Examining The Women
By Bonny Cable
Good news, ladies! God loves women! Women like us, women unlike us, He loves and loved them. Women are an important part of the gospel message. I know, some of the stories of the Bible are cringeworthy when we read how the ancient world treated women, but the pages of scripture do not neglect to tell us the stories of wonderful women whom God loved and included in His salvation story. When Jesus walked the earth, He encountered many women who served Him, believed in Him, lived for Him, and loved Him. The gospel writers give us the records of women from all walks of life and all levels of relationship with Jesus the Christ. These women celebrated His birth, sat at His feet, served His table, begged for healing, proclaimed His power, anointed His feet, watched Him die, mourned His death, and faithfully prepared to tend to His buried body.
Of all the women honored to be a part of Jesus’ ministry, today we will travel to Bethany to visit one more closely. No, not that one. Let’s go to the kitchen. That’s where our woman of inspiration is at this moment. See her working so hard. Her house is filled with company, clamoring to get a spot to hear the words of Jesus. Someone has to tend to the preparations! So she does it. The heat of the day and the busy-ness of getting things ready cause beads of sweat to gather on her brow. If she’s like us, she’s probably got a towel draped over her shoulder to be able to easily wipe off her hands to move efficiently and quickly from task to task, moving bread, pouring oil, setting the table, ensuring all things are ready. At the end of the day, I am sure she is eager to unstrap her sandals and prop up her dusty feet to survey the now empty room which earlier held a crowd of people, eager to hear words of life spoken right here in her home by her Lord. Martha, Martha.
Martha often gets a bad rap. I’m sure you have heard of the book, A Mary heart in a Martha world which urges us to slow down and be more like Mary; I get the point of the book, but, if you look at the full scope of Martha’s story that scripture gives us, I think she deserves far more credit than books and sermons dedicated to elevating Mary over Martha tend to lend. Today, we will do just as our Lord did for her and does for all of us - we will redeem Martha. We will honor her faithful heart, which included not only hospitable service to our Lord but a great confession of who He was to her.
First, let’s pay attention to the family Martha came from. John 11:5 tells us, “Jesus loved Martha, her sister and Lazarus.” We know nothing about their parentage, but all three of these siblings have a special relationship with Jesus. The soil of their hearts was just right for the planting of Jesus’ seed, and that seed took root and manifested itself in faith-filled words and deeds. We see Mary’s deeds of faith in her active listening and anointing of Jesus’ feet (John 11:2). Martha’s faith shows up in word and deed.
If these siblings followed our typical psychologically prescribed birth order traits, Martha is clearly the first born. She takes command of situations and works hard to get things done (speaking from experience as a more Mary prone - emotionally-charged youngest sister). When she hears of Jesus’ arrival at the timing of Lazarus’ death, Martha goes. Mary stays. Martha goes to Him and meets Him (John 11:20). She then proceeds to have a very honest conversation with Jesus that further shows the closeness of their relationship by her courage to speak so candidly to Him. She acknowledges that Lazarus would not have died if Jesus had come, speaking to her faith in Jesus’ current power on earth and what she knows He is capable of doing. She then proceeds to expound on her statements of faith by stating that anything Jesus asks of God, He will be given, which means she knows He is from God. In the final line of this opening exchange, she shows her belief in the resurrection on the last day. Martha knows the plan is in place and that eternity awaits His disciples. These are BIG beliefs! She knows them and says them. Jesus can read her heart, and He knows she believes these to be true. Then Jesus proceeds to give further understanding of the meaning of the resurrection to Martha, and just to Martha. She gets a special lesson sent right to her heart from the mouth of Jesus. From this comes the great confession of Martha. If I had known this verse better as a young believer, I would have used this as my confession at the time of my own baptism. When Jesus asked if she believed this, her reply was, “Yes, Lord; I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
Wow. She says this right to the man, Jesus Himself. I can hear the confidence in the foundation of her faith with every word. Look at the names she uses to fully confess her belief.
Lord- she admits He is her Master. She submits to His will, which explains what she’s about to have to do, as she has seen that Jesus did not come save her brother in the timing she thought He should have.
You are the Christ-By calling Him Christ, she is giving Him the acknowledgement of being the anointed One, the chosen One. Mary showed it in action by anointing His feet; Martha says it out loud.
The Son of God- Here, Martha is admitting that Jesus is deity and part of God’s family tree. She knows He is from God and was sent by God.
Who is coming into the world-This statement refers to Messianic traits such as that mentioned in Psalm 118:26, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Jesus is the One. Martha knows it and believes it.
Finally, when she calls to Mary in 11:28, she refers to Him as Teacher. While this was common back then for disciples to refer to someone they followed by this term, it still lends credit to her relationship with Him. She was a follower of His, and thus, was willing to learn from Him.
What is heartwarming to me about our Lord is what we see from John 12:2. The week before HIs death, Jesus is back at their house in Bethany, and where is Martha? Serving-again. But this time, she doesn’t get scolded or rebuked or corrected. He lets her be. Martha has proclaimed her faith directly to Jesus, and now she gets to do what she does well, take care of things. He knows her heart. He sees the condition of her faith. He has heard her words. Somewhere between the first time and this time, something has changed for Martha - an encounter with Jesus will do that to a person.
What we take from this is that our Lord sees who we are. He comes to us as we are, and encounters with Him change and shape us, if we let them. When we walk with Him, learn from Him, and talk to Him, He grows that seed of faith in us. We can confess Him as Lord, Christ, Son of God sent to the world, and Teacher of our hearts. Just like Martha, the Lord loves you, too.