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. 

Mary, the mother of Jesus: an inspirational woman

Everyone knows that Mary was a young woman, a virgin, from a poor family in an obscure village in Galilee. Everyone knows that she was a young woman who showed an unusual faith and humility. What everyone may not realize is that her unqualified yes to God’s plan for her life entailed great personal risk and suffering. She may not have realized at the time that her yes would open seasons of confusion, fear, doubt and darkness in her life as events unfolded. She would know sorrow as she watched her firstborn son as he was shamed, tortured and left to die like the worst criminal.  However, her greatest joy would be to see him raised from the dead as her Lord and Savior. Everyone knows her name but do they truly know her story? 

A small village in the middle of nowhere. Nothing particularly special about it. Until one day as a young woman going about her day, completing her chores as her life would be changed forever. She is approached by a man in brilliant white. He tells her that she is highly favored and the Lord is with her. Can you imagine her surprise and disbelief? Her? Highly favored? However, it was true. As the mysterious man tells her God’s plan, she must have been hit with a tidal wave of emotions: Confusion. Fear. Awe. Gratitude. Joy and Peace. She simply replies, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be as you have said” (Luke 1:38). She must have rushed home, filled with more questions and fear of the responses from others. She became pregnant and gave birth to Jesus in a lowly manger in Bethlehem. She watched him grow into a man and set out on his ministry. She witnessed some of his miracles. She heard about others. And as she stood by his cross at his crucifixion, did she truly understand what was happening? Or did her mother’s heart wish there was another way? 

Mary had a unique perspective in the life of Jesus. She is the only human who was present at this birth to be present at his death. She saw him arrive as her son and die as her Savior. One of my favorite songs is the song Mary, Did you know? written by Michael English in 1991 and has been covered many times over. It is often dismissed by some people as ridiculous. “Of course, Mary knew. The angel told her. She knew the Scriptures” they say. But did she really? Did she truly understand what her son would go through as the Messiah? Did she look down at her newborn son and see the great I AM? Did she see him grow up from a baby to a toddler to a child to a teen to a man and see the Son of God? Or did she simply see her son? Many believers have the privilege of centuries removed from the situation to easily dismiss the possibility that Mary didn’t fully understand the task God had given her. It wasn’t until I became a mother that I began to see Mary through a mother’s eyes. As I held my own child in my arms, moments after her birth, how could I possibly fathom the person she would grow up to be? Mary may have known what the Scriptures said but knowing the Scriptures and seeing them unfold before your eyes in two very different experiences. 

Women are highly valued in God’s eyes. Despite history and society telling us differently. Even today, some would use the Bible to devalue women. However, anyone who truly knows the Bible knows there are women who were instrumental in God’s plans. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, many women were placed in situations to be God’s instrument. None of these women were perfect but they all had faith to believe in God who can make the impossible possible. Rahab, the prostitute, in Joshua 2 risked her life to hide God’s spies. Esther risked death at the hands of her very powerful husband to save God’s people. And Mary risked being an outcast and shunned from her community for claiming to carry the Messiah. Imagine if a woman came forward today, claiming to be a virgin and carrying the Messiah, conceived by God. I doubt many of us would believe her. Mary’s story reminds us that God’s best servants are often ordinary people who are asked to be a part of extraordinary events. Also, most importantly to me, is that a person’s character is revealed by his or her response to the unexpected. Some would fall and be broken while others would rise up and be extraordinary. 

In conclusion, Mary is inspirational to us as a woman and as a mother. We can be like Mary. A woman who brings Jesus into our world by expressing his character, his forgiveness and his grace. As women, we can pray to be like Mary, a woman who was willing to be available to God and says “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be as you have said” with faith. Being willing to be a part of God’s plan can be scary and with most certain risk to our lives as we know it. However, when we do, God will provide us with the strength and courage that we need. I highly recommend checking out Michael English’s Mary, Did You Know? Even if you know the song already, take a closer listen and see Mary in a new light. 

Mary, Queen of Scots: tragic hero or guilty as charged?

Today in history, nine month old Mary Stuart (also spelt Stewart) would be crowned Queen of Scotland at Stirling Castle in 1543. She would become known as Mary, Queen of Scots. She became queen at 6 days old when her father, King James, died in December 1542. She was also the great-niece of King Henry VIII of England, as her paternal grandmother of Margaret Tudor. This made her cousin to Queen Elizabeth I and a claim to the English crown. The House of Stuart gained the throne by marriage of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert the Bruce to Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland. She would be a tragic victim in the political games of the 16^th century as many would see her as the only legitimate claim to the English and Scottish crowns.

Mary was born on the 8^th or 9^th of December at Linlithgow, Scotland. She was said to be born prematurely and was the only legitimate child to survive King James. Scotland would be ruled by regents until Mary became of age. She was first betrothed to King Henry VIII’s son, Edward, in order to untie Scotland and England. This fell through as the pro-Catholic, pro-France agenda rose to power in the Scottish regency. For her safety, Mary would grow up in her mother’s native France in King Henry II’s court. Marriage agreement would be made for Mary and King Henry II’s son, Francis. Mary was said to be vivacious, beautiful and clever. She was the favorite with everyone and was an accomplished student. She would be fluent in French, Spanish, Italian, Latin and Greek. She was tall woman at 5 feet 11 inches. She and Francis II would be married in 1558 and would remain so until his death in December 1560.

Mary would return to Scotland in 1561 where she married her first cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley in 1565. They would have one son, James, on June 19, 1566. The marriage was strained after Darnley demanded a crown equal to Mary’s and he would rule in the event of her death. She refused. Darnley would later be murdered in February 1567 when his residence was destroyed by an explosion and he was would found in the garden. Mary was rumored to have had a hand in Darnley’s murder but there was no proof. She would marry James Hepburn, 4^th Earl of Bothwell in 1567, who was rumored to be the man to actually kill Darnley. Her marriage to Bothwell would be unpopular and she would be forced to abdicate her crown in favor of her one-year old son, James.

Mary would raise an army in order to fight James Stewart, 1^st Earl of Moray, for her throne. She had expected her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I to support her. Instead, she would be taken to Bolton Castle where she begin a series of house arrests. Evidence, known as the Casket Letters, would serve as proof of Mary’s involvement in Darnley’s murder. Eight letters, love sonnets and two marriage contracts portrayed the conspiracy. Many biographers and historians believe the letters were complete forgeries or were pieces of other letters to create incriminating passages. The letters, according to historians, were poorly written for someone of Mary’s education. On August 11, 1586, she would be arrested as her letters were confiscated and revealed a plot to assassinate Elizabeth, Mary would be convicted on October 25 and sentenced to death. However, Elizabeth would be hesitate to order her execution as killing a queen would set a dangerous precedent and she feared retaliation from Mary’s son, James. February 1, 1587, her death warrant would be signed and she would be beheaded on February 8, 1587 at the age of 44.

Mary’s son would become King James VI of Scotland and James I of England. He would inherit the throne in 1603 upon the death of Elizabeth I. James had his mother reinterred in Westminster Abbey opposite Elizabeth’s tomb. Mary would be the tragic figure who could not cope with the demands placed on her. She would be a pawn in the hands of scheming men. There is no concrete proof that she was guilty of anything she was accused of. One theory is Bothwell killed Darnley in order to marry her and did so without Mary’s knowledge. She remains a popular image of a heroic victim.

Mary, did she know? A Christmas Eve reflection

As Christmas Eve approaches, I think about Mary. A young girl, pregnant and married to a man she barely knows. She’s nine months pregnant and on an uncomfortable journey to Bethlehem for the census. When I was nine months pregnant, I was very uncomfortable, everything ached and I had modern conveniences. I can only imagine the aches and pains of Mary as she traveled on a donkey on a very long road. As they arrive in Bethlehem, her child is coming and she has to settle in a stable. A stable filled with smelly livestock as the baby Messiah begins His journey into the world.

I never truly grasped Mary’s journey until I am became a mother. The song, “Mary, did you know?” took on a whole new meaning. The song was written by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene and originally recorded by Michael English in 1991. The song has since been covered by countless artists, most currently by Pentatonix, an a Capella group. The song asks Mary if she truly realized all the wondrous miracles that her child would grow up to do. A tiny baby who depends so much on his mother will one day fulfill the prophecies that Mary would have learned as she grew up. When Gabriel came to her with his birth announcement, did she fully understand then? Did she realize his mission at all the miracles he performed. Or did she fully understand as she watched him die on the cross? I think she did know, feared the future because she knew that God’s plan was greater than a mother’s love.

Committing herself to God’s will opened Mary to many different scenarios. At worst, she would be stoned to death for what she claimed. At best, she would be ridiculed. Knowing this, Mary said, “May it be as you have said” (Luke 1:38). When did she share this news with her family and friends, did she know the skepticism she would face? I admit if someone today claimed that she would become pregnant with God’s child and he would become the Messiah, I would believe she was crazy. Did Mary receive this reaction too? I’m sure she did and she still kept the faith and allowed God to use her to bring His son into the world. Her faith was courageous. She risked everything for God’s will and promise. She would have a child and raise him. He would go out into the world and perform miracles. She would watch him suffer for the sins of the world.

Mary had a small mention in the Bible but she played a big role in fulfillment of the prophecy which would bring the world her Messiah. This Christmas as you celebrate the birth of Jesus, remember the young girl who said yes to God, despite the cost to her life. Her story is an example of how God uses everyone in great and small ways for His purpose.

Merry Christmas to you all!