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

Rending the Veil Part 6: The Woman Caught in Adultery

 John 8:1-11

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

It was around about dawn, according to the original word in the Greek (Orthros) when Jesus went to the Temple again to teach. As He was teaching the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Him who had been caught in adultery.  

The word caught here is a telling one, because to be caught in adultery there had to be a man present and according to Leviticus 20:10 ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.' and Deuteronomy 22:22 “If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.” both parties should have been put to death, so one must wonder where the man was? The scribes and Pharisees had such a disregard for women, they weren't bothered about the fate of the man, and used this woman's sinful activity to try to trip up Jesus, using the very Law He had given to Moses. 

 v4 "they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”" - this was a test for Jesus because if He said "stone her!" then He would lose His reputation as the friend of sinners, but if He said "Don't stone her!" they would accuse Him of condoning adultery. It seemed like Jesus was in a lose/lose situation so what did He do?

Instead of answering straight away, Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground as if He hadn't heard the question. We're not told what He wrote, but this isn't the point of the account. Here we see Jesus showing grace and mercy - bringing the woman from darkness into His glorious light.   

The scribes and Pharisees weren't going to let this issue lie so they continued to ask Him. Jesus stood up and addressed them saying “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (v7) "And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground."  Was Jesus giving them time to think about what He had said and make them realise that they too were sinners and as guilty as the woman they were accusing? Was one of the scribes or Pharisees guilty of setting this woman up with one of their followers? One by one the woman's accusers left. Their consciences were pricked and they had no more to say, because of their guilt. 

The scribes and Pharisees were self righteous, but Jesus confronted their hearts and they were left with nothing to say. He was also showing the woman that no matter the sin and failings in our lives He can heal us! 

After they had all departed, Jesus and the woman remained. This is such a beautiful insight of Jesus' mercy and grace: “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

The words of Jesus "go and sin more more." echo throughout eternity because all who earnestly call on His name will be saved and although we're not told if this woman did repent and follow Jesus, He showed her that His heart is full of love, grace and mercy for sinners such as she was. 

When Jesus said "go and sin no more.” doesn't mean we no longer sin, but when we follow Christ and make Him Master over our lives, we aren't happy with our sin and go out of our way to do the things which God doesn't want us to do anymore! 

Some lessons:

• No sin is too great to be forgiven. 
• Being religious never saves anybody because we still have sinful hearts which need to be dealt with
• Jesus is the friend of sinners, whether male or female, because He went to the cross to take the penalty we deserve so that on Judgement Day He will stand in our place and say - I took their punishment, so they are no longer guilty. 

Rending the Veil Part 5: The Syro-Phoenician Woman

 Mark 7:24-30

From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”

And she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.”

Then He said to her, “For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”

And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.

Before this account, in the beginning  of chapter 7 in Mark, Jesus had been in Israel disputing with the religious leaders of the day about ritual purity. The passage we come to now, we see Jesus purposely going into the region of Tyre and Sidon. This would have been considered an unclean area because it was where gentiles lived. This is the only time in Scripture that Jesus withdraws from Israel, to go to a gentile land because His ministry was primarily to the Jews. Beforehand as well as disputing with the religious leaders, Jesus had also been rejected in His own town of Nazareth, feeding five thousand hungry men plus women and children, finding out that His cousin John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod and healing sick people, therefore by going into a gentile country He was seeking out rest and solitude from the pressing crowds. 

Tyre were the enemies of the Jews, at that time, and they were very idolatrous but that was where Jesus went to seek out this rest and solitude from the crowds of people who followed Him around. Even in this gentile land Jesus couldn't be hidden from someone needing help from Him. v24 From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. 

This non Jewish woman had heard about Jesus and the miracles He had performed. Her young daughter had an unclean spirit living in her and this mother wanted her daughter to be healed. She came to Jesus and fell at His feet, despite only knowing about his reputation she comes and pays homage to Him, she respects and honours the Lord. She also came pleading to Him because He was her last hope of healing for her young daughter. 

Previously the Jewish leaders, of Jesus' day, who spoke about ritual purity and cleanness didn't pay homage to the One who had come to redeem Israel, but here is a gentile woman, considered unclean by the Jews of her day, throwing herself at Jesus' feet, pleading with Him to heal her daughter. 

She was persistently begging Jesus to free her daughter from the unclean spirit - she definitely wouldn't take "No!" for an answer. Jesus didn't answer her straight away and when He did it seemed like a harsh response “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” What a surprising thing for the loving Lord Jesus Christ to say, but there is a reason for this. 

Breaking this down: 

• The children: Jesus' ministry was primarily to the children of Israel. So He was saying it wasn't His first mission to go to the gentiles (it is not good to take the children's bread), it was to the Jews. He was to care for them first. 
• The little dogs: in the ancient towns and cities there were feral dogs who roamed around and were a nuisance, they weren't pets, they were scavengers, feeding off dead bodies, and other unpleasant things. These aren't the dogs Christ is talking about. In the ancient days, there were household dogs - ones which had been domesticated to be pets and companions. They weren't feral and scavengers, they were fed the left overs after a meal, but any scraps which do fall on the floor during the meal, the dogs were allowed to eat those - these are the kind Jesus is talking about.  

The woman's response to Jesus' statement isn't one of disgust at being called a dog, but she says "Yes, Lord!" She knew that she had no prior claim to Jesus' mercy, teaching, ministry, but she was satisfied with what she had - the crumbs (metaphorically speaking). Even the smallest crumb is all she wanted. The woman knew who she was before Jesus and Jesus answered her request. The Jewish religious leaders of Jesus' day had no faith in Him, they wanted to argue, they saw Jesus as a threat to their positions, not as the Messiah who had come to redeem them. A mere gentile woman (being a gentile and a woman definitely weren't pluses in those days) had more faith and trust in the One who had come to Israel than His own people had. 

The woman was happy with crumbs, but Jesus gave her much more than that - He healed her daughter from the demon and He showed her who He was, despite her not being from the House of Israel! Can you imagine her response when she arrived home and there was her young daughter fully healed? We aren't told how she reacted but we can guess what it was. 

If we come to Jesus, He gives out of the abundance of the storehouses of His grace. He isn't a miser, He gives and He gives. In fact, He is so loving and merciful He gave His own life that many may dwell with Him in eternity and eat of the marriage supper of the Lamb. 

Although Jesus initially came to redeem Israel, His salvation is for all who will call on His name, asking Him to forgive their sins and wanting Him to be Lord and Master over their life! He changes lives from the inside, we get a new heart (soul), we are new creations in Him! 

So far we have seen: 
Jesus heal an unclean woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years
Jesus raise a young girl from the dead
Jesus raise a young man from the dead so that his widowed mother could have her son restored
Jesus heal a young gentile girl of an unclean spirit.

There is no one outside of the love of Christ.