38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 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!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
(Luke 10:38-42)
We are counting down through Lent to Easter, following in the footsteps of Jesus as He heads resolutely for Jerusalem and the Cross. On the way, He and his disciples turn aside to the home of Martha and Mary. A short, intimate, domestic scene follows. A glimpse into the tensions between two sisters, one busy with the practicalities of hospitality and the other content to sit at the Rabbi’s feet and absorb His teaching. Why has Luke included such an apparently inconsequential cameo in this critical journey?
Perhaps it is a reminder that we all need moments of oasis and rest. Moments when we pause on The Way. Moments when the busyness of serving Jesus needs to give way to a renewed focus on hearing Jesus. Have we let our serving, our good things, get in the way of the best things? Has doing the works become the ultimate for us rather than hearing the words? Have we become so distracted with our doing for Him that we have forgotten our being with Him? In the noise and the activity have we lost the voice of the Way, the Truth and the Life?
Rest a moment, pilgrim. Sit for a while at His feet.