Luke 10: 38 – 42
Good Housekeeping
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
I would like to recommend to you if you ever can do it, is to take a few weeks and go to Israel. As a history buff I was quite moved when I read about the life of Abraham Lincoln. After the end of the Civil War as he and his wife were taking a carriage ride, he told his wife that after he finished his term in office that he would like to travel and see the places where the Lord walked. Unfortunately this dream was cut off by an assassins bullet at Ford’s Theatre.
When you get to see the terrain of Israel and where the key areas are you get a better perspective of the bible. For example in today’s bible study we learn that when our Lord would pay a visit to Jerusalem, He had a family of friends that would always take Him in.
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.
If you have access to internet or books with pictures of Jerusalem then you can somewhat visualize this location. The certain village that we read about is called Bethany. It is a town on the mountain top overlooking the city of Jerusalem. If you walked down the mountain you would pass by the olive garden which is called the Garden of Gethsemane. Directly in front of you would be the East Gate into the city of Jerusalem. You were not allowed to enter through this gate for it was reserved for the arrival of the Messiah so you would have to enter another gate to get into the city.
Bethany was also an important area for this is the spot which is also called Mount Olivet, where our Lord left earth and returned to heaven as we read in the book of Acts chapter 1, “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. 13 And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Many times when you go over the bible look for things that are not written. For example, we have here three single adults. There is no mention of their parents. Perhaps they died and left them their home. We also do not know the background of these three. How did they all become the Lord’s friend’s. Did they somehow hear Him teach some prior time and invited gave Him a permanent open invitation that whenever He was in the area their home was His home. We do not know for sure.
We do know that Martha was the oldest. She ran the house. Now for you ladies, especially if you have a younger sister, you can relate to Martha. It always appears that your younger sister does not do enough. Am I right? And if you are the younger sister, then your older sister is always nagging and complaining about you. Would you agree?
Of course you are familiar with this bible story, but if you thought about it for a while, what would you do if you knew that the Lord Jesus Christ was going to come over to your house?
Well, for one thing you want the house to be spanking clean - everything in order. Then would you just put out some chips and dip? I don’t think so. I am guessing that you would make your best meal possible for Him.
Now, Martha’s problem is not in trying to please the Lord. Her problem was that she lost focus. In counseling I advise some people to ‘slow down to the speed of life.’ They are so jammed up that they have a hard time doing even the smallest things.
In business, if a boss asks you for a report and only gives you ten minutes to do it. Then with the resources available you give him or her the best one that you can put together. If you think that you need weeks to put the report together, then panic will set in and your report will display your emotional issues.
If your same boss gave you some time to do a report and you segmented out the details of the request then you will most likely come up with a good ‘dog and pony’ show.
Now, most likely our Lord just showed up. Can you imagine the panic on Martha’s mind. The house is a mess. I haven’t any food in the house. I need to run to the market. Can you picture how she is getting worked up?
Who is she going to explode at? Many will say that she will get mad at Mary. Oh, really? What does our bibles say, “39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
You see she does the same thing that we all do and do not admit, we get mad at our Holy God. All in all, He Is in control of all things. We think, ‘Don’t You see what is happening here. Don’t you care about me? Why aren’t You doing something for me for a change?’ Is any of these points hitting home to you?
So, how did our Lord handle this accusation? Did He rebuke Martha for her improper charge against Him? No, our Lord Jesus Is Loving and Compassionate. He says, “41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Now, I think you would find this interesting. I have asked some people if they would invite our Precious Holy Master, our Lord Jesus Christ over to their house. Their response sometimes is, well, if He showed up here on earth, we would invite Him over to our home.
We have to realize that in the bible our bodies are also called our house. We are made up of three individual conditions – Body, soul, and spirit. The real you is spiritual that lives in a temporary house called the body. We read in the book of 1 Corinthians 6, “19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”
In the bible we read in Psalm 90, “10 The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” You know what 70 is very long and then you have to meet your eternal destination. The body which is mortal and sinful must remain here. In the resurrection our Lord will provide us with an immortal body. So, where will it be for you – heaven or hell? Our Holy King, Lord, and Savior volunteered and gave His life for you and me. However you need to do something to receive God’s forgiveness.
Don’t just believe me but see what God says you have to do to be saved. We find out the way from the book of Romans chapter 10, “8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”(that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
Now, what exactly is this saying? I would say that you know that Jesus Christ lived and died here on earth. Am I right? Well, then you are half way to being saved. The book of Romans says if you believe this and then confess this with your mouth, what will happen? You will be saved!
So, if you want forgiveness from our God and have not prayed to ask for His Salvation, then, if you are truly sincere and want this, then I invite you to join with me with this prayer. I ask you now to get on your knees and pray out loud this prayer to God.
‘Dear Heavenly Father, please receive my prayer. I know that Your Son, Jesus Christ came to earth and died for me. I know that He rose again from the dead and sits at your right hand. Please forgive me of my sins. Dear Jesus, please come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Help me Lord Jesus to live the rest of my life pleasing to You. I will pray from now on in Your Name. Amen.”
If you have prayed that prayer there is a party going on in Heaven right now. You don’t believe me? Look at what it says in the Gospel of Luke chapter 15, “7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.’ Sounds like a celebration to me, how about you?
Now let’s get back to work, shall we?
