1 SPECULATIONS

1

Speculations

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 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!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42

We've called this "Speculations" because we are going to make some and talk about the many that are in circulation about these two ladies, as well as their brother.

Probably much speculation grew out of how little we really know about these people who seemed so important to Our Lord. And like many parts of Scripture, things become mysterious to us because of time and distance and culture. Even simple things, such as a place name, can become matters of debate. For instance, we know Jesus' encounters with Martha and Mary took place in Bethany.

PLACE

Bethany was a village located about two miles from Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives. Today there is a Palestinian town at this location with the Arabian name al-Eizariya or el-Azariyeh and sometimes just called Lazariyeh. However you wish to spell it, it means "Place of Lazarus", a nod to the miracle that occurred there nearly two thousand years ago. (We'll talk a bit about this guy Lazarus later.)

The problem of meaning is not with the modern day name of the village. It is with the name it had at the time of Jesus, Bethany. Many, perhaps most, references will say it means "House of Dates". However some later linguists contend the Aramaic "beit 'anya" used in the Syriac translations of New Testament is the correct form of the name and this means, "house of affliction" or "Poor House". Apparently it is thought this is also more descriptive of the village since it was a center of aid to the sick and the destitute, as well as to the pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem.

It doesn't really matter how you translate the name Bethany as far as the import of the events, which happened there; although, given certain information surrounding the home of Martha and Mary, House of Affliction has a certain poetic appeal. I say that because of two people who will come up later in the story, Lazarus and Simon the Leper. We know the former grew sick and died and we can see by the name of the latter that he had his own health issues. Thus people associated with this story were afflicted.

TIME

Times are not always easy to pin down in Scripture. We are first introduced to Martha and Mary sometime in the last six months of Jesus' life on earth during what is called the "Later Judean Ministry". We are told, "as Jesus and his disciples were on their way", which could mean anytime during the events listed in this period. If we accept one dating of Christ's Crucifixion as occurring in the Spring of 30 AD, then this visit may have been in November or December of 29 AD. Events given just before his visit with these sisters include several arguments and confrontations with religious leaders and Jesus' sending out the 72 witnesses.

In January, Jesus and his disciples leave Judea on what is called the Perean Ministry. At some point in the middle of this, he is called back to Bethany because Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary has died. After he raises Lazarus from the dead, he cures ten lepers (again that House of Affliction) and then continues the Perean Ministry. Finally, Jesus turns back to Jerusalem for the last time and again visits the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus (perhaps) just before what we call Palm Sunday. This would most likely be March of 30 AD.

It is obvious from the text, though, that Martha and her family are not some new acquaintances when they first appear in Scripture. The Gospel writers do not share how Jesus first met them and any other facts about their relationship. Thus we have a lot of speculation about these people.

Illustration: "Christus in het huis van Martha en Maria" (Christ in the House of Martha and Mary) c. 1654-1655 by Johannes Vermeer.