Readings:
- Genesis 18:1-10a
Psalm 15:2-3, 3-4, 5 Response: “They who do justice will live in the presence of the Lord.” - Colossians 1:24-28
- Luke 10:38-42
Reflections on the Gospel Reading
Within his unique framework of a journey to Jerusalem, Luke follows a story involving men (the Judean in the Ditch and the Good Samaritan) with a story involving women – the unforgettable tale of Martha, Mary, and the Lord. Perhaps, it would be better to say that Luke directs this passage at women, rather than at men, in the sense that he is using the story to illustrate how Christian women of his day should act. Why did Luke include it, and what lesson can we learn from it?
Looking back
To understand these five verses one has to take into account its position in Luke’s narrative. Some think that the key to understanding the story of Martha, Mary, and the Lord lies in looking back to what came before it in Luke’s gospel. If so, the story of Martha and Mary could be a second response to the scholar of the law’s question, “What must I DO to inherit eternal life?” Table service and service of the word are both important, both essential to being a disciple; but service of the word takes priority. Luke presents Jesus as calling those blessed “who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11.28 [NRSV]) One cannot obey a word one has not heard. So, the primary task is to listen. As Reginald H. Fuller puts it: “Activism must spring from hearing the word of God.” (Fuller 1984, 488)
Others suggest that the stories present examples of the two-fold commandment of love of God (Mary) and love of neighbor (Samaritan).
Or perhaps, still looking backward, as another example of loving one’s neighbor as oneself, Martha and Mary offer hospitality to the Lord and listen to his word – in contrast to the Samaritan village that rejected Jesus at the beginning of his Journey to Jerusalem.
Looking forward
Still others would downplay the connection with what precedes and emphasize the connection with what follows. Perhaps Luke is introducing his special theme of hospitality that plays such an important part in the rest of the Journey to Jerusalem and in the Acts of the Apostles. “The sisters together represent the proper response to the Prophet of receiving him in the home . . . Jesus’ response to Martha makes clear that the ‘one thing necessary’ for hospitality is attention to the guest, rather than a domestic performance.” (Johnson 1991, 175)
Although Luke clearly recommends hospitality to Christian prophets or messengers of God’s word, this interpretation of the Lord’s saying makes it a homey maxim quite removed from Jesus’ characteristically incisive social criticism. This domesticates the message of Jesus almost to the point of being trite. Also, it doesn’t address the underlying controversy over ministerial roles for women. It is this controversy that is relevant to today’s listeners. Perhaps we need to look further for the meaning of Luke’s story.
Various perspectives on roles for women
It is interesting to note that Luke presents both women as carrying out what would have been male roles in a Galilean or Judean setting. Both women would have been crossing social boundaries for behavior. By extending hospitality to a man Luke portrays Martha as performing the duties of the eldest male of the household. Mary likewise assumes a male role by sitting at the feet of the Lord and listening to his words the way a male disciple would.
Also, it would have been extremely unusual, if not downright scandalous, for a man to meet in private (inside someone else’s home) with women who were not his wife or blood relatives, unless another man who was their guardian was present. No other male is present in Luke’s story. Even the group mentioned at the beginning of verse 38, disappears from the scene. Only the Lord enters the village and into the house. (See Pilch 1997, 112-113; Malina & Rohrbaugh 2003, 271.)
The two women in Luke’s story are so out of character that it appears that Luke is reflecting more on the conditions of missionaries in Gentile lands than on an actual historical situation in the life of Jesus. At some levels of society in the ancient Mediterranean world outside of the Land of Israel women could own homes and other property in their own right. They could offer hospitality to others and even preside at meals.
It appears that this actually happened as the Jesus movement spread outside of Palestine and penetrated the Greek speaking culture of the Roman Empire. Paul twice mentions Prisca along with her husband Aquila and the church assembled at their house. (Romans 16.3-5; 1 Corinthians 16.19) He refers to Junia and her husband Andronicus as prominent apostles. (Romans 16.7) He refers to “Chloe’s people,” as members of or slaves in her household. (1 Corinthians 1.11) Paul refers to the practice of women praying and prophesying in the liturgical assembly. (1 Corinthians 11.5) Finally, the fact that Paul had to curtail the practice of women’s speaking in assemblies (1 Corinthians 14.33-36) indicates that it had been going on for some time, contrary to the practice of the assemblies in Jerusalem and Galilee.
Add to this that the name “Jesus” is not used in this Sunday’s gospel passage while the title “Lord,” used by the early Christian community, appears three times. (The lectionary introduction refers to Jesus for clarity, but the text reads: “he went into a certain village.”) All this points to conditions at the time Luke was writing (about 85 C.E.) rather than during the time of Jesus’ ministry (around 30 C.E.).
Thus, the story of Martha and Mary and the Lord seems to be a kind of parable that Luke crafted with his predominantly Gentile readers in mind. It is very likely that there were real sisters named Mary and Martha associated with Jesus’ ministry. John the evangelist also has two quite different stories in which they play an important part. (See John chs. 11 and 12.) It appears that toward the end of the first century they had become stereotypical female figures in the Christian imagination. The matter is further complicated by the fact that, by the time Luke was writing, “sister” had become a code word for a believing woman or a woman involved in Christian ministry.
It seems, then, that in order to get his point across Luke places Martha and Mary in roles that would have been understandable to his readers in their own cultural setting. It is something like the practice of Medieval and Renaissance painters portraying biblical figures in dress contemporary to the artists’ times.
Martha’s problem reflects conditions in the early Jesus movement. As LaVerdiere puts it, “the demands of hospitality or table service are too great.” (1990, 152) Martha, too, would like to sit and listen to the Lord’s words, but there is no one to help her except her “sister.” So, she calls upon the Lord to have her “sister” help her. (Note that Martha does not use Mary’s name.)
Compare this with Luke’s story in Chapter 6 of the Acts of the Apostles (volume two of his Gospel). In Jerusalem the community of disciples of Jesus was experiencing growing pains. Greek speaking disciples complained that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food (what Luke calls “the daily service”). The Twelve declared that it was not right for them to neglect the word of God in order to “serve tables.” Obviously, they had been serving food to the needy, but (like Martha?) they wanted to concentrate on “service of the word.” They needed help, and they asked for seven good men. Then the Twelve prayed [to the Lord] and laid hands on the seven, commissioning them to serve tables.
Curiously, only two of the Seven are heard from again in the Acts of the Apostles, and neither of them is engaged in table service. Instead, Stephen (chs. 6 & 7) and Philip (ch. 8) are engaged in service of the word. Later in Acts the latter is even identified as “Philip the evangelist, one of the seven.” (Acts 21.8)
What is going on here? Why was table service so important that even the Twelve were involved until they got help? Why was it important for someone to carry out this function if the Twelve couldn’t do it? Why did those appointed to take care of table service end up being involved in service of the word?
Luke gives us a clue in another meal setting. He alone places the dispute about greatness in the context of the Last Supper.
A dispute also arose among [the apostles] as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But [Jesus] said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at table? But I am with you as one who serves." (Luke 22.24-27 [NRSV])
Luke alone passes on another saying of Jesus: “Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.” (Luke 12.37 [NRSV])
In these passages Luke’s Jesus identifies with those who serve at table rather than with those who recline at table and enjoy the after-dinner discussion. It seems that in the early Jesus movement table service was a symbol of the command to love one’s neighbor as one’s self by serving the needs of others. Involvement in table service was essential to being a disciple of Jesus.
Why, then, does Luke’s Lord reprimand Martha for being “anxious” (Greek: merimnáo) about ministry or serving? Paul actually praises “the unmarried woman virgin” who “is anxious [same Greek word] about the affairs of the Lord . . . .” (1 Corinthians 7.34) Why does the Lord criticize Martha for doing the same things that Abraham, Sarah, and their servant do in Genesis 18 (today’s first reading)?
Barbara E. Reid thinks that Luke’s story reflects an early Christian debate about the proper role for female disciples. John the Evangelist takes one side of that controversy and presents Martha as an example both of one who serves (John 12.1-3) and of a person of deep faith when she says: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” (John 11.27) This confession of faith is put on the lips of Peter in the other three Gospels. Luke, on the other hand, calls upon the Risen Lord’s authority to downplay the ministerial activity of women in his community and to recommend quiet listening to the Lord’s word. (Reid 1996, chapter 11, “Pitting Mary Against Martha,” 144-162)
Concluding remarks
Thus, in John and Luke we have two varying traditions in two different Gospels. Even if we admit that Luke’s judgment was appropriate to the circumstances of the Christian communities to whom he wrote, it does not necessarily follow that his judgment applies to our day. John’s approach might well be more appropriate. The Gospels heighten the importance of the choices we face; they do not take away our responsibility.
Perhaps Barbara E. Reid has said it best in the concluding chapter of her book.
There are stories of the women who minister: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and the others who provided for the mission from their financial resources; Martha, who is reprimanded for her concern about serving; Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others who announced the angels’ words and were not believed. Each of these presents us with a mixed message. Each preserves traditions about the presence of women in various ministerial endeavors. But Lukan redaction renders the women silent, reinforcing behind-the-scenes, supportive roles for them. These stories confront us with the reliability, giftedness, and resources of women for mission and invite us to reevaluate any restrictions of access to ministry on the basis of gender alone. (Reid 1996, 206-207)
Explanatory Note:
Redaction is “the preparation of written work for publication; editing, reediting, or revision.” (Webster 2002, a.v.) It is “a form of editing in which multiple source texts are combined (redacted) and altered slightly to make a single document. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent work.” Redaction involves “the collection, arrangement, editing, and modification of sources.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redaction)
“For example, if Matt[hew] and Luke used Mark, the fact that they greatly esteemed the Twelve is made evident by their omission of Marcan verses stressing the failure of the apostles and by their addition of segments showing the apostles in a good light (Luke 9:18-22 omits from Mark 8:27-33, and Matt[hew] 16:13-23 adds to it).” (Brown 1997, 24)
In preparing these reflections, in addition to the biblical texts, I consulted the following works:
Brown 1997 – Raymond E. Brown, S.S., An Introduction to the New Testament. The Anchor Bible Reference Library (New York: Doubleday, 1997)
Cousar et al. 1994 – Charles B. Cousar, Beverly R. Gaventa, J. Clinton McCann, Jr., James D. Newsome, Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV, Year C. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994), pp. 436-438.
Fitzmyer 1985 – Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV : Introduction, Translation, and Notes. Anchor Bible Volume 28A. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1985), pp. 891-895.
Fuller 1984 – Reginald H. Fuller, Preaching the Lectionary. The Word of God for the Church Today (Collegeville MN]: Liturgical Press, 1984), pp. 488-489.
Funk, Hoover & the Jesus Seminar 1993 – Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993), p. 325.
Johnson 1991 – Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke , Sacra Pagina Series Volume 3, A Michael Glazier Book (Collegeville [MN]: Liturgical Press, 1991), pp. 171-176.
LaVerdiere 1990 – Eugene, LaVerdiere, S.S.S., Luke. New Testament Message, Volume 5. A Michael Glazier Book (Collegeville [MN]: Liturgical Press, 1990), pp. 151-153.
Malina & Rohrbaugh 2003 – Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, Second Edition (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), p. 271.
Metzger 1994 – Bruce M. Metzger, A textual Commentary on the Greek New Testiment, Second Edition (Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 1994), p. 129.
Pilch 1997 – John J. Pilch, The Cultural World of Jesus, Sunday by Sunday, Cycle C . A Liturgical Press Book (Collegeville [MN]: Liturgical Press, 1997), pp. 112-114.
Reid 1996 – Barbara E. Reid, Choosing the Better Part? Women in the Gospel of Luke. A Micahel Glazier Book (Collegeville [MN]: Liturgical Press, 1996)