Are You a Mary or Martha?Sample

Today, let's focus on Mary. Remember that she had just buried her brother, and she runs to Jesus when she finds out He is in town. Do you know she used the exact same words as her sister to question Jesus? The exact same words! Only I imagine the way she used them was very different. I envision her in tears, depressed, falling down at His feet, crying out, “Jesus, where were You? If You had been here, my brother would not have died.” I sense she is hurt, confused, and feeling broken.

Do you know what happens next? Scripture tells us that Jesus wept. Did you know that is the shortest verse in the English version of the Bible? Jesus wept. When I read this, I thought to myself… “I don’t get it." I just cannot understand why Jesus is crying. We know Jesus is about to do the greatest miracle anyone had ever seen up until that point. People are about to learn He is the Messiah either because they witness it firsthand or hear about it from someone who did. The miracle He is about to perform will be talked about and preached about for all of history and will bring countless people to the knowledge of Christ to receive their salvation. I would think He would be jumping up and down with excitement, anxious to make Mary feel better. I would think He’d be exclaiming, “Mary, I have a surprise for you! Come here. Quickly!” But no. It says Jesus wept. So, I asked God why. Why did Jesus cry? Do you know what God said to me? He said, “Because that is what Mary needed."

Martha needed someone to snap her back into place. Someone to have a conversation with her. Someone to talk through what was happening. Mary, on the other hand, needed someone to wrap their arms around her, hold her, and cry with her. She did not need someone to fix her problem, she just needed someone to understand how she was feeling.

Does that mean, because He responded differently, He loved one of them more than the other? Actually, I think it is the exact opposite. By responding differently, He is showing them He loves them both so much; He knows each woman deeply. He knows every detail about them. He knows who they are and how they respond. He searches their hearts so He can understand fully what they need for comfort, and He is willing to do whatever that is.

Aren’t you thankful that God, who made each of us so uniquely different, also understands exactly what we need when we are going through hard times?