Martha: a woman of faith who worked hard and often lost sight of what's more important

Everyone knows Martha. She often gets a bad rep as the active and pragmatic woman who was all work, work, work and never at a loss for words. There is a popular book called Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World which focuses on the busyness of Martha. As the oldest sibling, Martha was used to being in charge. She actively questioned, challenged and asked Jesus to rectify what she felt had gone wrong. Like Jacob, she wrestled with her faith. Like Job, she questioned Jesus in her suffering. Like Peter, she stumbled forward in faith despite her mistakes. Martha’s story points to what is really important in life. She learns that there is a proper time to listen to Jesus and a proper time to work for him. What is her story? Why would she focus on her work and not her guests? 

Martha lived with her brother, Lazarus, and her sister, Mary, in her home in Bethany, a village a few miles from Jerusalem. The siblings were close and intimate friends with Jesus. During one of his frequent visits, Martha becomes upset with Mary as her sister sits with Jesus and the men while Martha struggles to provide for the guests. Feeling ignored and unappreciated, Martha demanded that Jesus tell Mary to help her. She probably felt that Jesus was the only person who could get Mary on her feet and help Martha with the necessary preparations. However, Jesus did not do that. Instead, he gently rebukes Martha for her worry and focusing on the wrong things. While her properties were good, they were not the best at the time. The personal attention to her guests should be more important than the comfort she provides. Martha may have become embarrassed and startled as she did not realize that Jesus would turn the tables on her. Distracted by the need to serve, as was the custom of the day, Martha forgot to enjoy her time with her guest.

The work of women was clearly defined in Martha’s day. Women of the time kept busy with a variety of tasks from sunup and sundown. Their tasks probably included:

• Grinding grain for the daily bread, then mixing, kneading, and baking the bread

• Purchasing the meats or preparing meats from the household’s flocks for the day’s meals

• Carding, spinning and weaving threads for cloth (i.e. clothing, bedding and other uses)

• Sewing

• Drawing the day’s water

• Washing the dishes and laundry

• Teaching and disciplining the children

The list is not so different from today’s women and their responsibilities as wives and mothers. Tasks that become tedious, exhausting and overwhelming but are never not unimportant. Jesus’ words to Martha was not to mean that “women’s work” was unimportant and be left undone. However, these tasks should not take the place of daily and intimate contact with our families and the Lord. For example, when your child wants to color with you but you tell him no because there is laundry to fold. The laundry can wait for twenty minutes while you color a page with your child. I know from experience, it is easier said than done. It takes an active push to ignore certain tasks for the unplanned. 

Another interaction with Jesus, Martha greeted him with a mix of disappointment, grief and hope. After the illness and death of her brother, Martha ran to Jesus when she learned that he was approaching the village. She greets him with a complaint but faith as well. In John 11:21 says Martha greeted Jesus with “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” This statement shows that Martha deeply believed in Jesus and trusted that he came to do God’s will. What she didn’t understand is that Jesus has power over death, not just against death but over it. Through Jesus, death no longer has any power over us. We do not need to fear death any longer. Jesus responds to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). She replies that she believes and her statement reveals a woman of deep faith. 

In conclusion, the more we delve into Martha’s story, the more she looks familiar. A woman who focuses on her own activity and not openly sitting with Jesus. She pleads for fairness without realizing that her vision of fairness was in fact, unfair. Her approach made life and faith too difficult. However, she loved Jesus and was confident in his love for her. How else could she find the courage to keep pressing him for answers? As her friend, Jesus helped her stretch her faith, refocus her vision and see the power of what God can do. Jesus meets us where we are and shows us where we should be. Like Martha, we can take our complaints, our questions and our doubts directly to Jesus. We can tell him what is bothering us and ask for his guidance to deal with or respond to any situation.