By OneAccord, July 16, 2009
A certain village, a certain person. Of all the people in your town, Jesus chose YOU! Jesus entered a certain village (Bethany) and was welcomed into the home of a certain person. He chose YOU to welcome Him into your home. This Martha had been a woman of ill-repute. In
Luke 7, and with tears of repentance, Martha washed the feet of her Lord and dried them with her hair. She poured expensive ointment on the Lord’s tired feet, to express her love and gratitude of this One who said to her,
“Thy sins are forgiven”. ( John 7:48) I’m reminded of that great song, penned by Bro. Joel Hemphill: “The Sweetest Words He ever said was ‘I forgive’”
Not only had Martha received Jesus into her heart, but here she receives Him into her very home. Our commitment to Christ begins when we accept Him into out lives, but is not complete until we invite Him into our homes. Joshua said,
“As for me AND my house, we will serve the Lord”. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Sprit
“filled ALL the HOUSE where they were sitting”. We need to allow Jesus to reign, not only in our hearts and lives, but our homes should be a place of welcome to the Lord.
As Martha busied herself in serving the Lord, Mary, her sister sat at the feet of Jesus and heard His Word. Our faith comes not from our service to the Lord, but from the Words that proceed out of His mouth. In Bible times, bread had to be processed from flour that was grown, and made into bread. An individual farmer sowed the seed, tended the plants, harvested the grain, cleaned the seed through a process called “winnowing”, ground the grain into flour, kneaded the dough, baked it into bread and finally ate it. Jesus said that we can’t live just on bread (by our own labors), but by every Word of God.
(Luke 4:4). That’s why church attendance and Bible reading is so vital. We need to sit at the feet of Jesus to hear His Word.
Martha sought to please God through her service, but faith comes by hearing the Word. Without faith we cannot please God and faith comes from hearing the Word. If we seek His Word through any other means, we become “
cumbered about much serving”. “Cumbered” means to become burdened down. Martha was burdened down by her service, because she sought to please God through some other means other than by hearing the Word of the Lord. Many people “encumber” themselves with rules and doctrines that are man-made. They follow rule books, by-laws and ritual to try to please God. There are people in the Philipines who beat themselves with whips and some even have themselves nailed to a cross, thinking this somehow pleases God. They “encumber” themselves with religious slavery. Paul speaks of people who ensnare themselves with the very same bondages the Lord had delivered them from. Jesus freed us from the yoke of bondage and slavery but many people “entangle” themselves with the yokes of religious bondage. Not only was Martha
“cumbered about much service” but she thought Mary should be as well! She was careful and troubled by the fact that, here she was, trying to gain the Lord’s favor by doing, while her sister just sat there! It was WHERE Mary was sitting that made all the difference. She sat at the very feet that Martha had just washed a few chapters ago… but she was doing so for a purpose. Our purpose in inviting Christ into our hearts, lives and homes should always be to HEAR HIS WORD!
Martha thought Mary needed to do more. To some, becoming a Christian is too easy. Surely there’s more a person has to do to be saved. So, unscriptural rules, extra-biblical standards and unspiritual rituals are imposed that only serve to enslave people rather than give them liberty in the Spirit.
“…bid [Mary} to help me”, cried Martha. Misery loves company and people who are bound in prisons with stained glass windows think everyone should be “
cumbered about” with them.
Finally, Jesus answered Marthas pleadings by calling her name twice;
“Martha, Martha…” I can think of three times in the Bible (there may be more) when God said a name twice. He called Samuel by saying
“Samuel, Samuel…” (1 Sam 3) In Matthew , Jesus spoke over Jerusalem by saying,
“O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem…” Here in
Luke 10, Jesus says, "
Martha, Martha” The significance of this is that YOU are as important to God as is an OT prophet or the beloved city of Jerusalem. Martha asked the Lord,
“…doth thou not care…?”,. By saying her name twice, Jesus was showing her that, yes, He does care for her, as much as he did for the child prophet Samuel and for the entire city of Jerusalem. Its easy to think the Lord doesn’t care when we allow ourselves to become care-filled and troubled. But He does care!
“Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you!” 1 Peter 5:7
Jesus reminded Martha of the one needful thing. This reminds me of the most frightening verse of the entire Bible:
“One thing thou lackest…”. I’d hate to know that I spent my entire life in Christian service, only to learn that I neglected that one needful thing. Marthas service was appreciated, I’m sure, but God isn’t so interested in our service to Him as He is in us as His children. All that we have in life can be snuffed out in the twinkling in an eye, but those precious Words of God that we hide in our hearts can never, ever be taken away. Nothing will stand in the Day of the Lord but His Word. Grass withers, flowers fade, but His word endures forever. Our rituals, our man-made doctrines, our “revelations” that come from any other source rather than His Word, will vanish in a puff of smoke, but God’s Word is forever. So the “one needful thing” for us to do is to remain at the feet of Jesus to hear His Word. That’s the
“one needful thing” that will never be taken away from us.
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