What is the difference between martha and mary in the bible

Please see my disclosure page for more information. To see all the affiliate-linked books in one place, please check out my recommended reading list. These usually compare the two sisters found in Luke and the way they interacted with Jesus. Mary is typically seen as a model of quiet contemplation and humility.

This is a typical Sunday school approach. It can seem as if she is completely task orientated and spends no time with the Lord herself. She has almost become an example of what not to do. Someone who is a busy body and gets distracted serving the Lord instead of being in his presence? There are actually more, but I want to focus on these ones. These demonstrate her love and devotion and make her just as much of an example for us to imitate as Mary.

Author Gary Chapman explains in his book The 5 Love Languages how each person has a different love language. By this he means that we have 5 different ways that we all express and experience love. These are quality time, words of affirmation, physical touch, acts of service and giving gifts. None are necessarily inferior or superior to each other. They are all equally valid and needed. Martha had a servant heart, and her love language was acts of service. She just had a different way of expressing that love.

She had the gift of hospitality and was a great host, but sometimes she could become overly concerned with the finer details. Perhaps she felt she had to make sure everything was just right.

Stop running around serving and come and sit here with me like your sister. However, we encounter Martha in a separate story in John John tells us in verse Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.

And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. If you notice, Martha is serving again, and seems to be the only one doing so. Lazarus is reclining with Jesus, while Mary anoints Jesus with perfume. Tell them to help me. Instead, she is quite content to let Mary to anoint Jesus or allow Lazarus to sit in His presence.

In John , Jesus calls his disciples and each one of us to serve. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. Jesus tells Martha that her brother will rise again. At first she simply assumes He is referring to a distant, eventual hope. However, He replies in verses Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

He then asks Martha if she believes this. Now we must be careful not to put Mary on a pedestal while making Martha out to be always getting everything wrong. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. For centuries people in the church have puzzled over the Mary and Martha story, knowing that someone has to do the work. The point of this passage, however, is about making Jesus and his word our first priority.

Today we come to know Jesus better through prayer , church attendance , and Bible study. If all 12 apostles and some of the women who supported Jesus' ministry were traveling with him, fixing the meal would have been a major job. Martha, like many hostesses, became anxious over impressing her guests. Martha has been compared to the Apostle Peter : practical, impulsive, and short-tempered to the point of rebuking the Lord himself. Mary is more like the Apostle John : reflective, loving, and calm.

Even still, Martha was a remarkable woman and deserves considerable credit. It was quite rare in Jesus' day for a woman to manage her own affairs as the head of the household, and especially to invite a man into her home. Welcoming Jesus and his entourage into her house implied the fullest form of hospitality and involved substantial generosity. Martha appears to be the eldest of the family, and head of the sibling household. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, both sisters played a prominent role in the story and their contrasting personalities are evident in this account as well.

Although both were upset and disappointed that Jesus did not arrive before Lazarus died, Martha ran out to meet Jesus as soon as she learned he had entered Bethany, but Mary waited at home. John tells us that when Mary did finally go to Jesus, she fell at his feet weeping. Some of us tend to be more like Mary in our Christian walk, while others resemble Martha. It's likely we have qualities of both within us.

We may be inclined at times to let our busy lives of service distract us from spending time with Jesus and listening to his word. It's significant to note, though, that Jesus gently admonished Martha for being " worried and upset ," not for serving. Service is a good thing, but sitting at Jesus' feet is best.

We must remember what is most important. Good works should flow from a Christ-centered life; they do not produce a Christ-centered life. When we give Jesus the attention he deserves, he empowers us to serve others.

Hear what He has to say. Talk to Him. Abide in Him. Here are 5 practical ways you can abide in Jesus. This post has 8 comments. Thank you. Or do I linger until he has had his portion of me? These pandemic times reminds me that relationships are the most important to be kind and loving and keep those relationships intact! My sister, it is April and this word is still so on time!

You have blessed me beyond words. The Lord is delivering me from choosing the good, to sitting at his feet the best! I am in tears as I write. Thank you for taking out the time in January to share this important message!

May you be blessed tremendously! Grateful me. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email.