Martha — The Woman Who Made a House a Home

                Jesus loved Martha (John 11:5).

   In a little suburban village not far from a great city stood a fine old stone house. The way to this house from the city lay across a valley, up a rather steep incline, through gardens and groves of trees spotted with houses, until it crossed the top and began its descent on the other side. Shortly over the brow of the hill, from which one could get a commanding view of the entire countryside and the sea in the distance, was this pleasant little village, with its walled gardens, its lovely trees, its rare flowers, and its beautiful homes. Here merchants and professional people from the city had their residences. Most of these homes were large and spacious, built to remain in the family for years. The particular house in which we are interested had arched ceilings, large doors and hallways, a roof garden, outside porticos, and a private enclosure surrounded by a high wall. This house was forever to be associated with glorious memories.

   A house may well be the center of interest not only for the family but also for a nation. When one stands in the Manning Manse, he feels the presence of many generations that have gone before in the long history of that old building. These pioneer colonists, whose descendants were Revolutionists, whose descendants fought in the Civil War, and whose descendants were perhaps at least interested in the outcome of

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the World Wars, with all of the cultural eras that passed between and were reflected in the individual characters of the heads of that household, seem very near to one as he handles the antiques and the relics of other days. It is no wonder that more than two hundred descendants will band themselves together in perpetuity to warrant the upkeep of that house.

   Similarly, when one stands in the little home now encased in a national shrine at Hodgenville, Kentucky, he is directly conscious of the presence of Abraham Lincoln, whose early days were spent by the log fire in that home learning his sums of arithmetic and reading his books.

   Again, as one stands in the great mansion on the Potomac called "Mount Vernon," he goes back farther still into a period when George and Martha Washington made their great sacrifices for the founding of a nation.

   Or as one stands upon the beautiful porch of the columned Monticello at Charlottesville, Virginia, and looks down over the hill to the little law office in which Thomas Jefferson sat and from which he was called to his great office in the service of the country, one feels very close again to the life of a man who laid on ideas that have been considered cardinal American principles ever since.

   Every home has its own story to tell. As one passes through the backwoods of New England and sees the old derelicts that once were inhabited by happy families and saw their joys and their tragedies, he feels strangely drawn and akin to another generation. Thus it is when one stands before the ruins of the old home in the village of Bethany.

   There came a day when sorrow stalked through this particular house, when friends and relatives gathered to comfort the widow of the head of the household, when days of mourning were finished, and when the dear woman walked about those gardens and through those halls and chambers with a sense of loneliness that nothing could drive away. It was during these dark and dreary hours that the widow heard of a religious Teacher who gave beautiful sayings to His followers

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and who they claimed was able to comfort their hearts with a comfort that they could never know in any other way. One day she left her home and went to Jerusalem and stood at the edge of the multitude and listened to Him talk and heard Him say, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28). She heard Him tell that He had come to bind up the broken-hearted, that His Father in heaven was interested in the least one who suffered, even in a sparrow who fell to the ground, and that nothing could occur to them, not even the falling of a hair from their heads, without His knowledge. Something within her heart responded, and she determined that this Man should be her Rabbi, her Teacher. As the days went on, she not only believed in Him and accepted His teachings concerning Himself as the Messiah, the sent One of Israel, but she also led her younger sister and her brother, all that she had left of her dear ones in the world, to a faith in Him such as hers.

   Up until this profession of her faith and this committal of her life unto the Teacher she had not known what to do with her great home on the hill, but now she caught a vision of what that home could do. She would dedicate it to this Messiah and to His disciples as a place of refreshment and rest, as a retreat for teaching, as a gathering place for those who would listen and who would follow Him more closely. What wonderful stories might be told of the houses owned by widows, which have been dedicated to Christ, to the church and to the work of he kingdom of God, of the groups who have gathered there to learn, to study the Bible, to hear the Word from some spiritual leader! How many have entered the hospitality of such homes to be changed in their inner characters and to go forth with faith into the world! All too little do we make use of our homes as places for the growth of the church and the influence of the Lord Jesus Christ, yet how sanctified are those few houses dedicated to these ends! What about that house of yours, that white elephant, that great

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derelict? Have you ever dedicated it to God and to God's work? Have you turned it over to the use of those who are the people of God for service? That house may become one of the centers of God's influence in your community.

   That is exactly what this home at Bethany became. So we invite you to look at the Home Over Which Martha Presided, then at the Home of Martha in Sorrow, then, at the Home of Martha in Joy. We mention all this that you may remember Jesus in just such a setting on the day in which we think of Him as King.

I. THE HOME OVER WHICH MARTHA PRESIDED

   There were many houses in and around Jerusalem, but only one of them was home for Jesus. When Jesus thought of Capernaum, home was the house of Peter's mother-in-law who had made Him welcome when He had been driven from Nazareth. When He thought of home at Cana of Galilee, it was the home of Nathanael. Whenever He thought of home near Jerusalem, it was the house of Martha in Bethany. In Martha's eyes, nothing in this house was good enough for the Master. Whenever the announcement was made, "The Master cometh," Martha felt that all hands must go to work to make the necessary arrangements.

   And the Master came whenever He was tired and weary and in need of sympathy — the touch of a woman's hand. Men who are in public life, in conflict, in strife, under criticism, bearing burdens of others, love the place called home. It is their castle, their fortress, their resting-place, and happy are they when a good woman makes it a true home. Whenever the scribes and Pharisees and doctors of the law made life difficult for Jesus in Jerusalem, by questioning him and ridiculing Him and pouring their contempt upon Him; when His tender humanity ached with sorrow and suffering; and when he was exceedingly burdened with the sins of those with whom He discoursed and for whom He labored, He walked out at eventide to Bethany, over the crown of the Mount of Olives.

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There in Martha's house He found a haven of rest. This privilege of going to a place that shuts out the din and the harshness of the world, where love abides and where one is surrounded with those who are sympathetically and affectionately inclined, is one of the precious experiences of life. It is no wonder that Jesus loved the home of Martha of Bethany and that He habitually frequented it whenever He was in the vicinity of Jerusalem. Especially is this true when we realize that it is written of the Son of God that He had no place to lay His head. He was rejected in His own city. He was utterly dependent upon the kindness and the hospitality of friends. He often slept out-of-doors in the wilderness, wrapped only in His outer cloak, and when He approached Jerusalem, it was with joy that He thought of the home of Martha.

   This hospitality of Martha for Christ is the New Testament counterpart of the Shunammite's hospitality for the prophet Elisha in the Old Testament (II Kings 4:8-37). If you recall, the prophet was in the habit of passing her door in his travels from Mount Carmel to Jezreel. So she inquired of her husband if it were not possible for them to prepare a chamber in the wall that might be called The Prophet's Chamber and where he might turn in at his own leisure and rest as he willed in passing. There he put simple furniture, such as a chair, a bed, and a table, and there the prophet stopped from time to time in his journey. Then there came the time of her need, when the son who had been born to her in fulfillment of the prophet's word fell on a day and died. The reward came to the Shunammite woman for her interest in and hospitality to the prophet. She made known her dire need unto him and through the prophet's intercession with God, the child was restored to her, well. In detail there is a great parallelism between this Old Testament story and the story of Martha, for Martha's brother Lazarus, probably also a younger person, fell sick and Martha sent for Christ, just as the Shunammite woman had sent for Elisha. When Christ came, though too late for any earthly help, He raised Lazarus from the dead. This was the fruit of her hospitality.

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   The first mention we have of Martha is in connection with a dinner party she prepared for Jesus and probably for some of His disciples (Luke 10:38-42). The Lord was on His way from Capernaum to Jerusalem, and He passed by Bethany and turned in to the house of Martha, who received Him gladly. We are not told whether the disciples were entertained or not, but we suppose that they were. Thus it was that a great burden developed upon Martha and upon her servants in order to prepare the evening meal. While Jesus was resting, she went about overseeing the directions in the home. The rooms were being straightened, the dinner was being prepared, the servants were hustling hither and yon, and Martha was bearing the full responsibility of all that she called the service. It was no easy task in a day of no delicatessens to prepare suddenly for unexpected guests. The words that describe Martha's condition are, "Cumbered about much serving." She had been bustling about from the time that Jesus arrived until nearly the time of the dinner. She was more tired than she knew, and her judgment was hardly clear. Her judgment was that of a woman overwrought, highly strung, and in a nervous state, typical of one who had worked too hard and now tried all the harder because of her own condition. Surely there is nothing to condemn in this. There is nothing reproachful. In fact, the woman was quite commendable, and whatever weakness or irritability rested in her was due to her physical condition rather than to her spiritual state. It was at this moment that the incident occurred which had left Martha's reputation somewhat in doubt in the church.

   Throughout the day she had noticed that Mary, her younger sister, had done nothing but wait upon Christ and sit attentively at His feet as He taught. She had asked Him many questions that seemed to Martha to be of a speculative nature and altogether unnecessary when so much was to be done. Yet she had condoned her and allowed her to continue in her interests until almost the hour for the dinner. Then, as she passed by Mary and Jesus once more, for some unknown

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reason she felt provoked at her and interrupted their quiet talk with a rude question, saying, "Master, carest Thou not that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her, therefore, that she help me." How many times this particular incident could be repeated in almost every home! Yet Jesus, knowing perfectly the spiritual condition and the life of both women, quietly responded, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her." We remembered that when the apostles in the early church became cumbered about much serving of the tables, it occurred to them that it was not meet that they should leave the Word of God and do this work. Therefore, they appointed deacons who were ordained to accomplish this task (Acts 6). Wherever a minister of the Word of God leaves his primary task to take up the secondary task of serving, even though they be matters of charity and of common kindness, he nevertheless is not doing a commendable thing. He has not chosen the best part.

   Martha's work was just as necessary as the work Mary performed, and Jesus did not tell her not to do the work. He did not rebuke her for doing it. He merely emphasized that one work was better than another. Every housewife or housemaid who does her work as unto the Lord is serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Every man in his carpenter shop or in his business may be serving the Lord Jesus Christ there just as well as someone else whom the Lord has delegated to a different field is serving Him there. Dr. Abraham Kuiper says that in the church of Christ some busy themselves with silver, others with gold, and still others with mere wood and stone, using Paul's expression. We can say that the difference between Mary and Martha is that the former worked in gold and the latter in silver, but certainly all are not to work in gold, for he who works in silver is doing his duty. Supposing John the Evangelist to be one who worked in pure gold and Mark to be one who worked in silver, Mark would have been shirking his

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responsibility had he attempted to imitate John in the teaching he recorded. Thus it is here also. God placed two sisters in Lazarus's family. He gave them appropriate talents and accordingly had given to each a peculiar calling. For that reason, each acquitted herself of her responsibility only when she followed her own particular path. In His reprimand of Martha, Jesus did not tell her to do as Mary did, but when Martha valued her own silver more highly than Mary's gold, when she told Jesus, "Tell Mary to assist me in serving," then Jesus felt that she had to be enlightened. It was then that He told  her that Mary had not chosen to do the less desirable but the more desirable thing. Martha had no right to look with disdain upon Mary's quiet, peaceful, faith-engendered spiritual life. And those who follow the pathway of Mary have no right to look down upon Martha with disdain. Both occupations are desirable. It is highly blessed that we have some who are engaged in deeds of mercy, but it is also necessary that some be engaged in the work of the kingdom of God, which is the direct preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and each in his place is best. Martha in her own place was certainly supreme.

   II. THE HOME OF MARTHA IN SORROW

   Suffering plays a large part in making a house a home. When a family moves into a new home, it is highly improbable that they will ever feel quite as much at home in the new house until it has had some session of illness, some crisis, or some experience of need. Then it is that the walls seem to enter into one's own experience to sympathize and to partake of his life. Perhaps some of us are more sentimental about a house than others, but as Edgar Guest says, "It takes a heap o' living to make a house a home." When you have planted the shrubbery that grows around your house and tended the garden and raised the blades of grass; when you have built the stone wall that encases your garden; when you have enclosed your porch; when you have  entertained in your living-room; when you have cleaned it and remodeled it year after

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year; and when you have sat through the long quiet hours of the night waiting by the side of the bed of some loved one, whether mother or daughter, until the morning light should break upon a face that would respond for the better or for the worse then that house has become a home. When the suffering and the living and the loving seem to saturate its very walls and fill it with a heap of memories, it becomes a place that wherever you are in the world you will always look back to and call home. Perhaps Mother is no longer there. Perhaps sister has long since been married and brother gone away, but still it is home. Can you forget the mental picture drawn by Margaret Mitchell of Scarlet O'Hara returning to her home, Tara, after Sherman's invasion of Georgia and the burning of the great mansions along the way? She found the stock gone, the furniture stolen, the barns burned, and nothing but the bare building yet standing. Still as she stood upon the barren ground and looked across the hills at the noble building, she cried, "Tara," for it was a home. Either cottage or a mansion, however humble, "there is no place like home."

   Now came the time of suffering and sorrow for the household at Bethany during which Martha's protective strength was revealed. The story in the eleventh chapter of John is one of the touching and beautiful ones in the Scripture. Here we even learn that Jesus wept, and here Martha stands out with the majesty of a woman who knew how to conduct herself in the time of trouble and trial. The day came when Lazarus did not rise from his bed in the morning, when he called for his sisters and told them that he did not feel well. They tended him as many others have tended loved ones, thinking that their loved one was slightly ill and would soon be better, but as the days passed they soon saw that it was not as minor an ailment as they had supposed. Lazarus was rapidly slipping down-hill. Then it was, in the fear which was almost a premonition, that they thought of the Lord Jesus and decided to sent to Him. The message was terse and short, only, "Lord, behold he whom Thou lovest is sick," but it was sufficient to

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tell the story. These women knew that if Jesus could come, all would be well with their brother.

   For a reason into which we do not need to enter for the purpose of this discussion, Jesus tarried for several days after the message came to Him in the section called Perea. Then, when He knew that Lazarus was dead, He turned His face toward Bethany. Meanwhile, we may well imagine how that Mary and Martha alternately took turns watching the bedside of Lazarus and going to their portico to look down the long road toward Jericho to see if Jesus were coming or if any company that might be the company of Jesus were on its way. Then the time came when Martha, weeping, made her way out to her sister Mary, standing looking toward the east, and broke the news that Lazarus was dead.

   Four days passed, during which they and their friends had Lazarus embalmed and buried in the cave not far from their home on the hill. Then, with much misgiving, they continued to wait for the coming of Jesus. During this time Martha recovered more quickly than Mary, for as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met Him, but Mary sat still in the house, buried in her grief and in her mourning. When Martha came to Jesus, she said, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here my brother would not have died, but I know that even now whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee." What a remarkable faith that is! What a triumphant statement! What a confession to the Lord! Her faith was so great that Jesus merely said, "Thy brother shall rise again." Then Martha replied (and note the "I know"), "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Here was a woman with a certainty of faith that declared that she had not seen the last of her brother and that they would be united once again. But Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" Still in faith, Martha said, "Yes, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God

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which should come into the world." Here we catch a vision of a woman who had as great a faith and who made as great a statement of that faith as any disciple made before the resurrection of Christ. She believed, and she was ready to act upon that belief.

   We have no record that Jesus spoke and asked for Mary, but we read that Martha went to Mary and said to her, "The Master is come and called for thee." This we take to be some of the protective kindness Martha manifested toward her sister Mary during these days, for the news of the arrival of the Lord Jesus and that He wanted her caused Mary to go into His presence immediately. There she, too, said what Martha had said, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here my brother would not have died," and with that she left her confession and broke into weeping. Surely it was this suffering of Mary as much as anything else that caused tears to come from the eyes of our blessed Lord, even though He knew that He was to raise Lazarus from the dead. Thus it was that these women received the answer to their faith. At the command of the Lord, the stone was rolled away from the grave and, though Martha protested that already decay had set in, Jesus spoke, "Lazarus, come forth." Then the greatest miracle of all that were performed by Christ occurred — the body of the man Lazarus came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face covered about with a napkin, and Jesus commanded those standing around about to loose him and let him go. Lazarus, a dead man, was raised to life again. The scene of reunion and joy can only be imagined and not described.

III. THE HOME OF MARTHA IN JOY

  The last picture we get of Martha and of her home is on the day preceding the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem as King (Matt. 26:6-13; John 12:1-11). It was on the Sabbath evening before the Passover, when Christ was again entertained at Bethany with a dinner party in the home of Simon the leper, at which Martha had control of the serving. The

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central personage of interest at this dinner was Lazarus who, the record tells us twice, was the one who had been dead, whom Christ had raised from the dead. Lazarus was the standing miracle who was convincing the Jews constantly that Jesus was the Christ, their Messiah. This time, not only Jesus was present but all of His disciples. Together with Lazarus they sat at this large table partaking of the feast. We have no means of knowing what the conversation was at this particular dinner, but we may be sure that it included such topics as "the spiritual meaning of the Passover" which was soon to be celebrated, whereby the Lord God had provided for the people of God a means of atonement for the forgiveness of their sins. It probably included that great subject of prayer about which the disciples had asked the Lord the last time they had visited at Bethany, when they said, "Lord, teach us to pray." It may even have included some suggestions by Christ of the approaching end of His own life, their concern about it, and their failure to understand the cause of His death. Did Lazarus tell them about his experience during death, or did he find that all such former experiences were forgotten when he returned into this world? We have no means of knowing, but we know that he must have conversed with them because of the prominence given to him as one who sat at the table. In him the disciples had evidence enough to seal their faith in Christ regardless of whatever occurred in the future, knowing that He was God's messenger, God's Son.

   In this memorable season of the Passover, Martha gave her expression of gratitude for and celebration of the raising of her brother Lazarus and the restoring of him to her home in the presentation of this great feast. Once again we find her building with her works of silver rather than works of gold. To how much of the conversation Martha listened we do not know, but we know that she served. This time it does not tell that she was cumbered about much serving. Martha now performed the work to which God had called her without the unnecessary nervous excitability. Let all the Marthas in the

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church take comfort in the fact that the Lord acknowledges their service and that He accepts their service. The matter most important to Him is how the service is performed, whether in peace and in faith or in turmoil and unbelief.

   Mary's expression of gratitude was different from Martha's. Mary had probably thought a long time what she could do. Her sister was giving the great dinner Lazarus could sit at the table and express himself to the Lord Jesus, but Mary had no talent at all except that of listening, so Mary took the costly ointment that had been purchased, perhaps at the price of her savings, and brought the alabaster container into the great room during the feast. There she cracked the box and poured the ointment over His head so that the aroma filled the house with pleasant odors. Hers was to be a service of adoration and worship. In fact, one surmises that Mary had a premonition of the coming death of Christ, or at least that she acted in faith upon His own teaching that He was soon to die. That Mary was rebuked by Judas and the disciples is beside the point here, for they did not understand. But Jesus did, and He said, "Let her alone: against the day of My burying hath she kept this. Wherever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." Truly, wherever the Gospel has been preached we have remembered Mary for her act of adoration and love, and hospitality and love to her Lord. One was as great as the other within the sphere of each life.

   Happy is it that we may remember Jesus on the first day of the last week in such a setting as this, among His friends, among loved ones, among disciples. We see Him present in and blessing the house of those whom He loved. Thereafter, Martha, Mary and Lazarus could always say, "Christ is the Head of this house, the unseen Guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation," for Christ was really there.

   Have you invited Jesus Christ into your home? Is the house in which you live the home of the Lord? Because He dwells in you, does He dwell there? Do you begin your day with

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Him, either in family worship or at least grace at the table? Have you honored him in all things, and do you obey Him and follow His guidance during the day? Do you minister unto Him, and do you sit at his feet to worship Him? If you accept Jesus into your home, you will find that sometimes He will rebuke you for your choice of the lesser instead of the better thing, but He will love you in the midst of it all. In His gentleness He will make your house a heavenly home on earth until you may go to the Father's house in which there are many mansions, one prepared for you.

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