Three Marys and a Martha
The Bible is full of strong, brave, wise women. These include names like Esther, Ruth, Mary, Martha, and Hannah.
Women were typically looked down upon by society in the first century.
In the Jewish world in the 1st century, women were little more than servants. Many Jewish men prayed each morning, “God, I thank you that I am not a Gentile, slave, or a woman.”
In Greek society, the woman’s situation was even worse. Because concubines were common, a wife’s role was simply to bear legitimate children and to keep house.
In Roman society, things were worse still. Marriage was little more than legalized prostitution. Many women did not want to have children because it ruined their bodies.
Reflecting on these three situations shows that women were treated terribly. Men used their social privilege for their own advantage.
Jesus treated women differently.
This is one reasons He received so much push back. He was doing things differently than what was normal at the time.
Look at how the people treated the woman who poured the perfume on Jesus. Jesus told them to leave her alone. What she did was a good thing.
Let’s look at three Mary’s and a Martha.
The first Mary is Jesus’ mother. Consider for a moment what Mary would have endured in that time. She became pregnant before she was married. This would have caused her life to be turned upside down. Even so, she was faithful to the instructions she received from the angel.
Next is Mary Magdalene. She was one of many women who were following Jesus. She had been healed and had seven demons removed. Can you imagine how she was treated, being processed by evil spirits? Jesus changed her life, and she was following Him. These women were sharing the instructions of Jesus.
Lastly is Mary and Martha. These two women are an example of how important it is to focus on the right thing. Martha was caught up in being a good host. Being a good host isn’t bad if it doesn’t become our focus. Mary was focused on Jesus.
Like Martha, we’re all presented with instructions.
We’re all aware of situations where someone is attempting to put together a Christmas gift and neglects to read the instructions. More times than not, this doesn’t turn out well.
Why is it that we think we know better? We don’t need any instructions. We’ve can figure this out on our own.
As we were talking about this in Sunday School, I realized something: this is just like people who know about the Bible and don’t read it. We think we have life all figured out and don’t need anybody or anything telling us how to live.
Just like the Christmas present that falls apart, the same thing will happen to our lives.
The Bible is the instructions for building our lives the way they were made to be built.
It’s up to each of us to read those instructions.
