Martha and Mary

 Martha and Mary

 

Luke 10:38-42 『Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and she came to him, and she said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from 』

Jesus had previously raised Lazarus from the dead. Going back to the situation at that time, in a poor neighborhood called 『Bethany』, a man named 『Lazarus』, the older brother of Martha and Mary, died. At that time, Martha, Lazarus' sister, came to Jesus. Jesus was delayed by other matters and arrived late at Bemartha's house. He said to Martha, “Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’” “Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’” Because Lazarus was already dead.

In the difference between Jesus' words, "Your brother will rise again," and Martha's words, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day," Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life, and whoever believes in me will live even if he dies."  However, Martha thought these words meant, “He will come back to life someday after he dies.” The death that Jesus spoke of means that those who believe in me were previously spiritually dead, but will now live.

Jesus said, “Do you believe this?” But Martha answered, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is to come into the world.” This confession is known through knowledge of the Bible. This confession is a confession that spiritual fellowship with Jesus cannot be achieved. Martha injects the thoughts she wants into Jesus. Martha believed in Jesus, but Jesus could not communicate with her. Jesus can go out to the life of resurrection right now, but Martha thinks about what happens after the death of the body, so there is no connection between them.

In John 11:17, “Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.” Jesus explains the resurrection through the dead Lazarus. Jesus shows that there is resurrection through Lazarus dying and coming back to life. However, the resurrection of Lazarus and the death and resurrection of Jesus are different things. Lazarus' death can be said to be a physical revival. The revived body dies again. However, the resurrected Jesus was resurrected as a spirit. So the resurrected Christ never dies. However, Jesus used Lazarus as a tool to explain the resurrection. For people to understand the resurrection, Lazarus dies and then comes back to life. So, to represent the complete death of Lazarus, Jesus came four days after his death.

However, Lazarus' sisters (Martha and Mary) and the people there thought that Jesus was the one who could save the sick Lazarus from death. They had no idea that Jesus was the kind of person who could raise the dead. In John 11:37, “And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?”

Lazarus' sister Martha spoke to Jesus in a resentful voice. In John 11:21, “Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Martha asks Jesus, “that he will resurrect her brother in the future.” In chapter 11, verse 27, “She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” So when Jesus said, “Your brother is alive again,” Martha He answered in 11:28, “And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.”

Lazarus' sisters did not believe in a present resurrection. They cannot believe in a present resurrection. They always thought, “Resurrection is something that happens after death.” Jesus wanted to show the present resurrection to his disciples and Lazarus' sisters through Lazarus. Jesus and his party entered the village of Bedai again. Martha took Jesus to her house. This is because they wanted to serve food to thank their brother Nasa for saving his life.

Her younger sister Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, and her older sister Martha was busy preparing food to serve Jesus. Martha left her work and came to Jesus and asked for help. 『But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and she came to him, and she said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.』Jesus was the lifesaver who saved his brother Lazarus from the dead. So, Martha was busy making food to serve Jesus. But her sister Mary has no intention of helping Martha, and she sits at the feet of Jesus. Martha had no choice but to go to Jesus and tell him what she had to say.

『And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her..』 The subjects are Martha and Mary, but these two people refer not simply to Martha and Mary as natural people but also to two types of religious people.

First, Martha symbolizes someone who accepts resurrection as something that will happen after the body dies. But Mary symbolizes the believer in what is happening in Jesus now. Jesus said that Mary chose one good thing. The reason Maria was able to sit in the kitchen without paying attention to people who were busy with work was not because she was immature, but because she knew what was really good for her. Mary says she doesn't say anything, she just sits at the feet of Jesus and listens to him. She means that through the fact that Mary “sat at the feet of her Lord and she heard His words,” she came to believe and hear the words of resurrection life from Jesus Christ.

Mary witnessed the resurrection of her dead brother Lazarus and became convinced of the resurrection of present life. Martha saw her brother come back to life with her physical eyes, and Mary saw her brother come back to life with her spiritual eyes. Physical revival is the resurrection of a dead body, and resurrection is the resurrection of a spiritually dead person. Therefore, a new temple is built in the hearts of the resurrected, and the kingdom of God comes. Since Mary is at the feet of Jesus, she is right in front of Jesus, the temple, and she realizes that this situation is the kingdom of God.