The Whole Picture
First of all, I want to answer the question: What is the most important thing we can do to build a relationship with someone? I’m sure you came up with the same answer. The most important way to build a relationship with someone is to spend time with them. This goes for our families, our friends and of course, the Lord. We want to become a “student” of those we desire relationships with.
Next, I want to explain “Jenna’s Picture” to you.
The figure in red is Mary. The figure to the right of Mary is Jesus. There is a very faint figure to the left of Mary, this is her sister Martha. I don’t know whether you can see it, but Jesus is crying. Jenna said that Jesus is very sad, because Martha is working so very hard. Jenna said she drew the dark circles on the paper to make Jesus feel better (your guess is as good as mine as to why she did this, but she thought it would help the situation).
Yesterday, I asked you to draw a picture of Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet. If you did this, you probably did exactly what I asked you to do. Draw MARY, sitting at JESUS feet. Jenna, on the other hand, did not follow my directions. After hearing the story, she saw a bigger picture, the whole picture.
What Jenna helped me to remember is this: We want to always look at the entire situation. What is going on all around, as we read the account of Jesus, Mary and Martha (as well as the account of any of the beautiful stories in the Bible). Every detail is important for our understanding. It is very important when we study scripture, not to add to or take away from its intended meaning. We want to pray that the Holy Spirit puts the Lord’s revelation in our hearts. Although we are going to look at the verses separately, we will keep in mind that the purpose and meaning of this passage would be lost if we were to separate Martha, Mary and Jesus.
Today, we’ll look at verses 38 and 39. Remember, I am using the King James translation. The Bible that I am using is “The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible”, Spiros Zodhiates and AMG International, Inc. Publishers. If I were to encourage you to purchase one item for studying the Bible, it would either be a Hebrew-Greek Study Bible or a Vine’s Concise Dictionary Of The Bible. The Vine’s is a quick access to the original Hebrew and Greek words of the Bible, and is less expensive ($13 at a Christian outlet store).
Verse 38 “Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.”
The Greek word for received is “Hupodechomai. It means to receive hospitality and kindly.”
Martha accepted Jesus into her home and showed Him hospitality.
Verse 39 “And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard his word.”
Sometimes there are words in the Greek that do not translate well into English. The word sat is one of those words (this is where a Hebrew-Greek Bible can help you in ways the Vine’s cannot). It’s meaning can be better understood when we look at its relationship to the word (verb) heard (sat at Jesus’ feet and heard).
Taken from “Grammatical Notations” pages 1568-1571, Hebrew-Greek Study Bible: “Sat refers to a simple action. However, in its relationship to the verb heard, it possibly signifies action prior to that. The word heard refers to continuous action, which conceives of an action in past time as simply having taken place; Greek word for heard is Akouo, and means to understand.” “His word”, word in the Greek is Logos. In this case, it is the divine communication of Jesus.
Isn’t it amazing, how a little explanation can fill your mind and your heart with an absolutely beautiful picture? Because Mary placed herself in a position to “hear” the Lord, she understood His divine communication. If I understand what the Holy Spirit is revealing to me, this was not the first time that Mary had sat at the feet of Jesus.
Scripture to ponder: Luke 10:38-39: Martha’s kind hospitality to Jesus and Mary’s availability to Jesus.
A Very Personal Thought to ponder: When was the last time I sat at Jesus’ feet? How often do I make myself available to Him, to hear Him?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 9:37 pm and is filed under Bible Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
