Lazarus, Mary, and Martha

 

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while. Please excuse my inconsistency lately.

 

Some months ago, even before the last couple of blogs, I was thinking about our relationships with Jesus. I imagine that most of my audience follows Christ simply because the nature of the blog is Christ-centered. I was drawn to the stories of Lazarus (John 11) and Mary and Martha (Luke 10).

These two stories are essentially about Jesus’ relationship with one family. In their interactions, we see how they value Jesus, as well as what Jesus values from them and from us.

First, we see Mary and Martha, who are with Jesus, and Martha tries to serve him, while Mary chooses intimacy. Martha complains, and Jesus said Mary chose rightly. Jesus doesn’t love us more because of our good works; he doesn’t love me more because I’m a missionary. He loves me more just because he does ( joke). I don’t believe he loves me more or you less; he probably does have his favorite personalities, though. It seems most parents have a favorite personality among their children.

I think Martha was trying to serve the Lord out of love, and work has to be done, but it isn’t more important than intimacy with the Lord. In fact, I would argue our work should flow from our intimacy and love. We see this from Jesus when Lazarus dies.

 

Jesus finds out about his friend Lazarus and travels back to Mary and Martha. The ladies are upset. In the moment, Jesus has compassion and weeps. Clearly, they were friends, and Jesus cared about the family. Care comes from the intimacy of a relationship, not just service and action. It's from the love he had for them, including Lazarus, that he raised Lazarus from the dead. Not from an obligation of service.

Jesus doesn’t love us because we kick and scream; he doesn’t do miracles because we gave money that week. He engages our intimacy and empowers us to serve him through that intimacy. I'm not saying not to share the gospel, I'd say sharing the gospel with the lost is a basic fruit of faith and intimacy with Christ. As many secular people have pointed out, “Christians” who don’t share their faith must not believe in Christ. My point is Christ doesn’t give us approval for our service, he loves us regardless. We can't earn his love. What he wants is our love. The more our love grows with the Lord, the more our lifestyle and actions begin to prioritize him, especially since to love our neighbor as ourselves(Mark 12:31) should naturally include introducing them to our best friend, Jesus.




References:

John 11 CSB

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2011&version=CSB

 Luke 10 CSB

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2010&version=CSB

Mark 12:31

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2012%3A31&version=CSB

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