But Jesus answering said to her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things;
Martha has welcomed Jesus into her home. Now she is the one He has to correct. His words in this verse are not aimed at her work but at what her work was doing to her.
The verse names two things, not one: she is anxious, and she is troubled. One writer presses the second word, and asks what it says about the state of a servant.
"You are anxious," He says to Martha. Friends, if you are busy about many things, you will not only be busy, but troubled. Martha, we read, "was distracted with much serving." She was not only burdened but "troubled." It was very busy service, but it weighed her down. Dear friends, if you have service that weighs you down, look to it — find out why.
The same writer traces where her complaint ended up: "She began by seeking to help the Lord. She ends by complaining that she cannot get help herself."
So what was wrong with getting a meal ready for her guest?
Martha's case was very different, for she was doing what was right. The house was hers and the Lord was her Guest. If she had not busied herself in the service of her house, she would have failed in what was plainly her duty. The trouble was her getting burdened and distracted by "much serving." And what lay at the root of this? Evidently a self-centred spirit. She began to be annoyed with her sister Mary, because Mary did not join in this excess of preparation. Instead she sat at the feet of Jesus, captivated by His word... His answer was most clearly a word of rebuke because of self-centredness.
That self-centredness shows in how she spoke to Him. She did not ask; she instructed.
Martha had a strong streak of self-importance. She also felt constantly slighted and put out by others. The spirit of egoism measures by itself, and cannot appreciate a love which is deeper than its own... Had she been thinking of Jesus, she would not have dictated to Him any more than have complained of Mary... She forgets that she was but the servant of the Lord. Who was she to wish to control Him?
Before He says a word about Mary, He speaks to Martha about her own state.
Jesus, however, answers with the dignity that was proper to Him, and the love that always sees true to its mark... He loved them both, indeed... He deals first of all with herself. She ought not to have been thus anxious and careworn. Martha did not know what Paul knew so well: "One thing I do" (Phil. 3:13). There was never a man with such varied occupations as the apostle... What carried him through all his unmatched toil and suffering, undistracted and happy? The reason was that one person, the only worthy Object, filled and governed his heart.
Her interference, not her cooking, drew out the rebuke.
Her service had its place and its value. Her Lord knew well how to value it. But, blessed be His name, He will not allow anyone to interfere with another. Each had her own place, her own line of things... If Martha had gone quietly on with her work, with Christ as her object in all she did, she would not have met a rebuff.
The cure is not to do less. It is to have a different centre.
In this world many troublesome things are bound to confront us. The real trouble is not those things. It lies in the inward disposition that lets them trouble us. We get anxious and troubled about many things because we are so self-centred. What is the desirable thing? To be Christ-centred. If Christ is the great Object before our hearts, the many things become simplified and lose their power to worry.
And the "one thing" itself is not a task at all.
That good part is prizing Christ and His Word, not thinking what Mary could do for the Lord, but what the Lord could do for Mary. To receive all for her soul from the Lord, instead of receiving Him into her house, was before Mary's soul. This was the one thing needful — it was Christ Himself.
- Symptom — The word is not only "busy" but "troubled": service that weighs you down is service to examine, not to admire.
- Cause — Self at the centre. It shows less in the work than in the irritation with others and in telling the Lord what to do.
- Correction — He answers Martha about Martha before He answers her about Mary. And He speaks with love, not coldness.
- Cure — Not fewer duties, but a different centre. When Christ is the object, the many things lose their power to worry.
- Content — The one thing needful is a Person, not a task: receiving from Him rather than only doing for Him.
but there is need of one, and Mary has chosen the good part, the which shall not be taken from her.
Martha is cooking for Jesus, and the work has become a burden she resents carrying alone. His answer cuts life down to one necessity, and says that what Mary gained that afternoon can never be taken from her.
The "one thing" is hearing Christ's word. Nothing else lasts, and nothing else can stand in for it:
He wanted His words to enter and to have power in the heart. The only thing that endures forever is "the word of the Lord." The wisdom of this world is against it, and so is human reasoning. But it is the only thing worth waiting on diligently... To hear Jesus is the "one thing" needful. No attention, even to Himself in the flesh, though it came from one who loved Him and whom He loved, could replace this.
The verse is often quoted as though Jesus ranked two good options and Mary took the higher one. The wording will not carry that:
Mary realised that He had much more to give her by His word than she could give Him by her service. So she chose the good part and sat at His feet. It does not say "the better part," as it is so often misquoted. There is no comparison here. It is simply "the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." By hearing His word we come to know Himself, and that closeness with Him and His mind will last for eternity.
Martha was busy for Jesus. The problem was what her service had pushed aside:
There can be so much apparent zeal, activity and earnestness that does not spring from the heart's appreciation of Christ at all! This was what was lacking in Martha... All service has its value in His eyes according to how far the heart is engaged with Himself as its first object. Now "Martha was distracted with much serving." She was putting her service in the place of Jesus. He loves her too well to agree to her heart being taken up like that. He wanted her to enjoy Himself.
Mary is not idle in this scene. She is taking in. The two sisters differ in which way the traffic runs:
We must be receivers before we can give, and Mary was a receiver. Martha was a giver, and the Lord Jesus was her guest, but Mary was the Saviour's guest. Sadly, we are often content with taking in only a few drops. No wonder we can only give out a few drops. If rivers are to flow out from us, we must receive rivers. Where the Lord is, there is always plenty of provision — His presence always gives plenty.
Martha's dinner would be gone and forgotten by morning. What Mary took in was of a different order, and it followed her into the next day:
What she received that day was eternal in character, and so it could not be taken away from her. In her present frame of mind, Martha's household cares would start all over again when the sun rose the next day. But Mary would wake with heaven in her soul, because Christ filled her heart. His presence and the enjoyment of His love would light her whole future path. She would meet her daily responsibilities all the better, and more according to God.
The promise does not rest on how strongly we feel it at any given moment:
We may not always enjoy or value the good part as we ought to, but it shall not be taken away from us. God says it, and that is enough for faith.
One writer translates the Lord's words literally, and hears in them a comment on Martha's menu:
"Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many: but few are needful, or one." That is the literal translation of what the Lord said. Our translators added "things" to make good English. But the Lord probably meant "many dishes" or "many courses," when "few dishes," or even one dish, was all that was needed — perhaps only a plate of porridge.
- One thing. The one necessity is hearing Christ's word. Nothing else can take its place.
- One posture. Mary's place at His feet is the receiving position; rivers only flow out of those who have taken rivers in.
- One warning. Service is good. But it can take the place Christ should hold, and then it distracts and weighs the heart down.
- One correction. He does not call Mary's choice "better" than Martha's, but "good." The service He values flows out of that hearing.
- One keeping. The many things get eaten, spent and forgotten. This portion is eternal, so it stands even when our enjoyment of it dips.