Lazarus' sister Martha represents qualities people can emulate in their homes.
Martha is best known as sister to Mary and Lazarus of Bethany. She was a friend and follower of Jesus Christ. Her reputation is one of working hard managing her brother’s home. They were a family of some means in the community. Her joy was to welcome others into their home – she had the gift of hospitality.
Since Bethany was a short walk over the Mount of Olives to the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples apparently stayed with Lazarus when they came to the Temple. They were welcomed by this attentive woman. She was a perfect hostess who provided everything a visitor would want. She bustled around her home with the many duties required to take care of her friends. Martha listened to the Lord’s teachings as she came and went, but her sister Mary sat at Jesus feet and learned.
Martha and Mary showed their dedication to Jesus in very different ways, but Martha is the one that was blessed by Jesus as the first person he declared His true purpose to. “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?’
She said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord. I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’” John 11: 25 – 27 (NKJV)
As one of the women of the Bible, Martha’s example of faith and hospitality can teach us how to treat others and welcome them into our homes today. She gave of herself and shared what she had with all visitors, not just Jesus and the disciples.
Jesus had no real home during his three and a half year ministry. He spent most of His time traveling from place to place teaching and healing. When He stayed in her home, it was a place of friendship and refuge from the road. It was a home away from home.
What an experience people can enjoy when visiting with someone who makes visitors welcome with genuine love? That is what Martha gave the Lord. That is what can be offered to others – not just close friends but all who come. People get so busy with rushed schedules, families, work and home responsibilities that they forget how to treat each other. The other side of the lesson to be learned from Martha is to take time out of a busy life to spend time with the Lord through reading the Bible.
