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Continuing our study of Luke chapter 10, this week we’re looking at verses 38 – 42. Please read these verses every day this week and, if possible use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 10:40 (The Message)
‘But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. “Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.”’
On occasion, I enjoy watching cookery programs such as Masterchef or Bake-off Britain. I quite like cooking and always wonder how badly I would do when placed under the intense pressure of having to get everything just right.
Each programme shows the ‘controlled chaos’ of preparing a meal that is going to be scrutinised and criticised with every bite. The ingredients will need to be perfect, the cooking process flawless and the presentation needs to be a work of art. All this just for a few moments of culinary pleasure.
There are some cookery programs where the contestants have to work as a team and each one is responsible for some aspect of the dish that is integral to the finished article. It is in these programs that the pressure tends to build and occasionally tempers are flared and anger is expressed in sometimes violent ways. If one ‘chef’ thinks that the other isn’t pulling their weight or if they’ve done something wrong, then boy will they hear about it. The old phrase is ‘If you can’t stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen’. Kitchens are tough places to be when the pressure is on.
Mary and Martha have welcomed into their home the greatest guest of all time. The creator of the universe is coming to dinner. God’s Messiah has arrived and I guess that the whole town is aware of what’s going on tonight in ‘Chez Mary and Martha’. I’m surmising here, but my feeling is that they would have had conversations like: “What are we going to prepare for Him? Should we invite our friends along? How much veg shall we prepare? What happens if we run out of sandwiches? Will we have enough chairs?”
I think it is possible that the room will be used to feed Jesus, Lazarus, Mary and Martha plus the 12 disciples. How would you react if you had to prepare a full meal (and all the trimmings) for 16 people? Perhaps Lazarus wasn’t there but assuming the disciples are actually there, that still leaves 15. It’s a tough ask isn’t?
It is in this kind of context that Martha, who is trying to hold it all together in the kitchen, glances into the room and sees her ‘co-chef’, her sister apparently doing nothing! Mary is sat at Jesus feet while Martha is running around like a headless chicken. As a result, she loses it and goes to deal with ‘the problem’. Notice however, that she’s not only finding fault with Mary, but she’s accusing Jesus of being complicit! “Don’t you care?” she said to the Saviour.
Today, don’t let the cares of the world crush in and cause us to find fault with those closest to us. Also, please don’t allow the stress of various activities lead us to question God’s care for us.
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