Families

Sometimes we can look around society and think that everything regarding families are falling apart. This isn't a modern problem. 

Genesis 4 - Cain murdered his brother, Abel (murder)

Genesis 16 - Sarai giving Abraham, her husband, Hagar (who bore him Ishmael) (adultery)

Genesis 21 - Ishmael was scoffing at his half brother Isaac so Sarah got Abraham to cast them out (jealousy, bullying)

Genesis 27 - Rebecca encouraging her younger son Jacob to deceive Isaac so that he could have the birth-right instead of Esau (deception)

Genesis 29 - Laban getting Jacob to work for him for 7 years for Rachel, but gave him Leah instead so Jacob had to work for another 7 years to marry Rachel (deception)

Genesis 37 - Joseph sold by his brothers (trafficking)

Those are only in the first book of the Bible (Genesis - which means 'Beginnings') and only a few examples. 

We also see throughout Scripture the brokenness of families: 

Judges 16 - Samson was besotted with a woman who eventually had him tortured and killed (lust)

1 Samuel 1 - Elkanah had 2 wives, one of which was bullied by the other because she was childless (bullying)

1 Samuel 4 - Eli, the priest, had 2 wayward sons, who ended up getting killed in battle and the shock killed Eli (not correcting his sons)

2 Samuel 15 - Absalom turned against his father King David (dishonour, treachery)

On and on it goes. If you're having issues in your family, for whatever reason - it's not a modern day occurrence - it's been happening for millennia. 

The Lord blesses those who are faithful to Him and although it can hurt when you're being abused*, deceitfully used, lied to, stolen from etc, we need to look to the Lord and remember the words of Joseph: 

Genesis 50:20a But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good,

Romans 12: 19, 21 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

*in the case of abuse - please seek help, it is unacceptable that anybody should suffer from being abused whichever type it is. 

Rending the Veil Part 7: Mary and Martha

 Luke 10:38-42

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 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.”

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Although Mary, Martha and Lazarus are mentioned in more than this account in the gospels, I will be focussing just on this one.

According to the Rabbis in Jesus' day women didn't really have the capacity to understand religious things therefore they weren't taught about it. But here we see Jesus allowing Mary to be taught. 

Jesus and His disciples entered Bethany, a small village only a couple of miles from Jerusalem. We aren't told whether Jesus knew Lazarus, Martha or Mary already or whether they had heard Him preaching, but He was welcomed into their house to eat and have fellowship with them.  There is no mention of their parents or spouses so we assume they are a brother and his two sisters living together! 

Martha was the one sister who welcomed Jesus into her house, but Mary was the one who welcomed Jesus into her heart that day. Mary sat at Jesus' feet listening to His teaching and the amazing thing is - Jesus allowed her to listen and learn because women are equal with men when they are in Christ. 

As Mary was listening to Jesus Martha 'was distracted with much serving'. We don't know how many people she was serving, but presuming it was Jesus and His 12 disciples plus Lazarus, Mary and of course Martha - she probably had at least 16 people to serve. Of course she was doing all of the work while Mary was relaxing which made Martha annoyed. She approached Jesus and we can imagine that maybe she had a bit of anger and frustration in her voice when she said to Jesus "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me!" 

What was Jesus' response to this? 

He didn't say "Martha, you're being very bossy and rude, I'm a guest in your house..."

No, Jesus was as gracious as ever. This is such a beautiful response:

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Maybe we are worried and troubled about many things. It could be relationships, money, stress, busyness etc and they are valid things which come into our life. We have never been promised an easy time of it, even as Christians BUT Jesus, when we come to Him and focus upon Him He gives us rest, peace, joy, comfort. Mary had chosen to come to Jesus and to sit at His feet to learn from Him, to bask in His presence and to just enjoy His teachings, His fellowship, His company, His peace, His protection, His love. The great thing about Jesus is that when you come to Him, believe in Him, trust in Him and have faith in Him,   For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews  13:5b)

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30