In the Presence of Jesus

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.

Luke 10:40–42 NIV

40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

So, there are a couple of things to note here today

1. Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus

Sitting at the feet of people was common among teachers and Disciples or students.

This is interesting because this was typically reserved for the men

However, Jesus allowed Mary to sit and listen

Mary’s job, according to society, was to be preparing the meal.

In fact, often times the woman would rarely be seen

They would be busy working on the meal

So, Mary goes against the norm to sit at the feet of Jesus

This is likely why Martha was upset

2. Martha was too busy to sit as Jesus feet

How often do we find ourselves too busy to rest in the presence of Jesus?

What Martha was doing was completely normal, in fact, it was expected

She didn’t do anything wrong here

But she also didn’t understand the importance of learning from Jesus

Taking the time to sit and listen to what He has to say

3. Mary later anoints Jesus

There are three distinct stories about Mary of Bethany and this story is the first.

The second is when Jesus raises her brother, Lazarus from the dead

The third is when Jesus returns to Bethany and is having a meal with Lazarus.

Martha is serving food and Mary then gets down and anoints Jesus’s feet with her hair and expensive perfume

Depending on the version of this story you read in the gospels, you will see that the disciples, and particularly Judas, was concerned about the price of the perfume

But, what is interesting to me is that even then, they missed the point of what Jesus was up to.

Except for Mary of Bethany. She knew.

Could it be that she knew because she had sat at the feet of Jesus before?

She did what it took to learn from Jesus before, she saw Him raise Lazarus from the dead, and now she apparently knows what He is about to go through....This is whole other discussion that we won’t dive into.

Worship Team

So, I wonder…do we have the same hunger that Mary does to learn from Jesus?

Are we willing to give what we are “supposed” to do to rest in the presence of Jesus?

Do we find ourselves being like Bobby, the 7-8 year old boy who just wanted to be with Jesus?

Or, are we too busy doing the things that need to be done?

Are we too busy worrying about other things that we miss what Jesus wants to teach us?

I want to challenge you this week to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen.

Block out 15 minutes of undistracted time.

Begin with prayer and ask Jesus if He would speak to you.

Just sit and listen for 15 minutes.

As we move into the responsive time, if you would like to just be with Jesus you’re always welcome to come up and kneel at the front and allow Him to be your teacher and you His disciple.

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