Jesus Visits Mary and Martha

A guest in the house. “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house” (10:38). Jesus was traveling with His disciples, and Martha opened her home to Him. Martha's welcome. It was Martha's house, and Martha invited Jesus in. Soon she was busy serving Him. Welcoming Jesus was a good and loving thing to do. The Maker as a guest. Jesus made everything. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). Yet the Maker of the world came into a village home as a guest. That shows how humble and kind He is. Serving is good. Martha's serving was not wrong. Jesus said about Himself, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45). When we serve others, we are acting like Jesus. Open homes. God wants His people to be “given to hospitality” (Romans 12:13). Hospitality means welcoming people and caring for them, the way Martha did. You can help when your family has guests, and you can make a new kid feel at home. Welcoming Jesus Himself. Jesus is not walking into our towns today, but He still wants to be welcomed. He said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23). What we learn. Welcome Jesus into your life, and serve others gladly. Remember that Jesus wants your heart even more than your hard work.

On the way (10:38). “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village.” Jesus was on His long journey toward Jerusalem, where He would die and rise again. On the way, a woman named Martha “welcomed Him into her house.” Martha's home. It was Martha's house, and Martha welcomed Jesus in. John's Gospel tells us that her town was Bethany and that she had a brother named Lazarus (John 11:1). She took on the work of caring for her guest. Diakonia. Verse 40 calls her work “much serving.” The Greek word is diakonia (say: dee-ah-koh-NEE-ah). It means serving or ministry, and the word deacon comes from the same family. Martha's work was real service to the Lord. The Servant who was served. Jesus “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant” (Philippians 2:7). The Lord who came to serve the world let Martha serve Him. He welcomed her gift. Hospitality. Paul told believers to be “given to hospitality” (Romans 12:13). Opening your home and caring for guests is one of the ways God's people love one another. Martha did it for the Son of God. A better welcome. Jesus promised a welcome deeper than a guest room: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:23). He wants more than a place at our table. He wants to live in our hearts. For you. Serve gladly, and welcome people the way Martha did. But do not let your serving take the place of the welcome Jesus wants most: a heart that loves Him and keeps His word.

Martha opened her home to Jesus. That was a kind and good thing to do. Jesus is God's Son, and He made the whole world. Yet He came to Martha's house as a guest. Martha worked hard to serve Him. Serving others is one way to show love. Jesus Himself came to serve people. You can serve too, at home and at church. You can help a visitor feel welcome. You can share and help clean up. But Jesus wants more than our work. He wants us to welcome Him into our lives. He wants to be with us every day.

Martha welcomed Jesus into her home. She worked hard to serve Him. Jesus wants us to welcome Him too.

Sitting at His feet. Martha “had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word” (10:39). In the Bible, a learner sat at a teacher's feet. Paul said he was taught at the feet of his teacher, Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). Mary took the place of a learner. His word. Mary “heard His word.” Jesus' words are not ordinary words. He said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). His words show us who God is and how to be saved. Close to Jesus. Mary was right at Jesus' feet, as close as a learner could be. Listening to Jesus is not only about learning facts. It is about being with Him. Quiet in a busy house. There was work going on in that house, and Mary chose to sit and listen. Sometimes the wisest choice is to stop everything and hear what Jesus says. Day and night. The Bible describes a happy person this way: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2). To meditate means to think about God's Word again and again. Jesus prayed too. Even Jesus took time away from busy crowds to be with His Father: “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed” (Luke 5:16). What we learn. You can sit at Jesus' feet too. Read or listen to His words in the Bible, think about them, pray, and ask Him to help you obey.

A learner's place (10:39). Mary “also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.” To sit at a teacher's feet was to be his student. Mary took a disciple's place before the Lord, close and ready to learn. Kept on listening. Mary did not hear one sentence and get up. She kept on listening to His word and stayed at His feet while He taught. Words of life. “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Mary was not just enjoying a good speaker. She was receiving the words of the Son of God, words that give life. Delight and meditation. Psalm 1:2 describes the blessed person: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.” Mary's place at Jesus' feet is a picture of that delight. Stopping on purpose. There was real work to do in the house, and Mary still sat down. Choosing to stop and listen is often harder than staying busy. Jesus Himself “often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed” (Luke 5:16). More than facts. Hearing Jesus' word is more than collecting information. It means being near the One who speaks. Mary's place at His feet was about Jesus Himself. For you. Make a regular time to sit at Jesus' feet: read a passage from one of the Gospels, think about it, pray it back to Him, and ask Him what He wants you to do.

Mary sat down at Jesus' feet. In Bible times, students sat at their teacher's feet. Mary was learning from Jesus. She listened to His word. The words of Jesus are God's own words. They teach us how to live and how to love. They tell us how to be saved. Jesus said His words give life. Do you take time to listen to Jesus? You can read your Bible or hear a Bible story. You can pray and tell Jesus what is on your heart. Jesus is glad when you come close to Him.

Mary sat at Jesus' feet. She listened to Jesus teach. You can listen to Jesus when you hear the Bible.

Distracted. “But Martha was distracted with much serving” (10:40). Distracted means pulled away. Martha's work was good, but it pulled her heart and mind away from Jesus, who was right there in her house. Good things can crowd out Jesus. Martha was not doing anything bad. She was serving Jesus! But even good things, like chores, homework, sports and helping, can keep us so busy that we have no time left for Him. Upset and comparing. Martha came to Jesus and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” She was looking at what Mary was not doing. When we feel stressed, it is easy to blame other people. Do You not care? Martha even wondered whether Jesus cared. The disciples asked the same kind of question in a storm: “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38). Both times, Jesus cared very much. He cares for you. The Bible says, “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Jesus never stops caring, even when we are too upset to feel it. Honest with Jesus. Martha did one thing right: she took her problem straight to Jesus. You can be honest with Jesus too. Tell Him how you really feel, and ask Him to help you. What we learn. When you feel busy, grumpy or left out, stop and talk to Jesus. Ask Him to help you serve with a glad heart and to keep Him first.

Perispao (10:40). “But Martha was distracted with much serving.” The Greek word perispao (say: peh-ree-SPAH-oh) means to be pulled or dragged around. Martha's attention was being pulled in many directions at once. Good work, wrong center. Her work was diakonia, true serving, and serving Jesus is good. The trouble came when the serving took the center, and Jesus, her guest, was pushed to the edge. Step by step. Distraction turned into frustration. Frustration turned into blaming Mary, and blaming Mary turned into questioning Jesus: “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” A distracted heart can quickly become an upset one. Do You not care? The disciples once woke Jesus in a storm with nearly the same words: “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38). In both scenes, Jesus showed how deeply He cared. Comparing. “Therefore tell her to help me.” Martha measured her sister by her own busy plan. A heart that compares can easily turn a gift of service into a complaint. Taking it to Jesus. Martha brought her complaint straight to the Lord. That was the right place to take it. God invites honest prayer: “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). For you. Ask yourself what pulls you in many directions: school, screens, sports, even jobs at church. Serve hard, but keep Jesus at the center, and bring Him your frustration before it turns into blaming others.

Martha was busy with so much work. Her work was good work. But it pulled her mind away from Jesus. Martha got angry because she had so much to do. Then she blamed her sister Mary. She even asked Jesus, “Lord, don’t you care?” Jesus did care about Martha very much! Good things can keep us too busy for Jesus. Chores, games and school can fill up a whole day. Then we get grumpy and compare ourselves to others. Martha did one right thing. She took her problem straight to Jesus. You can tell Jesus how you feel too.

Martha was very busy. She got upset and asked Jesus, “Lord, don’t you care?” Jesus always cares about you very much.

Martha, Martha. Jesus answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things” (10:41). Saying someone's name twice is a loving way to get their attention. Jesus was not scolding her harshly. He was calling her back to Himself. Worried and troubled. Worry is when your mind keeps spinning about things you cannot fix. Martha's “many things” filled her heart until there was no room left for peace. One thing. Jesus said, “But one thing is needed” (10:42). Martha had many things. Jesus offered her one: Himself. Being with Jesus and hearing His word mattered more than everything else in that busy house. The good part. “Mary has chosen that good part.” Mary made a choice. A part is a share, like your piece when something good is handed out. Mary chose the share that lasts, and you can choose it too. Never taken away. Jesus promised that Mary's good part “will not be taken away from her.” Work gets finished, and busy days end. But what you receive from Jesus lasts forever. Jesus loved them both. The Bible says, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (John 11:5). Jesus did not love busy Martha any less. He loved her enough to tell her the truth. What we learn. When worry fills your heart, listen for Jesus saying your name. Put the many things down for a while, and choose the one thing: time with Him.

Martha, Martha (10:41). Jesus answered her by name, twice. God called people this way at important moments: “Abraham, Abraham!” (Genesis 22:11) and “Simon, Simon!” (Luke 22:31). Martha was being called back by Someone who loved her. Merimnao. “You are worried and troubled about many things.” The Greek word merimnao (say: meh-rim-NAH-oh) means to be anxious or full of worry. Jesus used the same word when He said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34). Many things and one thing (10:42). “But one thing is needed.” Martha's “many things” stand against the “one thing.” Jesus was not saying that serving and work do not matter. He was saying that only one thing is truly necessary: Himself and His word. Chosen. “Mary has chosen that good part.” Mary's place at Jesus' feet was a choice she made while other things called for her attention. Every day brings the same choice. Not taken away. Jesus said it “will not be taken away from her.” He did not send Mary back to the work. What she received at His feet was hers to keep. Loved, both of them. “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (John 11:5). Jesus' correction came from love. He did not reject Martha for her worry. He invited her to the same good part Mary had chosen. For you. When worry fills your mind, bring the many things to Jesus. Then choose the one thing needed: time at His feet, hearing His word. It will not be taken from you.

Jesus answered Martha with kind words. He said her name two times: “Martha, Martha.” Jesus was gently helping her. He helped her see what was wrong. Martha was worried and upset about too many things. Jesus said, “Only one thing is important.” That one thing was being with Jesus and listening to Him. Mary had chosen the right thing. No one could take it away from her. Our work gets finished, and then it is over. Time with Jesus lasts forever. Jesus loved Martha, and He loved Mary too. He loves you, and He wants you close to Him.

Jesus said, “Martha, Martha.” He spoke to her with love. Nothing is better than being with Jesus.