Have you ever been so anxious or caught up in planning an event that you forgot to enjoy the event itself?
I’m totally guilty of that!
One of my favorite women of the Bible is Martha, who is one half of the amazing “Martha and Mary” sister-duo that we hear about in Luke 10: 38-41. Unfortunately, she’s also notorious as being the more “unspiritual” sister, as Jesus himself said she was “worried and upset about many things” (Luke 10: 41)!
This one interaction hasn’t painted the most positive picture of Martha, but thankfully, this isn’t the only Scripture that talks about her. Martha was an amazing, God-fearing friend of Jesus, and her story is one that every woman can relate to.
So grab your Bible and notebook, and let’s learn more about Martha, an amazing woman in the Bible!
WHO WAS MARTHA?
There’s three passages of Scripture where we learn about Martha:
- Luke 10: 38-41 Martha and Mary have Jesus over to their home
- John 11: 1-44 Martha and Mary watch Jesus raise their brother, Lazarus, from the dead
- John 12: 2 Martha hosts a dinner in Jesus’ honor
The three Scriptures above have been placed in chronological order of when they occurred, which helps us understand who Martha was and who she went on to be.
Luke 10: 38-41
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.”
This is our first introduction to Martha, and unfortunately, it’s not a great first impression!
But if we dig deeper into the Scripture, we actually learn a few things about Martha here:
1. She had a hospitable heart
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.
We can get caught up on verse 40, which says that Martha was “distracted by all the preparations,” but the fact of the matter is, she’s the one that opened her home to Jesus in the first place (verse 38)!
Martha’s heart to open her home to Jesus shows a generous heart of hospitality and servitude. Granted, her idea would ultimately backfire and cause her to have an anxious and upset heart (verse 41), but her initial intention shows that Martha was a hospitable person who liked to serve and entertain others. Who knows, maybe one of her spiritual gifts was serving (Romans 12:6-7)!
2. She was known by Jesus
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.
Would you ever go to the home of a complete stranger? No! (In fact, please don’t!)
So you have to wonder… the fact that Martha invited Jesus to her home and he actually went, means that he probably knew her and her family. We’ll see in the John 11: 1-44 Scripture how much this family actually meant to Jesus, but it’s amazing to think that Martha was actually known by Him. She and her family weren’t just Jesus’ followers—they were his friends.
John 11: 1-44
The entire account of the Death of Lazarus is an incredibly powerful story, and teaches us a lot about how to work through grief from a Biblical perspective.
Throughout this account, Martha is mentioned a few times, and we get to learn even more about her:
3. She was loved by Jesus
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
John 11:5
Martha (and her siblings, Mary and Lazarus) weren’t just known by Jesus—they were loved by him. How wonderful it must have been to have a friend like Jesus who loved deeply (John 15:13)!
The extent of Jesus’ love for this family is shown in John 11: 33-36:
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
Even though Jesus was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, he had such deep love and compassion for this family that he felt their grief in this moment. He literally mourned with those who mourned (Romans 12:1). He mourned over the death of his friend, Lazarus, and he mourned alongside his friends, Martha and Mary. This level of pain for this family is really a display of how deep his love for them actually went.
4. She sought after Jesus instead of waiting for him to come to her.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
John 11: 20
Even though Jesus was on his way to see a deceased Lazarus, Martha went out to meet him anyway. We don’t know how far away from home it was for Martha to go meet Jesus, but we can assume it was at least far enough for Mary to choose to stay home!
This says a lot about Martha’s heart. She was eager and urgent to speak to Jesus and didn’t wait for him to come to her. Sure, her brother was now dead, but we’ll see through the next point that Martha had great faith in Jesus, which may have been her motivator to go out to meet him.
5. She confessed that Jesus was Lord and Christ.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
What an amazing confession of faith!
Despite Martha’s grief over her brother, she truly clung to her faith that Jesus was both Lord and Christ. There is a hopefulness and faithfulness through these verses, which is such an amazing example of how we need to hold on to the truth (God’s Word) when we undergo challenging times in life.
I cant help but think that Martha’s heart radically changed after Jesus told her “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed, only one” (Luke 10: 41-42). Her great confession of faith here shows that she actually realized what that one important thing was—being with Jesus.
John 12: 2
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.
6. Martha repented and served out of gratitude.
After the amazing miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead, there was a dinner given in Jesus’ honor—and who was there to serve it? Martha!
I believe, after all the interactions Martha had with Jesus and everything that had happened up until this point, that Martha was simply grateful for all that Jesus had done. The heart behind her hospitality probably changed from serving a great friend named Jesus, to serving out of gratitude for what Jesus did for her brother.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM MARTHA?
There is so much to get out of these Scriptures, but I think there’s a few lessons we can apply to our own lives:
1. Don’t turn your hospitable heart into a distracted one: It’s great to serve and we should be hospitable to others, but don’t get so caught up on the preparations that you forget why you are serving in the first place.
2. We should go after our relationship with God instead of waiting for him to do something: Like Martha, who went out to meet Jesus as he was on his way to her, we should be proactive in our relationship with God. We should go after getting to know him and developing a deeper relationship with him day by day.
3. Learn from the life lessons God teaches us through his Word: It’s amazing how much Martha changed as a result of what Jesus said. The first time we see her, she’s serving but anxious about it; and then the last time we see her, she’s still serving, but it doesn’t mention anything about her being overwhelmed or upset, so she probably learned her lesson! Whatever we learn through God’s word, we should apply it to our lives and radically change.
Martha is by far one of my favorite women in the Bible because her story of getting caught up in preparations is totally relatable!
Can you relate to Martha at all?
