Lectionary Year C
July 22, 2001
Luke 10:38-42

Step IV - Context

A. Primitive Christianity

(JFC) In Acts 22:3, Paul sat at the feet of Gamaliel, his teacher, supreme, as Jesus appears to be for Mary. And, Acts 6:1-6 tells of the disciples instructing the people to elect deacons to share the load of table serving and attending to God's Word, which is like Mary and Martha's division of labor in their home the day(s) Jesus stopped by. And, when Jesus addresses Martha, Ma,rqa Ma,rqa, he seems to have been making an "expression of affection and concern" (ICC) similar to the Risen Christ's message to Saul of Tarsus, being transformed into Paul the Apostle, in Acts 9:4. What Paul needed was careful guidance into his new life and he got it there on that road. Martha needed some calming and some assistance toward transformation, too, and she got it there in her home that day. I Peter 5:7 calls for anxieties to be cast on God. Here, we encounter, merimna/|j, "human anxiety set against Divine Providence", ICC. Luke 22:27 records Jesus' saying, "I am among you as one who serves," (rather than as one who came to be served). Would Martha learn this lesson? Service is highly commended in early Christianity, especially at Luke 4:39 and Mark 10:43 and 45.

B. Old Testament and Judaism

(JFC) Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, advised him to split the work-load with some of the other leaders, Exodus 18:13-26 and Deuteronomy 1:9-18. As Qoheleth searches for wisdom in Ecclesiastes 1:13, he finds that such a venture "is an unhappy business that God has given to human beings to be busy with", similar to the consternation Martha was evidencing in our pericope at hand.

C. Hellenistic World

(JFC) If Jesus' intends, in dealing as he did with Mary and Martha, to create or recreate for them a unity, the Hellenists would appreciate such an intension. Greek philosophers taught the value of unity among all humankind. Jesus certainly was showing the sisters how to manage to remain together in the throws of a disagreement. He was indicating how differing people might more effectively live and even serve together simultaneously and simul-spatially, too. Togetherness was important to the Stoic branch of Hellenism, especially. Also, Jesus showed them how to exercise some reasonability, some ethical principles and some hope for goodness and pleasure for all, to be exemplified in homes like Martha's and Mary's. Mary was being "a friend of God" as Epictetus contended was what inspired him "to render him willing obedience". Was Jesus trying to reduce Martha's emotional expression? If so, the stoic Hellenists would applaud it. If Jesus' primary mission in getting Mary and Martha on the same page was to get them knowing God, to develop a vision of God, to move toward a way of fulfilling their greatest human need, as the Hellenistic/Hermetic writers sought to clarify, according to James L. Price's Interpreting the New testament, did he succeed? Evidently, Jesus was making some progress in that venture. At least he tried. Hellenists would approve.

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