving, nor of being anxious and troubled. No longer fretful and fussy, preoccupied with her own activities, Martha served in peace and restfulness of spirit. Her work was the same, but her spirit was changed. Love was the inspiration of her service, as it was on the first occasion, but she had learned the blessed secret of attending on the Lord without distraction (1 Cor. 7:35).
When Mary took a pound of ointment of spikenard, very precious, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment, Martha did not join in the indignant cry of the disciples and say, “To what purpose is this waste?” (Mt. 26:8). Maybe she realized, better than the disciples, that the ointment served a very definite purpose; and she silently acquiesced in her sister’s act of devotion and worship. One Person and one object alone filled the vision of Martha’s soul, and the Lord’s eye rested upon her in loving approval.