Mary the Meditative...Choose the
"Good"
… Luke 10:38-42
38 Now as they were traveling along, He
entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her
home.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who
moreover was listening to the Lord's word, seated at His
feet.
40 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."
41 But the Lord answered and said to
her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many
things;
42 but only a few things are necessary,
really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken
away from her." (NAS)
She sat at Jesus’ feet
10:39
She sat attentively at Jesus’ feet
10:39
She "chose the needful, good part"
10:42
She chose the "better part" -- NIV
10:42 -- Shouldn't we make Jesus our top
priority?
"Some years ago I had to go out to Los Angeles on a plane from New York. The
hostess seated a girl twenty or twenty-one years of age beside me. Obviously the
girl had never flown before. "Over the loudspeaker the hostess said, 'Fasten
your seatbelts': The girl did not know what a seatbelt was. I helped her and
asked, 'You've never flown before?' And she said, 'No, this is my first
time.'
"As I spoke to her, she opened her pocketbook, and
there was a picture of a G.I.--a fine, rock-ribbed New England face. I said,
'You're going to see him?' 'Yes,' she said, 'he's coming home. I'm going to see
him.'
"I talked to her. They had gotten married a year and
a half before, had a honeymoon of just a few days, then he had gone to the coast
and left for Korea. Now he was coming back home; she was going to see him; and
that meant more to her than anything else. Nothing else counted for
her; her whole soul was in her eyes.
"As I told
her how to fix the seatbelt, I said, 'Now don't be worried; the engines are
going to whirl and you'll think something is going to happen, but it isn't.
They're just testing the engines and when they quiet down, there will then be
the moment of pull and you'll feel the takeoff.'
"She was
interested in everything she was doing, but most of all in the young man in the
cellophane bordered picture in her pocketbook. He was her bridegroom; she was
his bride; she was going to see him.
"Some may wonder
sometimes why Christians live as they do and make the spiritual choices they
make. They are on their way to see their bridegroom, and they
are going to see Him.
This is the blessed hope. We are going to see Him." --- Dr. Donald Grey
Barnhouse
Mary the
Meditative... John 11:1-5
1 Now a certain man was sick,
Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister
Martha.
2 And it was the Mary who
anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother
Lazarus was sick.
3 The sisters therefore sent
to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
4 But when Jesus heard it, He
said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son
of God may be glorified by it."
5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and
her sister, and Lazarus. (NAS)
Mary the Meditative... John 11:28-35
28 And when she had said
this, she went away, and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, "The Teacher
is here, and is calling for you."
29 And when she heard it, she
arose quickly, and was coming to Him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come
into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met
Him.
31 The Jews then who were
with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary rose up
quickly and went out, followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to
weep there.
32 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."
33 When Jesus therefore saw
her weeping, and the Jews who came with her, also weeping, He was deeply moved
in spirit, and was troubled,
34 and said, "Where have you
laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."
35 Jesus
wept.
Mary the Meditative... …John 11
-
She is honored with the "ointment"
reference 11:2
-
She arose quickly to come to Jesus
11:20, 31
-
She fell at Jesus’ feet -- Martha
didn’t(?) 11:32
-
She wept there, touching the
Lord’s heart 11:33-35
It's
famous for being the "shortest verse." But John 11:35 is more than a short
verse. It is a beautiful picture of how Jesus "weeps with those who weep"
to show his love for us and a genuine concern for our sorrows.
A
little girl dressed in dungarees walked into a pet shop and asked whether they
had a puppy with a lame leg. She had a dollar with which she wanted to buy it.
The salesperson of the pet shop was surprised that the little girl wanted to buy
a lame puppy. She asked, "Why, don't you want to buy a puppy that can run around
and play?" "No, I want a lame one." Finally, she pulled up one leg of her
dungarees and showed her brace, saying, "I don't walk so good either." The
little girl with a lame leg identified herself with a lame
puppy.
The Lord Jesus became a man, taking upon Himself a
human body with its frailties in order to identify Himself with us in our bodily
weaknesses (Heb. 4:15).
Mary the Meditative… John 12:1-8
1 Jesus, therefore, six days
before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised
from the dead.
2 So they made Him a supper
there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the
table with Him.
3 Mary therefore 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.
4 But Judas Iscariot, one of
His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said,
5 "Why was this perfume not
sold for three hundred denarii, and given to poor people?"
6 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.
7 "Leave her alone," Jesus
replied. "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my
burial.
8 "For the poor you always
have with you, but you do not always have Me."
Mary the Meditative... John 12:1-8 & Matthew
26:13
-
She uses expensive perfume --
"pure nard" 12:3
-
She is commended by the Lord for
her sacrifice and her love expressed in preparing Him for burial
12:7
-
Jesus predicts her story will be
told as a memorial to her everywhere the Gospel goes -- Matthew 26:13 and Mark
14:9
Mary
was not only willing to fall at Jesus feet, she was willing to be totally humble
as she gave her all -- in the form of expensive perfume-- in His
presence. Humility is the stepping stone to Christ-like service -- and
that to being exalted by God:
Phil 2:7 But made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made
in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given
him a name which is above every name:
(KJV)
A little Western college needed money. The buildings were shabby, the
salaries underpaid. A stranger appeared on the campus and asked a man in
overalls engaged in whitewashing a wall where he could find the president. "I
think you can see him at his house at twelve," was the reply. The visitor went
as directed, and met the president, whom he recognized, in different dress, as
the very same man he had found whitewashing. Next day came a letter
with a gift of $50,000. The Christ-like humility and service on the part of the
president had appealed effectively to this man of business. (Dr. J. F.
Cowan)