at the feet of Jesus

 

I’ve been trying to write this study out for weeks, but the more time I spend in it, the more bruises are inflicted on my prideful soul. It’s hard to wrestle with God.

Her name is Mary. No, she’s not the Nazarene, not the mother of Jesus—she’s of the town of Bethany and the family of Martha and Lazarus. She is given three passages in Scripture, and in them I find a very convicting character sketch of what a spiritually healthy Christian should look like.

Read:

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.” (Luke 10:38-42)

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go into Judea again. . . . Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”
So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”
When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him.
Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”
So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice,“Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done. (John 11:1-7, 14b-46)

Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. Therefore Jesus said,“Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” (John 12:1-8)

i. a healthy Christian believes in Jesus—without needing to physically see Him.

In introduction to his Gospel, Luke writes, “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order . . .” (Luke 1:1-3a). From this thesis statement, Bible scholars have deduced that unlike the other three Gospels, Luke is written in accurate timeline form.

In Luke 10, the introduction of Mary is preceded by a passage of commissioning: “Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them out in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. . . . ‘Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you”’” (Luke 10:1, 8-9). Of those who would shut their ears to the evangelists, Jesus said, “The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me” (Luke 10:16). By the time we meet Mary in verse 38, this command has been carried out in full (see verse 17), so we can infer that the village of Bethany had already been evangelized before Jesus arrived. The ensuing actions of the Martha-Mary-Lazarus household suggest anything but rejection:

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. (Luke 10:38-39)

I don’t know about you, but if someone came to my door advertising a cult leader I thought was ridiculous, false, or dangerous, I wouldn’t be opening my house to him when he came to town! Furthermore, Jewish culture places great import on hospitality; the act of eating together is a tremendous statement of friendship and trust.

This belief is the most basic building block of a relationship with Christ. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Without this acceptance, this trust in Jesus’ deity and identity as Messiah, one cannot even claim true Christianity.

ii. a healthy Christian looks to the one Source of truth.

Again: “Mary . . . was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.” (Luke 10:39)

I can’t help but envision this as a parent-child scene, with Mary clinging to Jesus’ every word like a child learning with wonder from a grown-up. She is at His feet, indicating the same kind of deference one would give a parent; she is seated, indicating a childlike trust; she is listening, indicating a regard of importance for His guidance. A child’s primary source of knowledge and training is his parents, and likewise Mary acknowledges Jesus as her source of truth and wisdom.

As twenty-first century believers, we don’t typically have the physical form of Jesus sitting in our living rooms. But we are blessed with plenty of access to His divine Word. The question is, do we place the same value on it that Mary did? Do we trust it to be the only Source of absolute truth against which to measure the questionable claims of a godless society? It is not only the light to our feet as we tread a precarious earthly path, but it is also the path to a true knowledge of and intimacy with God Himself.

iii. a healthy Christian enthrones Jesus as highest priority in life—higher than “Christian service.”

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.” (Luke 10:40-42)

Here is one of the hardest Biblical principles to put into practice. It’s one of those gray zones—the distance between right and almost right, between “good” and “excellent.” What Martha is doing is not inherently wrong. It’s part of who she is; if you follow her thread through these three passages you’ll find her a proactive, productive, practical individual who places great value on putting her love for Christ into action.

In fact, Martha is a fairly accurate picture of most modern-day churches . . . and few of today’s churches would know what to do with a Mary if they had one. Marys are those difficult individuals who sometimes say “No”—who will not allow anything, even ministry, to interfere with their relationships with Jesus Christ. Marys are those enigmas who might be accused of selfishness, laziness, or lack of Christlike servanthood; of being mere “hearers” and not “doers.”

Yet Jesus says they have chosen well, and Paul concurs:

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:1-2)

We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Certainly, there is a part of Christian obedience that involves doing (James 1:22-25), but Mary has learned the balance. It is so, so easy to allow ministry “for” God to erode one’s relationship with Him. And since Jesus’ entire purpose on earth was to restore and reconcile the relationship between God and man by enduring an agonizing death, we know that there is nothing more important to Him than intimately knowing us. Ministry, world hunger, evangelism, church planting, youth group, summer camp—these things are meaningless apart from a thriving private relationship that keeps Him in the number-one place of our hearts.

iv. a healthy Christian leans completely on the love and power of their Savior in every situation.

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” (John 11:1, 3)

Illness of any kind would have been of far greater concern to Mary and Martha than it might be to you and me. We have two thousand extra years of medical research and the corresponding medicines, vaccines, practices, and professionals to give most Americans a fairly good survival rate and life expectancy. But at the time of Jesus, people were rarely expected to live longer than forty or fifty years, and in the meantime a host of accidents, viruses, and diseases threatened to cut their time short.

I think it’s interesting that Mary and Martha’s message didn’t say, “Lord, please come heal our brother.” I’m pretty sure that’s what my prayer would have sounded like! Of course, the Bible encourages us to pray the desires of our hearts (Matthew 7:7-11), but often I think our “requests” would sound a bit more like demands if we listened to ourselves closely. Mary and Martha’s message requires a special measure of trust. They are not afraid to remind Jesus of His character, but neither do they demand His cooperation with their wishes. They trust Him to know their plight and know how best to respond. They seem to understand and revere His deity far better than I do!

v. a healthy Christian realizes that God has the right to every part of her life, and is under no obligation to act the way she wants Him to.

But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. (John 11:4-6)

Does anyone else see a seeming contradiction here?

To my selfish mind, it doesn’t seem possible that Jesus could claim to love Mary and Martha and Lazarus and then not run immediately to their sides in their time of difficulty. The delay seems cruel. I envision the sisters frantic, looking out constantly for the arrival of Jesus—and then the heaviness of death, knowing that it’s too late, wondering why He didn’t come.

But I am reminded of something that would happen only a few chapters later. Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, hailed as the rescuer of the Jews from Roman oppression. They thought He should establish a kingdom and overthrow Rome’s tyranny, but He knew that His purpose was to eternally save thousands of generations from hell-fire for the maximum glory of His Father—not to upset one empire and save a only few generations of Jews from earthly hardship. Of course, He loved His people, but He knew the best way to love them was to please His Father above all.

This same principle plays out on a smaller scale with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Though healing Lazarus promptly would have been very much appreciated, Jesus allowed His friends to endure extra pain and uncertainty so that He could give His Father the maximum glory by raising Lazarus from the dead—a miracle that had a far-reaching effect on far more than the three siblings alone:

So Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” (John 11:14-15)

Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent me.” (John 11:41b-42)

As a follower of Jesus, my life is not about me. It’s about allowing Him to be glorified through me… even when it hurts!

vi. a healthy Christian is not afraid to show God the most difficult recesses of his heart.

Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled. (John 11:32-33)

This passage demonstrates Mary’s clear belief that Jesus could have saved Lazarus—and didn’t. The verses don’t tell us exactly what her tone was like—was it resentful, confused, angry, or just sad?—but we can tell that she is at least in a state of immense sorrow, and is not afraid to say so. I think it’s easy for us to forget that God can handle our complaints. Whole books of the Bible fall into the genre of lamentation—stanza upon stanza of pouring out of the writer’s pained heart to God. One of the seven Hebrew words for “praise” in the Old Testament is tehillah, or “poured out through pain.” God is not cold toward our pain, nor is He so small that our anger or bitterness is too much for Him to handle. Part of a healthy relationship is being able to share one’s heart honestly with another, and God takes delight in it.

Of course, that doesn’t mean prayer should be our complaint forum of every little thing we dislike about our lives. The throne of God is a sacred place, and should never be approached lightly. Pain and agony should be shared with a heart that is willing to listen to God’s response and change accordingly, as Jeremiah’s does in the book of Lamentations, or as the many psalmists’ do throughout Psalms.

vii. a healthy Christian knows that on his best day, he is an obedient tool in the hand of God, meant to bring Him glory through every circumstance.

Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. . . . [Martha] went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. (John 11:20, 28b-31)

Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?” So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. (John 11:35-45)

Mary’s story thread through this chapter is a little bit interrupted by pieces of Jesus’ and Martha’s, but if you follow it carefully, you will find that God used her in a remarkable way through seemingly small, insignificant actions.

First of all, when Jesus arrives in Bethany, the sisters are at home hosting all the mourners for their brother Lazarus. Naturally, Martha is the one who rushes out to meet Him, leaving Mary to deal with a houseful of guests. (I’m convinced that Martha is the older of the sisters. I’m an oldest sister myself, and “No, Mary, stay here and entertain everyone. I’ll go meet Jesus” sounds like something that could easily come out of my own mouth to my younger sisters.) Who would want to don the face of bravery in front of all those guests instead of run out to cry at the feet of Jesus? But if Mary is disappointed, she doesn’t show it; she knows her duty and fulfills it. It’s not glamorous, it’s not fun, but it is where she has been placed at that moment.

Secondly, after Martha has spoken with Jesus (and learned a lesson of her own—I’m following the storyline of Mary here, but these passages tell us a lot about Martha too. Don’t forget to take a look at that!), Mary finally gets her turn. I find it incredibly special that while Martha rushed out to meet Jesus unbidden, Mary’s patient obedience was rewarded by Jesus’ specific request to see her. He knew that Mary was hurting too, and He didn’t forget about her.

Furthermore, it’s worth noting that when Mary is called, she obeys—immediately. Obeying Jesus’ call is a source of joy and relief for her, knowing that she gets to spend time close to Him. In my own walk with God, this has been an important principle: obedience fosters intimacy. When we are where God has asked us to be, doing what God has asked us to do, we are able to experience closeness with Him in its best and truest form.

Now follow these three points to the result. Because Mary stayed to care for the Jews who had come to console her family, she was able to lead them to Jesus when the time was right. She took the time to care for the other people involved even when she was hurting and lonely, and her selflessness was an important tool in Jesus’ plan to show them His glory.

“Glamorous Christianity” has gotten very popular in recent years—everyone seems to be taking two-week mission trips to remote parts of the earth these days—and while God does call some to the frontlines, He calls so many more to work behind the scenes. Mary was content to do the latter, and her seemingly small role turned out to be integral in the salvation of many people.

viii. a healthy Christian values Jesus above absolutely everything else, and honors Him as priceless.

Jesus therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. Therefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” (John 12:1-8)

It’s a fairly typical setup at a dinner gathering in Bethany: Lazarus dining with Jesus and the disciples, Martha serving as usual, and Mary doing something strange and seemingly out of place. This time, however, it’s not her sister who finds fault with her; it’s Judas, a decidedly unhealthy follower of Christ. Yet his question seems perfectly legitimate, and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear myself or many other Christians I know ask the same: “Why is she wasting something of such value, when it could have been used to do so much good?”

Three hundred denarii would be the equivalent of nearly a whole year’s salary at the time of Jesus. How many of us would give up an entire year’s wages to feed the poor—let alone to perfume Jesus’ feet? To avoid such a sacrifice, our instinct is to rationalize and make excuses, like Judas did. We cast judgment on those who act in this way, calling them “radicals” or “bad stewards.” But how can we truly justify our selfish unwillingness to pour out honor on Jesus—no matter what the cost—when He spared no expense to save our souls?

In conclusion, one final observation. In each of Mary’s three passages in Scripture, there is one common scene: Mary at the feet of Jesus. First, she is at His feet listening to His Word in Luke 10. Then she is pouring out the pain of her soul at His feet in John 11. Finally, she is worshiping Him and loving Him without reservation at His feet in John 12. Clearly, integral to the health of one’s relationship with Jesus is time—time spent working at that relationship and inviting Him into every moment and circumstance. Yes, the breach between you and Jesus was bridged through nothing you could do—only God could break down the wall of sin’s separation. But now that He has made reconciliation, you will only know the intimacy of a quality walk with God if you put effort into knowing Him, hearing Him, and obeying Him.