After a full year of holy anticipation, Lent Madness returns for another season of saintly thrills and spills! Whether this is your tenth year engaging in the annual saintly smackdown or your first, we're delighted you'll be spending a portion of your Lenten journey among us. Along the way there will be debates, ire, angst, rejoicing, laughter, and holy trash talking. Just remember, it’s all in the spirit of this holy season specifically set aside to grow closer to God through our relationship with Jesus Christ.
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Lent Madness 2019, or Lent Madness X as we've been calling it, kicks off with a battle between two Biblical heavyweights as we settle, once and for all, the age old question: Mary vs. Martha. And before you say it, of course it's not fair! It's not called Lent Madness for nothing.
So, hang onto your halos, friends, and prepare yourselves for another wild ride of saintly action. Away we go!
Mary of Bethany
Mary of Bethany lived in first-century Bethany with her sister, Martha, and her brother, Lazarus, as we are told in the Gospel of Luke. Along with her siblings, she was among the very first to believe in Jesus.
Luke recounts the famous story of Jesus having supper at the sisters’ house, where Martha, concerned with getting the food on the table, asks Jesus to scold Mary for her apparent lack of concern. It’s notable that Mary is described as sitting at Jesus’ feet while Martha serves; usually only the male students of rabbis sat at the feet of their teachers. For Mary to do so is highly unusual for an unmarried woman—possibly why Martha gets antsy about it. But Jesus declines to chide Mary for what she has done, declaring that in her discipleship, she has “chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
The Gospel of John also gives us a few more glimpses of Mary of Bethany. John explicitly links Mary with the woman who washes Jesus’ feet with her hair. At Lazarus’s death, both Mary and Martha race out into the street to greet Jesus when he finally comes, and Mary chastises him, echoing her sister’s words, saying “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” At her declaration, Jesus is moved to tears.
It is clear that Jesus is quite close with this family. Through contextual clues, we can tell that the family must have been fairly well-to-do, given the sisters’ independent status and ability to support Jesus’ ministry. They seem to own their house and are able to provide a separate burial site for their brother (somewhat rare—and not cheap.). We also have John’s story of Mary spending more than 300 denarii (equivalent to 300 days of wage for a laborer) on pure spikenard to anoint Jesus.
Later church tradition treated Mary as it treated many of the other women of the gospel; it elided her story into that of an Everywoman who is remarkable mostly in her blandness. The few stories that survive in the West often conflate her with Mary Magdalene. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, her uniqueness survives, and with her sister and Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany is remembered on the third Sunday of Easter as one of the Myrrh-Bearing Women—the first to recognize the risen Christ.
Collect for Mary of Bethany
O God, heavenly Father, your Son Jesus Christ enjoyed rest and refreshment in the home of Mary and Martha of Bethany: Give us the will to love you, open our hearts to hear you, and strengthen our hands to serve you in others for his sake; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Martha of Bethany
The iconic Martha of Bethany is the hero of faithful pragmatics and doers, though she gets a bad rap for being less contemplative than her sister. When Jesus visits her house, Mary sits at his feet, but Martha feels the burdens of her role as hostess and works in the kitchen, resentful that Mary isn’t helping. When she complains, the Lord answers, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted about many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” Because of this anecdote, Martha is seen to symbolize worldly concerns while her sister Mary focuses on the spiritual. When Jesus asks someone to open the tomb of her days-dead brother Lazarus, the heartbroken Martha stays true to her practical nature, responding, “Lord, already there is a stench.”
Although not expressly mentioned in the gospels, the Orthodox tradition honors both Martha and Mary as among the followers of Jesus who stood at Golgotha to witness the crucifixion, and later carried myrrh to his tomb to anoint the body. Thus they are counted among the first witnesses of the resurrection. This tradition also holds that Martha fled persecution in Judea with Lazarus, joining him as a missionary abroad until he became a bishop in Cyprus, where all three siblings eventually died.
According to the Golden Legend, a medieval hagiography (writing about the lives of the saints), the siblings were of noble birth. Martha put her aristocratic hostess skills to use for Jesus because, “She thought that all the world was not sufficient to serve such a guest.” The same legend holds that the family arrived in France miraculously via a ship without oars or sails to preach the gospel. The eminently practical Martha tamed a Galician dragon, “half beast and half fish, greater than an ox, longer than a horse, having teeth sharp as a sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent.” Afterward Martha lived a life of daily devotion in France until she died. A tomb in the Collegiate Church of Tarascon purportedly contains her relics.
Martha’s feast day is July 29, and she is patron saint of cooks, dietitians, domestic help, housekeepers, servants, and waitpersons. And of course, she is admired by pragmatics, doers, and practitioners of common sense.
Collect for Martha of Bethany
O God, heavenly Father, your Son Jesus Christ enjoyed rest and refreshment in the home of Mary and Martha of Bethany: Give us the will to love you, open our hearts to hear you, and strengthen our hands to serve you in others for his sake; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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537 comments on “Mary of Bethany vs. Martha of Bethany”
We had to choose Mary for the Lord did say "she chose the better part" and who's to say no to that. You don't gainsay the Lord if he says something else is the better road.
The dishes aren't going anywhere.
Jesus said Mary chose the "better part." That's good enough for me!
I vividly remember my mother and grandmother, devout women both, wondering what the Lord said when his dinner did not arrive on time, so in their honor and for all of us who said our prayers in the kitchen while making sure the unglamorous work got done, my vote goes to Martha!
Martha, dragon tamer. Yes!
At any other time, I would have voted for Martha. Martha was the pragmatic person, which I admire. However, when the blog writer talked about Mary, she said that Mary’ sitting at Jesus’s feet was a sign of discipleship – very unusual at that time. So here’s my vote, Mary. You are standing up for women being involved.
My name is Mary Martha. You’d think this, then, would be a tough decision for me. But as a “Martha”, I know that you can listen while you work! Martha gets my vote!
I voted for Mary. I am a Martha. Sometimes I wish I was more of a Mary..
Mary of Bethany chose the better thing, listening at Jesus' feet. We too should imitate her actions. The perfect house, life.. is striving after wind to borrow the OT phrase.
Martha did what was--and still is--expected of women. As a girl, I always resented being the one who was volunteered to clean up after a church dinner (or any other social occasion) while the rest of the family (especially the males) sat and talked, and although I gladly host coffee hour from time to time at church (again--where are the menfolk?) I'd much rather be listening to the sermon than arranging cookies on platters, to be honest. I've been forced to be a Martha all my life when I'd rather be a Mary, so Mary it is.
This is a great matchup! Perhaps in a sense Luke already puts the two sisters in competition. I admire them both. Sitting at the feet of Jesus, as Mary does, and being open to learn from him is surely essential to being a Christian. I voted, however, for Martha, because I believe caring for others through hospitality is a great virtue, and also often takes a lot of hard, slogging work. I admire that work and know from my own poor efforts of hospitality both how difficult and how rewarding it can be. I'm thinking now with great admiration of those who are attempting to mitigate the horrors on our southern border by doing what they can to offer hospitality, medical care, food, drink and lodging and thus soften the pain of those fleeing violence and poverty and who are now further afflicted by an implacable and unfeeling and even racist US administration. Hurrah for all the Martha's who are courageously and faithfully trying to help there. Holy Martha, pray for them and us!
Nothing like starting Lent Madness with a conundrum! I think that there is a bit of both Martha and Mary in each of us. Am definitely more Martha than Mary, but the clincher for my giving her my
vote was her slaying of the dragon-proving that that is not just a male occupation!
I choose Mary because she is gentle and has an almost pure heart. She sits and listens to Jesus as a true follower!
What a hard choice to start this year’s Lent Madness. My first thought was Martha because I am definitely more like her. But I think I need to be more like Mary. So she gets my vote.
I have some of both Mary and Martha in me. I feel compelled to do my part and so am sometimes a bit resentful at the cleaning up and cooking. But when I follow my heart I follow Mary and listen, talk, and sometimes am enlightened. It is then, when my heart is filled and my spirit challenged I feel most fulfilled and content. Mary for me, though I totally empathize with Martha. I think they are really two sides of the same coin. We need both.
Sitting in a hotel room waiting to attend my sister’s memorial service I cannot help but think how vastly different siblings can be. I loved my sister very much but we were definitely different. Jesus clearly loved both these women, but in the end I went with the listener. Mary wins in my book.
My condolences on your loss. May your sister rest in peace and rise in glory.
Mary and Martha are also the classic introvert/extrovert duo. Maratha is actually quite happy to be in the kitchen, maybe with a few close friends, to cook a wonderful meal for Jesus and his followers. As a rich woman, she is very unlikely to be alone and will have kitchen cooks and servants. Encouraged by them, she is bold to chastise Jesus... and he sets her straight.
Mary is the impulsive, says what comes out before she thinks, but very warm and welcoming hospitable woman. After welcoming everyone into the living area while they await supper, she tends to all their needs, makes them feel welcome and encourages Jesus to relax among friends. As a learner, she is excited to hear his thoughts and cannot move away from his feet, except to jump up and lavishly gives to him her most valuable possession.
As men have written down this history, she has been give a bum rap and so people will tend to side with her sister to get the winning votes, but take a moment to think about this tender-hearted young girl who is so excited to have her eyes, ears and mind open to the ideas and stories of Jesus.
After all, we are all a mixture of Mary and Martha, but we have out dominant trait for how we would like to gather information.
My mother, of blessed memory, always thought Martha got a bum rap, so, of course, I had to vote for her.
The blogger got me at Martha's statement: "All the world was not sufficient to serve such a guest!"
I di vote for Martha, in honor of my mum, who was born on July 29. My mum would have done exactly as Martha did. She would make sure all was fed and complained as Martha did, that she was getting no help.
I love both these women, and at other times I have voted for Martha first; but at this time and place I hear Mary as the voice needed for our culture and faith... where a lot of well-intentioned pragmatic decisions seem to have forgotten, or overwhelmed.. the essential heart of the gospel.
Martha is the "patron saint of cooks, dietitians, domestic help, housekeepers, servants, and waitpersons"-- people whose work, like hers, often goes unappreciated and even (unless they speak up as she did) unrecognized. She has my vote.
Having never done this before it is so interesting that at least the choice between these two, is seems to be action verses contemplation. yes they both did both But interesting in our society there is very little call to prayer and meditation while there is plenty of failed and successful good works.
All prayer is good? maybe?
While both sisters have much to emulate, I voted for Mary: Jesus was with them for such a little time, and Mary chose to sit closely and hear what he had to say. The meal will get served; the dishes will get done... but Jesus will be off again on his journeys, and Mary will be able to remember all that Jesus said that day.
I'm a Martha who longs to be a Mary, but I have to clean house first!
I have followed my heart rather than my brain and have voted for Mary of Bethany.
I went with Martha since she also worship Jesus as did Mary. Serving the Lord
Thanks to Mary..I am ordained.
(Third try)
I voted for Mary, not only because that's also my name but because she "chose the better part." The incident calls up two memories from around the same time: when I was one of a group of women who prepared dinner for a group of clergymen (all indeed men) meeting at my church and caught only snatches of their conversation but would have loved to hear more, and when my mother (whose name was not Martha but Mabel--a very different set of women!--got miffed at me when she was babysitting my sister's two preschoolers one Sunday morning and I waltzed off to church.
As for Mary of Bethany, maybe she washed the dishes after the guests left. 🙂
Martha. If I could replay it, they would all three be in the kitchen, with Jesus teaching while he chopped vegetables.
I enjoyed reading the Shack by the way. 🙂
Why am I not allowed to vote?
I've heard many more sermons praising Martha than Mary, and known many more Marthas in the church than Marys. So it's no surprise to me that the voting favors Martha- that's who women in the church know we're supposed to be. I chose Mary because I think she's underappreciated. Jesus gave her to us as a model - even if we aren't Marys by nature, that's something to take seriously.