Martha! Martha! ... Growing in her Faith, Lesson 1

Martha, Martha! … Growing In Her Faith

Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-44; John 12:2

By Patsy Norwood  © 2024  All Rights Reserved!

Lesson 1

Martha is mentioned three times in the Bible and throughout this study, we’re going to look at all three instances.

Let’s start with Luke 10: 38-42, verse by verse, here we go …

Verse 38 … Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

This scene most likely took place during a short visit to Jerusalem at the Feast of Dedication and we know from last week’s lesson that the name of the village was Bethany and that it was located about 2 miles outside of Jerusalem.

Who are the ‘they’ mentioned in this verse?  In Luke 10:23, we see that Jesus’ disciples were with Him, did they accompany Him into the house of Martha, Mary and Lazarus or did Jesus’ steal away for a visit with this trio?  The Bible doesn’t tell us.

What we do know is that Martha welcomed Him into her home and that’s where we get our first glimpse of her in action.

I wonder how she welcomed Him.  Did she greet Him with a smile and kind words?  Did she offer Him the most comfortable place in her home to sit and rest?  Did she follow that with an offer of something to drink while He rested and she went to prepare a meal, or maybe she provided a bowl of water and cloth for Him to wash His feet which was the custom at that time.  Traveler’s feet were often tired, dusty and dirty as walking was a chief mode of transportation.  It was considered an act of hospitality to offer items to the traveler to clean his/her feet when one visited in a home.  As to how Martha actually greeted Jesus, we don't know, the Bible doesn’t tell us, but we can rest assured it was done in such a way that Jesus felt like He could continue coming back again and again.

It all sounds so warm and welcoming, doesn’t it?  All of those things are very good and hospitable, aren’t they?  From someone who does a lot of visiting and traveling, I can tell you that the hospitable hostess is quite the blessing and might I add, a gift from God.  So, I think we can all agree that Martha is doing what Martha should be doing at this point.

For some being hospitable comes naturally; for others it’s a skill to be learned.  I Peter 4:9 tells us to be hospitable to one another without complaint.  Being hospitable is a whole other subject to study that we won’t do here, but I hope you can see the importance it plays in growing God’s kingdom as we continue in our study.

Secular history indicates that Martha was the oldest of her siblings.  As we will see her actions indicate that she had a lot of the attributes of a firstborn child:  take charge (note that Martha was the first one to welcome Jesus into her home), diligent, maybe a little bit of a perfectionist, leader, reliable, conscientious, responsible and a list maker/planner to name a few.

Obviously, Martha was doing a good job in her role as hostess as Jesus visited their home often.  Martha was doing what she had most likely been raised to believe was her responsibility.  She was doing what she thought was expected of her and she was doing it well.  Jesus knew He had a warm and welcoming place to come to whenever He needed it so let’s give Martha a high five for providing this most important place of refuge for our Lord.

However, sometimes the path to growing our faith takes us down roads that can be a bit hard to travel.  It seems Martha is about to start down one of those roads.

We can safely assume that Martha was a believer, but she had some growing to do ... as we all do at one time or another.

That’s where I’m going to leave you in this lesson, next week, we’ll move on to verse 39 and begin there. 

How do you picture Martha welcoming our Lord into her home?  I mean, He wasn’t just anybody He was the promised Messiah!

I hope you’ve enjoyed today's lesson.  Don't forget to leave a comment and if you're enjoying this study, please share the link with other ladies who you think might enjoy it as well.

Until the next class …

patsy @ From This Heart of Mine

Sources used for this study:

Various translations of the Holy Bible

Various commentaries

Dictionary of New Testament Background, Editors: Craig A Evans & Stanley E. Porter

Archaeological Study Bible

All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

Daughters of Eve by Lottie Beth Hobbs

Halley’s Bible Handbook by H. H. Halley

Who’s Who in the Bible by Philip Comfort & Walter A. Elwell