MARY AND MARTHA

Jesus’s friends Martha and Mary are fascinating. Martha was a legalist with judgmental tendencies (Luke 10:40), totally devoted to doing her duty. Jesus reproved her for choosing chores over Him. When her brother Lazarus died, Martha and Jesus had a chat about resurrection. Her mouth stated that Jesus could raise the dead (John 11:22), but her heart doubted that He’d do it (John 11:39). Martha’s sister Mary was very much in touch with her heart. She sat and listened to Jesus (Luke 10:39) because her heart was drawn to Him. She spent a fortune on spikenard and poured it on Jesus’s feet, wiping His feet with her hair (John 12:3). Mary was a wholehearted worshiper, surely one of Jesus’s closest friends. When Lazarus died, she was lost in her grief. If Jesus had discussed resurrection with Mary, I believe she would have spoken out of the pain that was in her heart, and she would have asked Him if He was going to revive her dead brother. Martha the legalist probably didn’t think she deserved such a favor, and therefore didn’t ask for it. The poor woman just didn’t understand grace. But Jesus did bring Lazarus back to life, a wonderful blessing that neither Martha nor Mary had earned. I really relate to Martha. I can be driven by duty, devastated by my imperfection, doubting the grace of God. Hebrews 4:15 (NKJV) says, “Let us…come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” If there is ever any kind of need, Jesus is willing to meet it, and not because we’ve earned it, but because He is merciful and gracious.