I don’t want to wear this out but here is the thing about the Bible and culture – working through this takes time. I appreciate those of you taking the time to work through these posts.
You can read Luke 10:38-42 two different ways and both get you to the same main point but one hits different than the other.
Here it is again,
“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. 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.””
The main point is that Mary has chosen better and that we need to prioritize Jesus.
If you read that with zero knowledge of their world – you get the point.
Now, let’s insert the cultural data and read it again and you will see the difference.
Cultural data – In their world, a single woman often needed a chaperone in public. She had to be incredibly modest to not bring shame on the family or have any hint she was doing anything in appropriate. It was frowned on for her to be talking with men in public. This was because they lived in an honor/shame culture like we see in the East today. Some would rather die than experience public shame or bring shame on their family in some of these cultures. That is much different than in the West where we are often largely unaware of these dynamics/cultural elements and don’t notice them in the text. Women had an area of the home – more private than the more public, male-centered, front area of the house. Disciples of rabbis were men, not women and this stands out even more in the story when you see her at “Jesus’ feet” (see Acts 22:3 where Paul studied “at the feet of Gamiliel” – NIV misses this and just says “Studied under”). Sitting at the feet of the rabbi is the posture of a disciple.
So now, read it again…
“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. 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.””
You and I won’t hear it quite the same way but here is what I am hearing…the main point is still the main point, that “Mary has chosen what is better” but when you add in the cultural components you discover a few things.
What is better = sitting at his feet as a disciple, which was not a thing in their day. It went outside cultural norms. She also presumably left Martha in the women’s area of the house and moved into the men’s area of the house, amongst the men. Someone pointed out the men aren’t mentioned in the story – they are in verse 38 that Jesus was with his disciples.
Put yourself in her shoes – this does get subjective. She made a decision to be where Jesus was and learn from him even though it crossed some potentially costly cultural lines…even though she could have been shamed for it. Martha is trying to protect Mary from herself and is subtle about what she is saying to not heap more shame on Mary. This is a HUGE step by Mary…whereas in our world and culture we would just think, “Well, she can be in this room or that…that part doesn’t matter an awful lot” because that part doesn’t mean anything to us…so we skip right over it…it isn’t obvious to our eyes and ears as it was to theirs.
Then there is Jesus confronted with does he get things back in line with the norm or let her learn with the men/like the men. This, again, is not something rabbis did…so this is a big deal…Jesus defends her right to be there…but even MORE…he says what she did wasn’t just tolerable…it was the better thing to do. Jesus didn’t feel pressure to bend to the societal/cultural norms that would prevent Mary from learning from him.
So the main point is still there – Mary choose what was right but what loaded into that choice took an incredible and incredibly risky move that we cannot even begin to appreciate and Jesus defended her access to a space that typically would result in shame. The cultural backgrounds actually accentuate the main point, not change it.
Hope this helps…if you haven’t read the first three posts, I suggest you go back from the start. The comments have been stellar and thought provoking as well. Have a great day!
If you missed the first three parts, start with part 1 here. I believe it will help you see the Bible from a bigger perspective.
