Martha is often given the short shrift. She lived with her brother Lazarus and her sister Mary in Bethany where Jesus lived when he was in the Jerusalem area. She worked hard, cared for people but was criticized by Jesus, or so it seems.
I don’t think Jesus was criticizing those who serve guests and take care of details. He was commenting on the nervousness, “worry and bother” that was causing Martha to miss the whole point of the gathering. Jesus was there and it is more important to spend time with him than in scuttling about in a nervous tizzy. Mary certainly helped too, but she was aware of the real import of the moment.
Bethany (picture above) is much bigger now than in Jesus’ day. Today it is an Arab town called El-Aziriye, after Lazarus. It was the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha.
The other picture is of me coming out of Lazarus’ Tomb. We have visited this tomb often. It is incredible to enter this tomb and then reemerge to read St. John 11 and the historical account of Jesus raising Lazarus from this very tomb.
This demonstrates again that the Bible is historical and accurate. The places mentioned in the Gospels still exist. On our pilgrimages, we visit, touch and pray at these sites. You can be proud to be a Catholic and confident in the Bible and the teaching of the Church!
To see these sites on DVD, get our Jesus, the Word Became Flesh where we visit Bethany, the home of Martha and Mary and the Tomb of Lazarus.
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Too bad many Evangelicals and Fundamentalists refuse to see it but the Bible is pretty clear about new birth through the sacrament of baptism. Jesus is not ambiguous in this matter and he is alluding quite clearly to new beginnings in the Old Testament. The Early Church is also very clear and so is the teaching of the Catholic Church today.