As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. 39 She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. 40 Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” 41 The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. 42 There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Jesus was at the house of Lazarus’ sisters Martha and Mary in Bethany near Jerusalem (Jn. 12:1). Martha was the mistress of the house and welcomed Jesus. The disciples most likely accompanied Jesus and, based on the law of hospitality in ancient times, both Martha and Mary would have been expected to provide a meal and serve their guests. Mary sat next to Jesus and listened intently to his words like a disciple, leaving Martha burdened with serving all of the guests by herself. She anxiously asked Jesus to tell Mary to help her. If it was only Jesus that Martha was serving she would most likely not need to have anyone help her serve.
Jesus the guest became the host and answered the question put to him, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving (v. 40)?” Although Jesus praised Mary for listening to him, he was not saying that Martha’s hospitality had no value. The point Jesus made was that everyone who follows him must listen to his words. That is the better part.
Almighty God, in our strength we serve you and, in our weakness, we mercifully ask for your grace. Grant that we may contemplate your word and make it the better part of our lives. Help us not to be distracted by the vicissitudes of life as living your word is the key to our salvation. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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