Do you know what was on the Lord’s heart while He sat in Martha’s home in Bethany? The Lord’s heart was set on His death. He knew that He was going to Jerusalem to die. He wanted His followers to set aside their works, their doings, and go with Him to be crucified.
While the disciples were on the way to Jerusalem with the Lord, they were busy in such matters as arguing who was greater and in forbidding others to do things for the Lord. In particular, the brothers were busy with their ambition. The sisters, on the contrary, were busy in serving, in ministering. But among the sisters there was one— Mary—who was not busy. She was calm and sat in silence listening to the Man-Savior’s word. As a result, she came to know what was on the Lord’s heart.
Mary realized that He was going to Jerusalem to die. Twice the Lord unveiled His death to His disciples, but they did not have an ear to hear the Lord’s word. Mary, however, heard the Lord’s word concerning His death, and she took this word. Having heard and received the Lord’s word concerning His death, she looked for the opportunity to anoint Him before He died (Matt. 26:12).
In 10:38-42 the Lord may have been speaking to Mary about His death. At that juncture, what was on the heart of the Savior was His approaching death.
Luke 9:51, the beginning of the section in this Gospel on the Lord’s ministry from Galilee to Jerusalem, says “And it came about, when the days were being fulfilled for His being taken up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” The phrase “being taken up” refers to the Lord’s death. Here we see that the days were being fulfilled for the Lord to go to Jerusalem that He might die there. Hence, from this time onward, the Lord’s one consideration was His going to Jerusalem to die. He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. Therefore, the unique matter on His heart as He was on the way to Jerusalem was His death.
When He was close to Jerusalem, in Bethany, He was received into the house of Martha. While there, He was speaking the word, and Mary was listening. As we have pointed out, He may have been talking concerning His death. The brothers did not have a heart for this, and neither did Martha, who was busy serving. The only one who had a heart for the Lord’s word concerning His death and who sat quietly listening to His word was Mary. She sat at His feet and listened to the Savior’s word, a word that expressed His desire and preference.
The two cases in 10:25-42, the Lord’s portraying Himself as the good Samaritan and His being received by Martha, are related. The first shows the Savior’s compassion and love for our salvation, and the second reveals His desire and preference for our service to Him. We need to know the Lord in these two aspects. We need to know His compassion and love in salvation and His desire and preference for our service.
Before doing anything for the Lord, we must first know His compassion and love related to our salvation and His desire and preference related to our service. This implies that we leave our natural man on the cross. There is no need for us to do anything for our salvation, and we should not do anything in ourselves in the Lord’s service. With respect to both salvation and service we should remain on the cross. Then we shall know the Man-Savior’s compassion and love for our salvation and His desire and preference for our service.
We have seen that the name Martha probably comes from Chaldean and means “she was rebellious” and that Mary comes from Maria, Greek for Hebrew Miriam, meaning “their rebellion.” These words come from the same root, a root that means rebellious or rebellion. However, it is possible for a rebellious one to become a submissive one. In nature Mary was rebellious, but she became submissive not only to the Lord’s compassion and love but also to His desire and preference. Therefore, in the New Testament Mary was the unique one who touched the Lord’s desire to the uttermost. For this reason she is set forth as an example for the followers of the Lord. We all should be like Mary in following the Lord and in serving Him.
In taking Mary as an example, we need to remember that originally she was rebellious. By the Man-Savior’s compassion and mercy she was made a submissive one, one who loved the Lord and served Him not according to her opinion or by her effort, but according to His desire and preference. Here we see the way for us to be saved and the proper way for us to serve Him.
The Gospel of Luke is a book full of the Man-Savior’s human virtues and divine attributes. His ministry from Galilee to Jerusalem was carried out in His human virtues with His divine attributes. In composing his Gospel, Luke put the Lord’s portraying Himself as the good Samaritan together with His being received by Martha at Bethany. Luke’s purpose in doing this was to show how to receive the Lord’s salvation and how to serve Him after we have been saved.