Who was Martha in the Bible?

A disciple whom Jesus loved: she was apparently the head of the household at Bethany, which Jesus at times visited. Martha was probably the widow of Simon a leper (comp. Matt. 26:6-13 with John 12:1-8), and superintended domestic arrangements. She received the Lord into 'her house.' Luke 10:38. Having the Lord for a visitor she was burdened with much service, and begged Him to instruct her sister Mary to help her. A contrast is here drawn between the two sisters: the one occupied with what she could do for the Lord; the other with what He was: self being plainly uppermost in Martha, while the Lord Himself was paramount with Mary. 'That good part' should not be taken from her. But in John 12, when the Lord was again at Bethany, and they made a supper for Him, Martha's service is in no way qualified, the raising up by the Lord of her brother Lazarus, and His dealings with herself, having doubtless taught her the needed lesson. Service in communion with Himself is acceptable to Him.

The Family. — A family of three dwelt there — two sisters and a brother, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Another person is named by Matthew and Mark as dwelling in the village — one Simon the leper. In his house Mary anointed the Lord — a friend evidently of the family, as Martha could busy herself in serving under his roof (John 12:2-3). Nothing is known of him to support the idea, that he was the kinsman of the family, or that he stood in a closer connection as the husband of Martha. "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus" we read (11:5), which would apparently intimate, that those three comprised the whole family circle. That Martha had a house of her own is definitely stated in Luke (10:38). Into it she on one occasion received the Lord. How she came to have a house is a question, the solution of which is beyond our power.

Verse 20. "Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary sat still in the house." In Luke 10 we are first introduced to these sisters, and in a very beautiful way. Jesus had entered a village, and a certain woman, named Martha, received Him into her house. How it brings Him before us in His daily life of poverty and simplicity, the houseless, homeless Son of man! Well, Martha received the homeless One into her home. Here we come upon the difficulties, not of scripture, but of incredulity. Who can fully grasp the reality? The One who inhabits eternity indebted for a day's lodging, to the faith and love of a poor woman named Martha. What a privilege for her! But her sister Mary's position was still more blessed; it was well to receive Him into the house, and minister to His outward need; but to sit at His feet, to hear His word, and thus be ministered unto by Him, was far more blessed. She "hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her," that is, to hear "the word of the Lord that endures for ever." This appreciation of His word is above everything; by it alone, divinely given knowledge of Him is communicated to the soul; with that mighty word of His, He comes Himself, and takes up His abode in the heart. "If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." (Chap. 14:23.) Blessed was the mother who bare Him, but still more blessed the one who keeps His word; in doing this we have His presence, and realise practical conformity in thoughts and ways. Thus Mary sitting in the house when Jesus was coming, reminds us of Jesus Himself remaining two days in the place where He was, when He heard that Lazarus was sick. His word, "Himself reflecting," abiding in us, produces likeness to Himself. When told that the Teacher had come and called for her, she (the true disciple), rose up quickly, and came unto Him. And when she came where Jesus was, she "fell at his feet," Mary's place always (Luke 10; John 11; 12), but Martha's never. Distracted with much serving, like many in our own time, she had not yet learned that one thing was needful. Still, if Mary placed herself at His feet to hear His word, Martha received Him into her house — dear and blessed sisters they were.

Bethany Reached. — With the Master went the Twelve. Up the long ascent from the Jordan valley He went, and appeared outside the village. He and His disciples were seen approaching, ere Martha met Him. The news of His coming reaching her, she went at once to meet Him. They met outside the village — a sorrowing heart in the presence of Him who would shortly turn her sorrow into joy. "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died," were the first words of her salutation. "And even now I know" (so we should read), "that, whatsoever Thou shalt ask of God, God will give it Thee" (21, 22). Was there any reproach implied in her opening words? As Mary used them also, we should incline to view them as words of lament. Was there a lurking hope in those which followed, that Lazarus might be raised to life, like the son of the widow of Nain. Her words would seem to imply that, whilst her language about the Lord evidenced she did not understand, that He was really a Divine Person equal with the Father. For she speaks of Him asking of God, using for that a word fitly applied to men in relation to God, who are not, of course, on an equality with Him. An immediate response came from the Lord: "Thy brother shall rise again."

Yes. But when? "I know," rejoined Martha, "that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Resurrection of the dead was an article in the creed of every orthodox Jew (Heb. 6:2). Were the Lord's words restricted to a future application? Shortly would He give proof of His real meaning. And now came forth from Him a revelation, never previously vouchsafed: "Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes on [not, in] Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lives and believes on Me shall never die. Believest thou this? She says to Him, Yea, Lord: I have believed that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world" (John 11:23-27). The Resurrection and the Life He called Himself, the One who has power over death, and who can preserve likewise from it. A very important announcement this, sketching out something of the future of God's saints to be brought about by the Lord Jesus.

We find the Saviour now come to Bethany, where Lazarus had been already four days in the tomb. Martha, foremost always in her activity, meets Him outside the village, with a confession at once of her faith and her disappointment: "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." In what follows, her emotion, excited by His presence, goes beyond her actual faith, as the result shows: "But even now I know that whatsoever Than shalt ask of God, God will give it Thee." The Lord tests her at once with the assurance of a joy too great for her: "Thy brother shall rise again." She sinks at once into mere orthodoxy: "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." The Lord replies in the memorable words that have comforted so many since: "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and every one who liveth and believeth on Me shall never die."

The grace of the Lord in dealing with Martha cannot well be passed over. Martha went and met Him, and apparently without a moment's pause, her heart blurted out its impatience, and its ill-concealed reproach in the words, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." This was true, for death could not have taken place in the presence of the Lord; in Martha's lips, however, the truth was the expression of her complaint that the Lord had not been there before her brother died. Added to this, which plainly betrayed her state of soul, she ventured to say, in her ignorance of the true character of the Person of Him to whom she was speaking, and as if indicating the course which she thought He might now pursue, "But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee." She had, therefore, faith, faith at least, in the Lord as having power with God as a prophet, for example, like Elisha had; but it is evident that she had no conception, even though she had accepted Him as God's Christ, that she stood before the Son of God. How tenderly, notwithstanding, the Lord dealt with her weakness and defective faith! And how gently, stooping down to the state in which He found her, He led her on to the truth of what He was, that He in His own Person was both the resurrection and the life. "Thy brother," He said, "shall rise again." "Yes," said Martha, "I know that he shall rise again at the last day," for she believed, with every godly Jew, that "at the last day" there would be a resurrection of the just. Thereupon, using even the unbelief of His servant as the occasion, the Lord proclaimed to Martha, and to all His people through her, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." Blessed revelation of the coming removal of the judgment of death that lay upon His people, and of life in resurrection in Him who would bear the judgment, and as the risen One be the Life of all believers. One word more He uttered to Martha, "Believest thou this?" "Yea, Lord," she replied, "I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, who should come into the world" — that is, the Messiah according to the teaching of Psalm 2.

We here enter upon a new section of the Gospel. The Spirit of God sets before us, speaking now generally, two things: first, the unspeakable value of the Word of God, and more particularly of the Word of Jesus; secondly, as we shall see another time, the place and exceeding importance for the soul of prayer. But then there are many things to be considered in connection with each of these topics, of which we shall only now look at the first. There is a moral comparison between the two sisters who loved the Lord. She who chose the better portion was the one whose heart clung most to the Word as a link between the soul and God. As we all know, it is by the Word of truth that any are begotten of God, for it is the seed of incorruptible life, that Word which lives and abides for ever. But then it is much more than that. It is the means of growth, of cleansing the way, of enjoying God, and consequently of spiritual blessing day by day. This was made very apparent in the difference between Martha and Mary. They were sisters in the flesh, believers both of them, loved of Jesus. Nevertheless, difference there was; and the main cause and evidence of it between the two was the superior value that Mary had for the Word of Jesus. The Word of God has a formative power over the mind and affections, and she is proved to be the one who most prizes the Lord, and who most really and in the truest communion serves Him, who has the deepest value for His Word. This we find as a general principle elsewhere in Scripture ("This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments" 1 John 5:3), and particularly in John 14:23, "If a man love me, he will keep my word"; but here it comes out practically in the case of Martha and Mary. "A certain woman named Martha received him into her house." She fully owned Him to be the Messiah. There was faith of God's giving in Martha's heart; but it saw no more in Him than simply the Messiah. Her faith did not go farther. "And she had a sister called Mary, who also, having sat down at Jesus' feet, was listening to his word." "Jesus": so ACcorr, later uncials, almost all cursives, with Syrsin, but Revv., as Edd., adopt "the Lord," after ℵDLΞ Syrcu, most Old Lat. Memph. Aeth. Arm.

Martha, like the rich young man of Mark 10, was characterized by much that was excellent. The house at Bethany, apparently, belonged to her, and she willingly opened her home to receive the Lord of glory. Then, not only was she hospitable, but she was a busy servant in the service of the Lord. There are "many things" to be done for the Lord in this world, and Martha was occupied with these "many things." Nevertheless, with all these excellencies she had overlooked "one thing" and she has to learn that the "one thing" she had overlooked, is the "one thing needful." In result, she was cumbered with service, irritated with her sister, and complaining before the Lord. How truly Martha represents that large class of Christians who, unconsciously to themselves, make their particular service their great object rather than the Lord Himself. Such would engage all others as helpers in their special service, and are irritated if left "to serve alone." Lacking the "one thing," they are careful and troubled about "many things."

It is sweet to enter into the house where this family dwelt (here this was done in the house of Simon the leper), this family beloved of the Lord, for it was the refuge of His heart when, rejected by the people, He could no longer recognise the city which He had loved so long: He was accustomed to live with this beloved family. Martha, who seems to have been the eldest of the sisters, occupied with much serving, faithful and beloved of the Lord, but not very spiritually-minded, understood but little of that which filled His heart. Mary used to sit at His feet to hear His teaching; and the Lord had raised from the dead their brother Lazarus. Thus Mary's heart attached itself to the Lord, and became the expression of the little remnant which, united to Jesus Himself, followed the progress of God's ways; it did not stop at the hopes or thoughts of the Jews, but although the intelligence which the Holy Spirit would give was still wanting, it followed the Lord closely, and thus was ready to receive all when the revelation should be made.

In verses 3,8-42 we find another incident reported exclusively by Luke. The story of Martha and Mary is closely linked with the preceding paragraph. Martha and Mary were both disciples. Martha was busy serving the Lord, while Mary took her place at His feet and let the Lord serve her. In this He delights.

"Martha has received Christ into her house, and surely into her heart. If she is busy, she is busy serving Him; yet that does not prevent her being distracted by it. She is more: she is vexed and irritated. Mary her sister is sitting quietly at the feet of Jesus, listening to His word; and she blames even the Lord for permitting it, while she needs her help so much. But the Lord asserts that Mary has chosen the good part, and it is moreover the only needful thing: it shall not be taken from her.