Verse 40
But Martha was cumbered about much serving; and she came up to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister did leave me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
Martha's attitude toward her sister in this verse suggests that Mary was a resident in Martha's house; for, had she been merely a guest on that occasion, it is not likely that Martha should have objected so vigorously to Mary's failure to help with the serving. Also, the three, Lazarus included, from the events recorded in John, would appear to have belonged to one household.
It is not true that Martha was an unspiritual person, for one of the noblest confessions of faith in the New Testament was made by her (John 11:27); but in the incident here, she was indignant at what appeared in her eyes as a slight of duty on Mary's part; and she called for the Lord to rebuke it. Nor do the Lord's words deny that a duty had been neglected; but, rather, they stress that a higher duty had been honored by Mary. It is the setting aside of lesser duties for the observance of higher duties that appears to be Luke's reason for including this intimate, revealing story of two sisters.
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