37  The Christian’s Priority  (Luke 10:38–42)

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (10:38–42)

The record of this unique and wonderful event appears nowhere else in the Gospels. Despite its brevity, it occupies an important place in the flow of Luke’s gospel and conveys an essential truth by revealing the highest priority of the Christian life, that of loving God. It makes a fitting follow-up to the story of the Good Samaritan, which stressed the importance of loving one’s neighbor as evidence of loving God.

The word “priority” is a commonly used one today Books and seminars purporting to teach people how get their lives in order by understanding and setting their priorities abound. As people’s livesbecome more frenetic, frantic, disjointed, and disconnected, they battle to stay focused on what should be their priorities. A priority is by definition a matter that ranks above all others in importance. David said in Psalm 27:4, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek,” while in the New Testament Paul wrote, “One thing I do” (Phil. 3:13). David’s single focus was on beholding and meditating on the beauty of the Lord, and Paul’s was on pursuing Him so as to be conformed to His likeness. Both are illustrations of the highest priority for believers—the deep, transforming knowledge of God.

This story sets the stage for the last phase of Jesus’ ministry As noted in previous chapters of this volume, Luke covers Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem in 9:51–19:27. That period between the end of His Galilean ministry and His triumphal entry into Jerusalem found the Lord traveling extensively in Judea and occasionally east of the Jordan River in Perea. His primary emphasis during that peripatetic journey was not on performing miraculous signs, but on teaching His disciples. He covered subjects such as prayer, Satan, demons, divine judgment, hypocrisy, persecution, suffering, the Holy Spirit, greed, contentment, money, giving, stewardship, unity, righteousness, holiness, divine justice, humility, pride, the cost of loyalty to Him, the kingdom of God and how to enter it, heaven’s joy over repentant sinners, divorce, hell, penitence, forgiveness, and faith. Luke’s focus on the content of Jesus’ teaching to His disciples during those months is the reason the locations are vague. For example, in verse 38 he writes that Jesus “entered a certain village” (NKJV); in 11:1 that He was praying “in a certain place”; in 13:22 that “He was passing through from one city and village to another”; and in 17:11–12 that “He was passing between Samaria and Galilee” and “entered a village.”

Always Christ’s teaching was a radical departure from the conventional Jewish wisdom of His day. It was not only cogent, powerful, and urgent, but true and thus life changing, because when He spoke God was speaking. In John 7:16 He declared, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.” “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you,” Jesus said, “but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world” (John 8:26). In verse 28 He added, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.” To those who sought His life He said, “You are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God” (v. 40). He told the apostles in the upper room, “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). In His high-priestly prayer Jesus said to the Father, “The words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received themand truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me” (John 17:8).

As this passage illustrates, the supreme priority for believers is to hear the revealed Word of God. It is foundational to the other spiritual duties, all of which are motivated, informed, and defined by Scripture. Don Whitney writes,

As the story begins Jesus and those accompanying Him were traveling, as they would do throughout Judea. Where this incident fits chronologically into the Lord’s journey to Jerusalem is not known, but Luke placed it here for a specific purpose. His intent was to put his readers in the position of students, ready to absorb the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ in the chapters to follow. Though he does not name the village Christ entered, John tells us it was Bethany, where Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus lived (John 11:1; 12:1–3). According to John 11:18, Bethany “was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,” so Jesus was in the vicinity of Jerusalem, though not for the last time. As the Lord entered the village, He met a woman named Martha. Luke’s introduction of her as a woman suggests that Jesus had not yet met her. This may have been the first of many times He stayed in the home she shared with Mary and Lazarus.

Neither Jesus nor His messengers always received a welcome in the villages they visited (cf. 9:51–53; 10:10–12). But in this case Martha enthusiastically welcomed Him into her home and entertained Him as a highly-prized guest. Martha is an Aramaic name that means “mistress” (i.e., a female head of a household), which suits her character and position. She may well have been a widow, since there is no mention of her husband and Luke describes the place as her home. Since she isusually mentioned first when the sisters are named together (John 11:29–30; 12:2–3), Martha was probably the older of the two. Along with her sister, Martha evidently was a believer in Jesus, since she called Him “Lord”(v.40).

As the story unfolds it reveals the different reactions of the two sisters (and also common among believers) to the teaching of Jesus: Mary was devoted, but Martha was distracted.

MARY DEVOTED

She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. (10:39)

Luke does not mention Martha’s brother Lazarus, but does reveal that she had a sister called Mary. Although Martha was mentioned first, Mary is the central figure in the story and an example for all believers to follow. After He entered the house, she was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. Her position, as close to Him as she could get, indicates Mary’s intense interest in His teaching. Though this was a typical position for students of a rabbi, in first-century Judaism rabbis did not take women as students. The imperfect tense of the verb translated listening suggests a continual hearing on her part. Mary’s attention was riveted to the most powerful, clear, truthful teacher who ever spoke.

Mary demonstrated the attitude of a true believer. In Luke 6:47 Jesus defined a genuine disciple as one “who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, “in contrast to those who “call [Him], ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what [He says]” (v.46). In Luke 8:21 Jesus defined His true spiritual brethren as “these who hear the word of God and do it, “and later said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” (11:28). In the parable of the soils, He declared that “the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance” (8:15). James exhorted his readers to “prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22). Paul was confident that the Thessalonians’ faith was genuine, because “when [they] received the word of God … [they] accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in [those] who believe” (1 Thess. 2:13). Mary understood that the highest priority for a believer is to hear the truth that has come from heaven (cf. John 8:43–47).

MARTHA DISTRACTED

But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (10:40–42)

Unfortunately, even genuine believers can lose their focus on what really matters. Unlike her sister, Martha was distracted from hearing the Lord’s teaching, being preoccupied with all her preparations. The verb translated distracted literally means, “to be dragged away” She allowed her preparations (lit., “much serving”), such as fixing a meal for the guests and making arrangements for where they would sleep, to keep her from the priority of listening to the Lord teach.

There is certainly nothing wrong with showing hospitality; in fact, Scripture commands it. Paul wrote that believers are to be constantly “practicing hospitality” (Rom. 12:13). The writer of Hebrews exhorted, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Heb. 13:2), while Peter commanded, “Be hospitable to one another without complaint” (1 Peter 4:9). Showing hospitality marks both elders (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:8) and godly women (1 Tim. 5:10). But in the process of doing that, Martha got her priorities twisted; she was fussing and fretting, trying to get everything arranged to her satisfaction, maybe to make an impression on Jesus. As a result, she failed to take advantage of a rare and priceless opportunity—to hear in person the Lord of the universe teach and be impressed profoundly by Him.

Her misguided priorities finally caused Martha to lose the joy of serving. She became more and more flustered, agitated, and frustrated, until finally she became angry. The target of her anger was her sister who, instead of helping with the chores, was sitting there listening to Jesus. Finally, in exasperation, Martha came up to Jesus and interrupted Him. Her irritation and anger caused her to lose control and make the unthinking accusation, “Lord, do You not care?” To so rebuke the one who is “compassionate and gracious” (Ex. 34:6; 2 Chron. 30:9; Neh. 9:17, 31; Pss. 103:8; 111:4; 116:5; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2) and cares for His people (1 Peter 5:7; cf. Ps. 34:15; Matt. 6:26–30) is one of the most foolish and graceless statements anyone ever made to Jesus.

Specifically, Martha accused Jesus of not caring that her sister had left her to do all the serving alone. And if He did care, then Heshould tell her to help bear the burden of serving. After falsely accusing Him of not caring, Martha then presumed to tell the Lord exactly what to do, implying that her will and her plans were more important than His. She had lost her perspective; she was totally out of control; her view of reality was severely skewed. Martha was worried about the bread that feeds the body while Mary’s focus was on the Bread of Life that feeds the soul (cf.John 6:33, 35, 48, 51).

Demonstrating the gentle, compassionate care that Martha had unthinkingly questioned, the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha. Repeating her name as a sign of intensified emotion (cf. 6:46; 8:24; 13:34), Jesus said to her, “You are worried and bothered about so many things.” Martha was unduly concerned and troubled about temporal things to the point that she had forgotten that only one thing is necessary—listening to the Word of God. Far from rebuking her as Martha had demanded, Jesus commended Mary for understanding that reality. “Mary has chosen the good part (lit., “what is best”), He told Martha, which shall not be taken away from her.”

All too often Christians, like Martha, allow their lives to be regulated by what is not necessary Faithfulness on the job, in the home, and in the church has a place, but must not be allowed to replace faithfulness to divine truth. “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3). Only by making that their highest priority can believers behold the beauty of the Lord, as David did, and know Christ, as was Paul’s supreme passion. To that end they must “commend [themselves] to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build [them] up and to give [them] the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32; cf. Col. 3:16; Eph. 6:17; 1 Tim. 4:6; 1 Peter 2:2; 1 John 2:14).

Thus, in this account, the necessity of being a student of the Divine Teacher is established, and the lessons from His lips will unfold through the subsequent chapters.