Mary & Martha

In our study this week, we will meet two women: Mary and Martha. They are sisters who lived in a little town called Bethany, just a couple of miles outside of Jerusalem. They both knew and loved Jesus during his ministry on earth. They may be familiar figures to you—Mary and Martha feature prominently in some important Scripture passages that are common material for teachings and sermons. If you have heard about them before, I invite you to approach their story with fresh eyes, putting aside the descriptions you have heard others offer before and letting the biblical text tell you about them directly. This is not meant to suggest you have been taught anything wrong with regard to Mary and Martha, but rather that when stories are familiar, we sometimes rush through them, thinking we have already discovered what they are about. Return to the text afresh with a willingness to move deeper into the story so that richer insight might emerge (with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, of course!).