Martha and Mary

At the Home of Martha and Mary As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Luke 10:38-42

We all need the support of our friends. Jesus had good friends. Let's take a look at two of them.

Martha got things done. We need people like that! She offered Jesus her house. She cooked, prepared a place to stay, got all the hard details done. But Jesus had been on the road for a long time. He had been ministering to the masses, laying hands on the sick, healing the crippled, giving the blind sight, casting out demons. What did Jesus need? What kind of helper did he really NEED?

Mary didn't look to Jesus' physical needs but to his emotional needs. Mary sat with Jesus, close, down at His feet and listened to Him. She showed Him a different kind of love. She was supportive of His mission. She showed that she was on His side, and that she longed to know every detail of who He was and where He had been and where He was going.

Sometimes we just need Mary at our side. Sometimes our physical needs are SO secondary to our emotional and spiritual needs, that even though we have been lost in the desert for ages, we would forgo a drink of water for a moment in a caring person's arms, to see a smiling face, to know that you aren't alone on the road... that someone else is sharing this walk with you.

Thank God for placing Marys in our lives. We couldn't make it without them.