John 11:20

Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary still sat in the house.

Martha, as the more practical of the two sisters, left the house and hastened to meet Jesus; but Mary remained shut up with her grief. Martha had risen above personal grief to assume the duties of hostess. In the light of all that has been written of these two sisters, it is not amiss to note that it is Martha who shines in this narrative. This is not to discount the Lord's words regarding "the better part" chosen by Mary. How many noble and industrious women there are who, in the last analysis, are best described as daughters of Martha!

THE DAUGHTER OF MARTHA

There's the bed to make and the mail to meet, The bills to pay and a guest to greet, The phone to answer and a dress to press, The house to order and a child to dress.

There's the shopping list and a million things As the duties mount and the doorbell rings; For Martha's daughter is a busy one, And a woman's work is never done.

In summer and winter and day and night, She toils and finds in the task delight. She heals the hurt and foils the stroke, And proudly indeed she bears the yoke.

But toiling hands at the last are stilled, And the toiler's place by another's filled; And the better part she might have won Is forever lost when the day is done.

- James Burton Coffman December 4,1965

Martha's haste to go and meet Jesus could have sprung from her desire to speak with him first in the presence of friends, rather than before his enemies; for it must be remembered that many of the mourners were among the bitter foes of the Lord.