THE
KING ' S BUSINESS
838
plies a ripened Intimacy. John, In his allusions to the family, makes Mary prominent. Luke, however, makes Martha the central figure of his picture, while Mary Is ;;et back In the shade, or rather the Sunshine which was the Light of the worl.i. It was Martha who received Him Into her house. She was the recognized bead of the family. It was she who gave the Invitation to the Master, and on her devolved all the care of the entertainment, the prepara– tion of the feast and the reception of the guests. "It Is significant that John (12:2), speaking of another supper at Bethany, In the house of Simon, states that Mar– tha served, using the same word that Jesus addressed to her In the narrative of St. Luke. Evidently Martha was a 'server.' This was her forte, so m uch so that her services were In requisition outside her own house. Hers was a culinary skill and she delighted with her sleight of hand to effect all sorts of transformations as, conjuring with her fire, she called forth the pleasures and harmonies of taste. In this, how– ever, she overdid It; she went beyond her strength. Perhaps her guests out– numbered her invitations or something unforeseen had upset her plans, so that some of the viands were belated. At any -rate, she was cumbered, distracted, put out. She breaks in suddenly among the guests, and in the hearing of them all, she says to Jesus, 'Lord, dost thou not care that my sister did leave me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.' If Mary was in the wrong to sit at the feet of Jesus, Martha cer– tainly was not in the right. There was no occasion to give this round-hand re– buke. But Martha is overweighted, rutiled; her feelings get the better of her judgment, and she speaks words she never would have spoken had she but known that Inspiration would keep their echoes reverberating down all the years of time. "Turning to the other sister, we find a striking contrast, for 'Mary also sat at the Lord's feet and heard His word.' This does not imply any forwardness on her part or any desire to make her– self conspicuous; the whole drift of her nature was in the opposite direction. Nor does she break through her womanly reserve to take part in the conversation; she simply 'heard His word,' or 'she kept listening,' as the Imperfect tense denotes. She put her-
self in the listening attitude, content to be in the shadow, outside the charmed cir cle, Ir she only might hear Him speak. Her sister chided her for this, and the large family of modern Marthas blame her severely for what they call the selfishness of her conduct, seeking her own enjoyment, even though others must pay the price of it. But was Mary so entirely selfish? Did she sacrifice duty to gratify her inclination? Not at all. Mary had as– sisted in the preparations, as the 'also' of v. 39 shows. The probability Is she had completed her task and now that He was conversing with the guests she could not forego the privilege of listen– ing to the voice she might not hear again. "It Is to Jesus, however, that we must go with our rivalry of claims. His estimate of character was never at fault. Certainly Jesus had no apology for selfishness: His whole life was one war against it. But how does Jesus adjust this sisterly difference? Does He dismiss the listener and send her back to her unfinished task? He gently reproves the elder sister. He calls her to herself. It was Martha who had taken on too much. She had gone be– yond her strength and far beyond the need. The fact was, Martha had mis– read the tastes of her Guest. She thought to please Him by the abun– dance of her provision. The more sim– ple the repast the more It pleased Him. So, while Martha's motive was pure, her judgment was mistaken. Had she been content with a modest service, such as would have pleased her Guest, she too might have found time to sit at His feet, and to have found there an Elim of rest and a Mount of Beatitudes. 'Mary hath chosen the good part.' So we find in Mary the truest type or ser– vice. Hers was not always the passive attitude, absorbing and never diffus– ing. Her hands had wrought for Christ before she placed herself at His feet, and the sacrifice followed as she brought her costly gift, to the astonish– ment of all the rest, her sweet and healing balm for the wounds which were soon to follow." ~ ~ Two Loyal Friends of Jesus. Luke 10:38-42; Jno. 11:20-28; Mark 14:3-9. Memory Verse: "Mary hath chosen the good part." Luke 10: 42.
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs