MARTHA Martha was one of the sisters of the famous Lazarus in the Bible. We first meet Martha in Luke 10. After Jesus preached the parable of the Good Samaritan, they came to the house of Martha in Bethany. She immediately opened up her house to Jesus. While Martha was busy preparing all the food, her sister, Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to what He was saying. Martha got upset that she had to do all the work herself. She then spoke to Jesus and asked Him if it doesn’t bother Him that she had to do all the work while her sister was not helping. She then instructed Jesus: “ Tell her to help me! ”, (Luke 10:40). It is never a good thing to instruct the Lord, as He will always know better. Jesus calmly replied to Martha that it is not required to have so many things prepared. Even if there was only one thing to eat, this would be sufficient. Martha was so busy with her preparations and trying to be a good hostess, that she forgot what is really important. Listening to Jesus! If we were so blessed to be able to sit at the feet of Jesus, listening to what He was saying, would we really concern ourselves at that moment with cooking food? We know from John 11:5 that the three siblings, Martha, Mary and Lazarus had a very personal friendship and relationship with Jesus. “ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus ”. When Lazarus got very ill, the two sisters immediately sent word to Jesus about the illness. “ Lord, the one you love is sick ”, (John 11:3) Once Jesus received the message, He told the disciples that the illness would not result in His death. Lazarus being ill, was to glorify God and the Son of God. Only two days later, Jesus told His disciples that they should go back to see Lazarus. He told them that Lazarus was asleep and that He needed to go back to wake him up. Only later on did He explain to the disciples that this meant that Lazarus was dead, and that they needed to go there so that the disciples may believe. Once Jesus and the disciples came close to the town, Martha went out to meet them. At that stage Lazarus was already buried four days ago. Martha first blamed Jesus for the fact that her brother died. She believed that if Jesus came sooner, he could still be alive. At the same time, she was also steadfast in her believe in God saying: “ But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask ”, (John 11:22). Jesus told her that Lazarus will rise again, to which she replied that she knew this. Lazarus will again be resurrected at the last day. Jesus then asked her a very important question: “ I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this? ”, (John 11:25) Martha replied that she did believe this, and she believed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. After this, Martha and Mary took Jesus to the tomb where Lazarus was buried. Jesus was sad and He wept. He ordered the stone in front of the tomb to be removed. Martha said to Jesus that they should not do this as Lazarus was already in there for four days and the body would have a bad odor. Jesus replied to her: “ Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? ”, (John 11:40). Once the stone was removed, Jesus prayed to God and then called onto Lazarus to come out of the tomb. Lazarus then walked out of the tomb with his hands, feet and head still wrapped in the burial linen. The last time we see Martha is in John 12, six days before the Passover. She hosted a dinner in Jesus’ honor. Once again, we see her serving and preparing food. Martha had to learn how to balance serving the Lord, with listening to Him. We can deduce that Martha and her family were blessed with financial means, as she always opened up her house to others and was always willing to prepare the best. Her sister Mary even anointed the feet of Jesus with the most expensive perfume. If we are financially blessed in this life, it is good to keep in mind that the best way to spend our financial blessings are in honor of the glory of God. Martha was very blessed to be a personal friend of Jesus, and although she tried to command Jesus and even blame Him, she never faltered in her faith. There is some of Martha in most of us. We are quick to blame and question God if something goes wrong. We need to always keep in mind that this world is only temporary and that we must stay strong in our faith as our eternal life is forever. ​