Readings

July 29: Mary and Martha of Bethany

The Collect of the Day

Mary and Martha of Bethany

O God, heavenly Father, your Son Jesus Christ enjoyed rest and refreshment in the home of Mary and Martha of Bethany: Give us the will to love you, open our hearts to hear you, and strengthen our hands to serve you in others for his sake; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Mary and Martha of Bethany

O God, heavenly Father, whose Son Jesus Christ enjoyed rest and refreshment in the home of Mary and Martha of Bethany: Give us the will to love thee, open our hearts to hear thee, and strengthen our hands to serve thee in others for his sake; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Mary and Martha of Bethany are described in the Gospels according to Luke and John as close and well-loved friends of Jesus. Luke records the well-known story of their hospitality, which has made Martha a symbol of the active life and Mary of the contemplative.

John’s Gospel sheds additional light on the characters of Mary and Martha. When their brother Lazarus is dying, Jesus delays his visit to the family and arrives after Lazarus’ death. Martha comes to meet him, still trusting in his power to heal and restore. The exchange between them evokes Martha’s deep faith and acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah (John 11:21–27).

John also records the supper at Bethany at which Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with fragrant ointment and wiped them with her hair. This tender gesture of love evoked criticism from the disciples. Jesus interpreted the gift as a preparation for his death and burial.

The devotion and friendship of Mary and Martha have been an example of fidelity and service to the Lord. Their hospitality and kindness, and Jesus’ enjoyment of their company, show us the beauty of human friendship and love at its best.

Many Christian writers have interpreted Martha and Mary as symbolizing the active and contemplative lives. In most cases, however, they stressed that this division of action and contemplation was not a simple dichotomy. Although most ancient and medieval theologians tended to prioritize the contemplative life, all of them stressed the necessity for the different vocations of both sisters in the church.

In his sermon 104, Augustine of Hippo writes that “Martha has to set sail in order that Mary can remain quietly in port.” Although in some ways he thinks that the adoring worship of Christ is indeed superior, it does no good to adore Christ without serving and feeding him as Martha did, and as all Christians can do by serving those in need.

The Cistercian theologian Aelred of Rievaulx wrote that just as Mary and Martha dwelt as sisters within one house, so also the active and contemplative life should ideally dwell within the same soul.

Although most premodern writers did tend view Mary as superior to Martha, the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart argued in his sermon 86 that Martha was the more spiritually advanced of the two sisters, suggesting that she is mature enough that she is no longer enamored by religious feelings and experiences, but able to move on from them to the practical work of service. In this case, Jesus’ words that Mary “has chosen the better part” are meant to reassure Martha that her sister is on the right track, and that when she is ready, she too will eventually move on from only seeking spiritual consolation to serving where she is needed.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

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Psalm

1There is a voice of rebellion deep in the heart of the wicked; *there is no fear of God before his eyes.

2He flatters himself in his own eyes *that his hateful sin will not be found out.

3The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; *he has left off acting wisely and doing good.

4He thinks up wickedness upon his bed and has set himself in no good way; *he does not abhor that which is evil.

5Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, *and your faithfulness to the clouds.

Gospel

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Luke 10:38–42

38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

1 Samuel 25:18–38

18 Then Abigail hurried and took two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys 19 and said to her young men, “Go on ahead of me; I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 As she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely it was in vain that I protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; but he has returned me evil for good. 22 God do so to David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.” 23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried and alighted from the donkey, fell before David on her face, bowing to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, “Upon me alone, my lord, be the guilt; please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25 My lord, do not take seriously this ill-natured fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26 Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, since the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from taking vengeance with your own hand, now let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be like Nabal. 27 And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant; for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the Lord; and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If anyone should rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living under the care of the Lord your God; but the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 When the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you prince over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief, or pangs of conscience, for having shed blood without cause or for having saved himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.” 32 David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me today! 33 Blessed be your good sense, and blessed be you, who have kept me today from bloodguilt and from avenging myself by my own hand! 34 For as surely as the Lord the God of Israel lives, who has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there would not have been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him; he said to her, “Go up to your house in peace; see, I have heeded your voice, and I have granted your petition.” 36 Abigail came to Nabal; he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light. 37 In the morning, when the wine had gone out of Nabal, his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him; he became like a stone. 38 About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.