Lk 10:38-42
38As [Jesus and his disciples] continued their journey [Jesus] entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. 39She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. 40Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” 41The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. 42There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
TALE OF TWO SISTERS: The tradition about the sisters Martha and Mary is known both to Luke and to John. Today’s Gospel is part of Luke’s Travel Narrative, and he situates it in an unnamed village in Galilee. John has Martha and Mary living in Bethany, near Jerusalem, and they have a brother named Lazarus whom Jesus raises from the dead (Jn 11).
In the Gospel, Martha welcomes Jesus to “her home.” In some parts of the Mediterranean world, the oldest girl generally inherits the mother’s home. Martha here is a woman of social standing and status; she has authority in her home despite the presence of a male (if Luke knew of the brother Lazarus whom he does not mention).
Martha is not merely concerned with domesticity, with preparation in the kitchen. “Serving” (diakonia) is also ministering in the life of the Church. Martha then is a prosperous, independent woman, an icon of the patronesses of the “house-churches” in early Christianity like Chloe (1 Cor 1:11) and Phoebe (Rom 16:1).
Martha is contrasted to Mary who sits at Jesus’ feet. That Jesus teaches a woman and that Mary sits on a place reserved for men are out of place in the culture of the time. There is something “revolutionary” in the scene. Jesus not only breaks the socio-religious exclusion and makes Mary a disciple; he also judges Mary’s action as the “better part.”
Scholars focus on the anxiety of Martha over many things connected with her diakonia. Indeed, service is important in the Church, but anxiety over so many ministries can be a danger to discipleship. Jesus encourages anxious and distracted disciples to center themselves on God who values and provides for them (Lk 12:24, 28). Here Jesus tells Martha to adopt Mary’s listening attitude as a means of overcoming her distraction so that she may be more content and effective in her ministry of service.