As one commentator notes, "Martha, the more aggressive sister, went to meet Jesus, while quiet and contemplative Mary stayed home. As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, "We are surely justified in arguing that, since Matthew and Mark place the scene in the house of Simon, St. John must be understood to say the same; it remains to be proved that Martha could not 'serve' in Simon's house. It was unusual for a woman in first-century Judaism to be accepted by a teacher as a disciple."[5]. Jesus will not criticize a woman for keeping a neat house, nor will He especially bless a woman who sits around all day at His feet and does nothing else! As one commentator notes, "Martha, the more aggressive sister, went to meet Jesus, while quiet and contemplative Mary stayed home. Tell her to help me!” Martha and Mary. Otherwise, the powerful message from the parable located in this setting would likely be preserved elsewhere, too. Martha goes immediately to meet Jesus as he arrives, while Mary waits until she is called. [26], Martha appears in the sacred gnostic text Pistis Sophia. Mary sits and listens to him as he talks, but Martha objects to the fact that she is left with all the work. In the Gospel of John, Martha and Mary appear in connection with two incidents: the raising from the dead of their brother Lazarus (John 11) and the anointing of Jesus in Bethany (John 12:3). However, if one considers the story historically accurate, happening in Jesus' life apart from the similar incidents recorded in the other gospels, the question of the authenticity of the parable receives a different answer. This reading plan introduces you to Martha and Mary. It was worth a year's wages." Martha also figures in the commemorations of Lazarus Saturday (the day before Palm Sunday). From John we learn the name of the "woman" who anointed Christ's feet previous to the last supper. In fact, she showed great hospitality in inviting Jesus in and wanting to serve him well. Mary is contrasted with her sister Martha, who was "cumbered about many things"[Lk 10:40] while Jesus was their guest, while Mary had chosen "the better part," that of listening to the master's discourse. [12], Western Christianity's identification of Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany was reflected in the arrangement of the General Roman Calendar, until this was altered in 1969,[13] reflecting the fact that by then the common interpretation in the Catholic Church was that Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalene and the sinful woman who anointed the feet of Jesus were three distinct women. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? Nevertheless, after the ascension of our Lord, they sold all these things. Is it credible, in view of all this, that this Mary should have no place at the foot of the cross, nor at the tomb of Christ? [10] But where Jesus' response to Mary is more emotional, his response to Martha is one of teaching, calling her to hope and faith: When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. [2], In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus visits the home of two sisters named Mary and Martha. Rather than Jesus' above-mentioned comments on the "poor you will always have with you", in Luke he tells his host the Parable of the Two Debtors. He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. Carol Ann Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, Jacqueline E. Lapsley (editors), the proliferation of New Testament "Marys", Three Anointings and One offering: The Sinful Woman in Luke 7.36–50.