Mary and Martha of Bethany were good friends of Jesus. They were such good friends of his that they had him over for dinner one night. Think of how many people may have wanted to have Jesus over for dinner at the time, but Jesus chose to spend a meal with Mary and Martha. Think, too, of the meals you have shared with friends. Think of the good times, the laughter, the banter, the witty conversations, the good food. That’s what Mary and Martha were looking forward to in their time with Jesus.
But think too of how nervous you might be if you knew Jesus was coming over for dinner at your house. You would want everything just right and you would want to make sure the house was clean and the meal was cooked to perfection. This is more what Martha was going through in her preparations for Jesus’ arrival. Jesus noticed that this was how Martha was approaching things. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and nervous about many things,” Jesus said. Jesus was scolding Martha. And he is scolding us in the process. He does not want us to be worried and nervous about anything, let alone many things. The truth, though, is that we in our sinful human condition are worriers by nature and nervous by default. Our task is to break out of these sinful habits and do what Christ’s disciples should do.
Mary apparently did what was desired. She sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to him. And Jesus praised her for it. He called Mary’s actions “the one thing needful.” Jesus is requesting of us that these be our actions as well. How do we sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him? We come to him humbly and lowly, and we honor him. That is mirroring the posture of sitting at Jesus’ feet. Reading the Bible and engaging in prayer are ways to listen to Jesus.
Mary is a model for us of how to greet Jesus in our own homes. She is happy that he is with her, just as we should be. Jesus truly is with us in our homes each day and he dines with us at every meal. When we open the pages of the Bible, it is as if we are opening the doors of our home to Jesus. And when we fold our hands in prayer before each meal, it is as if we are pulling up a chair at our tables for him. His presence with us in our homes is a blessing we should never take for granted, but should be excited about. All that we do in our homes should be a gift for the Guest in our home, our good friend, Jesus.
