I've been going through a Bible study book called "Falling in Love With Jesus" and I've had the opportunity to study the story of Mary and Martha in depth. It's a timeless tale, and one that I've heard either preached on, written about or have read it myself numerous times. This time, though, I read it with new eyes. And here are some of the things that I gleaned...
*When the story is first told in Luke, Mary is introduced to us as "Martha's sister." I found this very interesting, because it's often the situation where the lesser known sibling/spouse/friend is referred to as "so and so's" something. In this case, Martha was the outgoing one, the one that was more known, and Mary was just "the sister." And yet Mary is the one who ultimately made the right choice, the choice that has her going down in history as the one who "sat at Jesus' feet."
*Then Lazarus died, and Jesus came back to Bethany to grieve with the two sisters. Martha rushed out of the house, and met Jesus before he even got to their house, admonishing Him that if He had only been there her brother would not have died. Jesus answered her back with riddles and questions. Mary waited until Jesus called for her, and then went into Him, broken, falling at His feet weeping, but using the exact same words that her sister had used. Jesus didn't question her, or confuse her with riddles. He wept with her, and then did the unimaginable - rewarding her quiet faith and raising her brother from the dead.
This made me wonder... Even though the words were the same, Mary had a different attitude in approaching Jesus. Was it because she had a deeper relationship with Him? A relationship that came from sitting at His feet, spending time with Him.
I know that Jesus allows anyone to ask Him questions, but will He perhaps answer differently dependent on the attitude that we have in asking? Not because He can't answer if our attitude is wrong, but because we may not be open to what He chooses to do if we're not in line with Him?
I know that in my own experience, when I've knocked on Heaven's door demanding answers, it's hard to hear anything but my own grief or anger. But when I get my spirit right, it can be easier to hear what God is saying in return to my questions.
Thoughts?
5 comments:
It's funny -- I've recently been sympathizing in the opposite direction. Mary gets all the accolades, but when you read the account of Lazarus' death, it's Martha who runs out to meet Jesus, and who declares her faith in Him. Mary is so devastated that she doesn't come until Martha fetches her.
But reading your perspective, combined with my own, suddenly turns the spotlight on Jesus. I'd never noticed before how He deals with Martha and Mary according to their personalities. With practical Martha, He talks, reasons, and affirms her loyalty to Him. With sensitive Mary, He comes to her, comforts her, and cries with her.
And that is exactly how He relates to you and to me, and to everyone else: according to our needs and personality. What a glorious thought!
-- SJ
Methinks your conclusions quite profound. It makes so much sense that we have to be right in our spirits before we can understand (or start to understand) what God is doing/saying. If we are wrong in our spirits, how can we take in the thoughts of a holy and righteous God?
But I also like that Jesus did answer Martha. He didn't ignore her, or wait until her spirit was right. He was hearing her, and understanding where she was, and He took the time to respond.
Good post, Linds!
Hmmm...sometimes like you said when we're angry/or upset with God we put up a wall...to protect ourselves. We don't want Him in that vulnerable aching part of us.
So we push him away. Or we come to him and show him our anger...let him come into our grief that's when He holds us, when He gives us more understanding.
He senses our attitudes whether they are a door open to Him to come close or a door saying "Keep Out."
Even if we are grieving or angry it's up to us to let God come and share the feelings, the deep heart wrenching emotions we are dealing with. He won't push His way in. He is a gentleman.
We can stand back and question him- to keep him at arms length or press in to get the reasurance we need. Questioning him isn't always a way to keep HIm away...sometimes we question because we do need the answers, or we just need to be able to ask the questions.
Sometimes I think it's okay to be brutually honest with God and tell him we're angry, and sometimes even angry at him...but it's the attitude we do it with that's important.
Does that make any sense?
I really appreciated reading your insights - and the comments too. Good food for thought.
It reminded me of a talk Daddy gave a while ago where he talked about how Jesus will meet us just where we are and do The Thing that we need to make us believers....For example- all it took for John was seeing the napkin in the tomb rolled up and the Bible says he believed; for Mary it was hearing him say her name when she thought he was the gardener; Thomas needed to touch his hands and side...Whatever it takes, whatever our personality, God will meet us...
Wow, Lindsay...I think I'll have to chew on this one for a while.
Off the top of my head, I think you're right: we get the deepest answers from Jesus when we have the quietest spirit for hearing Him. But I imagine I'm not the only one who finds getting quiet extremely hard!
I'm so glad that Jesus rewards even the tiniest step in His direction...at the same time that you've challenged me to listen for more.
Thanks!
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