Luke 10, reading from verse 38: "Now it came to pass, as they went, that He entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but. one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
We are going to talk about a very delightful subject this afternoon, with the Lord's help-one that we all have enjoyed many times-a character God has seen fit to mention by name. In fact, this name is a very common one in the New Testament. The name is Mary. There are many Marys brought before us, but this afternoon we want to talk about Mary of Bethany. She has a delightful place wherever we find her mentioned in the New Testament. Evidently she lived in a little village, called Bethany, about two miles east of Jerusalem, at the foot of the Mount of Olives. What a historical spot it was! Think of the wonderful events we find connected with that spot in Scripture! It was from that very place that the feet of Jesus stood last and whence He departed, as the disciples watched. Him disappear into heaven. And again those same blessed feet are going to stand on that same mountain at the close of the tribulation week, as He returns to take over the Kingdom.
And was there any other place on earth where our Lord found Himself so at rest and at home? Was there anywhere else such a delightful atmosphere as He found in this home at Bethany? The name itself means (according to which dictionary you consult) "a house of dates." This speaks of sustenance, food, or of sweetness, does it not? Another dictionary says the name means "house of affliction." Inasmuch as we find from other portions of the Word of God that this house in Bethany was the home of Simon the leper, we can understand how it could be the "house of affliction." For evidently at some time, whether at this time or previously, there had been plenty of sorrow in that home. The house of affliction and the house of dates. Is there any contradiction? No, there is not! Why? Is it not true that the greatest blessings you and I have ever had in our lives have not been from our times of great physical prosperity, but from our times of trial, our sorrows, our disappointments? And we will never know until we get to heaven how much we owe to the discipline that a loving God has seen fit to pass us through, here in this scene.
Some of you who are here this afternoon are in the "teenage" group. But I dare say that even now, you have tasted of sorrow, perhaps some of you very deeply. You do not have to be in this world very long before you find out that sorrow is part of the warp and woof of this life. Yes, even though we are believers, we do not escape passing through the valley of sorrows here.
But the Lord loved to retreat that short distance out to the foot of the Mount of Olives and away from the crowds and busy life; just (if I may say it reverently) to relax in that lovely atmosphere of Bethany. Well, here we have Him. He entered into the house of a woman named Martha. She received Him into her home. Is it not nice when we can receive the Lord Jesus into our home? And it is nice if we can ask Him not to just pay an occasional visit, but to be a permanent guest. I trust all of us here have not only received Him into our hearts, but into our homes as well. Martha received Him into her home because she wanted Him. Do you want Him? Do you like to have Him there all the time? That is rather searching. If He is there all the time, will it not affect our conversation, our activities? She received Him into her house. No doubt she had received Him into her heart before this. Now she has Him in her house.
Verse 39: "And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word." There are two of them now.
Here we find Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. What a lovely place to be! Have you been there? If you are a Christian, you have! If you are not a Christian, you have not been there. I would advise you, though you may not be very old- five, six, seven, or ten years old-if you have not yet been at the feet of Jesus, if you have not knelt there to confess to Him that you are a sinner and need a Savior, I advise you to do it. You do not have to be very old to fall at the feet of Jesus.
Mary was sitting at His feet and hearing His word, but Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him and said, "Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?" There is nothing wrong about serving; somebody has to do it. But in what spirit do we do it? Did you do something for the Lord today? Did you try to serve Him? Fine! But we may ask, In what spirit did you do it? Was your service like that of Martha? She was cumbered with much serving and found fault with her dear sister because she was not helping her as much as she thought that she should. She missed the Lord's mind in being cumbered about her serving; and she missed the Lord's mind in finding fault with her sister. Do you have some little service in the assembly that is yours for Christ? Have you been happy in it? Well and good! Do not think that because you are a Mrs. or Miss that you are excused from responsibility in the assembly. We cannot overestimate the value of a godly sister in the assembly. I have known some outstanding examples of sisters who were a benediction to the meeting where they functioned. You have an important place in the assembly as well as brothers. Seek God's mind as to what it is. And if you have found some little service for Christ, are you doing it happily, or are you complaining that it is all left for you, and someone else is not doing his share? We are prone to do that. Why not do our little bit for the Lord and leave it with Him? And let your brother or sister do the same.
Martha rebuked the Lord Jesus: "Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?" It is getting pretty bold when one rebukes the Lord Jesus. She was reproaching Him because He would sit there and let her sister, sit at His feet while she did the work. On the face of it, it might look as though Martha was right. But when we get the whole story, we know that she was absolutely wrong. She was losing the blessing to which she was entitled, by allowing her bad spirit to rob her service of its value in His sight. So Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." If we had been evaluating that situation, we would have made the same blunder that Martha did. The Lord reads the heart, and knew what was going on, so He showed Martha her judgment was wrong. He did not just say, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things," but added, "one thing is needful." Oh, yes, there was something that was needful in dear Martha's life. Mary had chosen the good part. It was not Mary that was wrong, but Martha who was wrong. "Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
What will you and I have the privilege of doing in heaven? We read in Luke 12 that when He gets us all home in the Father's house, and surrounds Himself with all His family, He prepares a supper and will say, Sit down at My table. And He will gird Himself and come forth and serve us. Will not this, then, be the fulfillment of Heb. 2:1313And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. (Hebrews 2:13)? "Behold I and the children which God hath given Me." There we will be, so to speak, sitting at His feet, hearing His word, and enjoying the service of love which He will bestow upon us. That is the reason that the Lord Jesus said to Martha, "Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." She can take that to heaven. But poor Martha cannot take her pots and pans; her dishes and her bustling work; she cannot take them to heaven with her.
Beloved saints, do we spend any time sitting at His feet and hearing His Word? Or are we like Martha-too busy? Do you read your Bible? Or is it neglected? You know the best seller in the world-the greatest Book in the world so far as circulation is concerned-is the Bible. Millions of copies are made. The printing presses of the world are humming away, turning out Bibles. More and more still need to be printed. Oh, yes, it is the most widely printed Book in the world. You may wonder if it is the most widely read Book in the world. I suppose it is, but it could be far more so. It is hardly respectable today to have a home without a Bible in it. If you were to go into a home and say, "Please bring me a Bible, I want to show you a verse," the person would be embarrassed if he could not produce a copy of the Scriptures. It is an essential part of every well-equipped home. But, beloved, that does not mean that we are reading it!
Do you have a regular time when you read God's Word in the home? I believe we need to emphasize the need for the "family altar." It is the time when we gather the family around the Word of God and read it leisurely, not hastily; meditate upon it, and get a message for our own souls; daily sit there at the feet of Jesus, as it were, and then kneel in prayer. It is a wholesome thing for our souls.
Have you chosen that good part? Or do you prefer to sit down with a current magazine and cuddle up in a comfortable chair and spend an hour or two reading? And what about the Bible? Does it look as good as new, or is it well thumbed? I like to mark a Bible. Beloved saints of God, let us read the precious Word! We are going to be occupied with it a million years from tonight. "Forever, O LORD, Thy word is settled in heaven." Yes, there is a certain sense in which we are going to take our Bibles to heaven with us.
Now, let us turn over to see this dear woman, Mary, again. In John 11: "Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)" Notice how carefully the Scripture points out this Mary, because it might have been another Mary. There are at least four other Marys mentioned in the New Testament. The Scripture is very careful to tell us which Mary this was. "It was that Mary."
"Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick." See, they had a brother, Lazarus, who was ill; so these sisters sent for the Lord. You can understand that. He had been there so often; He was such a welcome visitor; they knew His power, His love, His concern. So when Lazarus became ill they instinctively sent for the Lord. When you are in a crisis, whether physical or otherwise, do you instinctively think of the Lord, or do you think of some human relief? Do you bring the Lord Jesus into all the circumstances of your life? Your family? Your work? I believe we have the right to. He is interested in every detail of your life and of mine. So, they send to Jesus. Lovely! They send to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick." Why did they not invite Him to come, or say, "Lord, come quickly, Lazarus is sick"? It was because they counted on the love that was in His heart! They knew that if they told Him that Lazarus was sick, He would come. They counted on it! Do we know His heart well enough to do that? Do we presume on His love for us? These women did! They said, "He whom Thou lovest is sick." Oh, the affection which is in the heart of Christ! It was not, "He whom Thou hast met," or "whom Thou knowest," but, "he whom Thou lovest is sick." If we only knew the love there is in the heart of Christ for each of us!
"When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." It was a rather odd statement, since the sequel shows that Lazarus was suffering from a fatal illness. Yet the Lord said, "This sickness is not unto death." That is, the death that Lazarus was about to experience was not only the result of the sickness, but it was also another means of bringing the glory of Christ into the open.