835
THE KING ' S BUSINESS
whom thou Jovest is sick" His great heart went out to the bereaved sister s. He responded to the call-not to heal Lazarns-bnt to work a mighty mir– acle. Martha responded first to the mes– sage that Jesus had come, bnt "Mary sat still in the house." She ls the same Martha. She believed in Jesus, but doubted His power. She could not be– lieve that He was the resurrection and the life. She was not able to enter into heart-fellowship with Jesus, so she called Mary. This is significant, for it does not say that Jesus called ror Mary, but Martha was conscious that Mary could meet the demand of faith which she could not. When Mary met Jesus she fell at His feet. You remember it was at His feet we saw her first. She had an intuition which impelled her. She had learned at His feet. She must learn now. We will never be so old in the spiritual life that onr place will not be at His feet, taking knowledge of Him. Martha missed something, we found, in the first scene, and she missed some– thing here. We will always miss some– thing worth while unless we learn to sit at His feet-the place of the suppliant. (3) MARY, THE SPIRITUAL WOR- SHIPPER, Mark 14: 3-9: "She hath done what she could." We have seen Mary as the student, as the suppliant, but here we see her as the spiritual worshipper. How marked– ly different is her attitude from that ot Martha. All around is bustle and stir– hurry and excitement, but she is ab– sorbed in Him. Her soul is filled with devotion, and here she finds an outlet. Love ls intuitive. It pierces the hid– den depths. Spiritual insight antici– pates desire. Love is beforehand. It makes prep- aration. Mary sees an opportunity and seizes it. Once before He had been
feeding of the five thousand, the Lord had no anxiety, but of course He cared. "Carest thou not that we perish?" Of course He cared. (Mark 4: 39.) In contrast with Martha is J\lary. The first view we have of her is at Jesus• feet, learning of Him, and we al– ways find her at His feet. Mary was not lazy nor indifferent, but she was wise enough to avail herself of a gra– cious privilege. The Lord could not often be in the home and she was making the most of the opportunity. We have privileges of sitting at the feet of some men of God which we sometimes tail to avail ourselves of and are the losers thereby. Mary desired to know the Lord and to be instructed in the Word. If we would gather fruit we must cultivate the soil, irrigate it and enrich it. This Mary was doing. She was deepening the channels of her life. She was basking in the sunshine of His face, in the spiritual atmosphere of His presence, and drinking of the water of life. She wanted the roots of her being to go deep so that the fruit would be sweet and strong. (Gal. 5:22,23.) Jesus was feasting in fellowship with Mary and had meat to eat that Martha knew uot of (John 4:32). There is one thing above all others to be desired (Psa. 73 : 25). ''\Vhom have I fn heu,•en but thee? nntl t here fl!I none UllOD earth that I deNire beNlde thee." We can readily believe that Mary had risen early that morning and had her work all done and now, in holy com– munion at His feet, with surrendered w!ll, was acquiring that spiritual in– tuition which would enable her to sense the coming crucifixion of her Lord and anoint His feet beforehand (John 12: 3,7). (2) MARY, THE SUPPLIANT, John 11:1-12:8. "Mary • • • fell down at His feet." 11: 32. Jesus loved the Bethany family and when He received the message "He
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