“But one thing is needful (some see it as ‘only one course of food is needful’), for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

He then points out that Mary is busy about something better, ‘the one thing needful’. She has chosen the better part. She has chosen to feed on His word. And that is so important that it must take precedence. It must not be taken away from her. She will have many opportunities to cook and prepare once He has gone, but she will have few to sit at His feet and learn

We must, of course, recognise that Jesus recognised here the deep sincerity in Mary’s desire for His word. For her all idea of food was put on one side because she was hungry for His words. And that was why He replied as He did. It was not giving her an excuse to avoid work in daily living. And it also brought home to all present that while daily work was necessary, as was daily bread, spiritual work and spiritual bread were even more important. For ‘man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord’ (Deu 8:3)

We should note, however, that there are many places elsewhere where Jesus does teach the importance of doing, not just listening (e.g. Luk 6:46-49). He would have had no time for indolence. The point here is that Mary would have few opportunities to hear Him, so here it was different.

Almost certainly had we been present in that house we would have found that Jesus did later take Martha privately to one side and commend her for all she had done. He would not have left the situation as it is here. But it is so described here so that the important lesson is drawn out. That while daily bread is necessary, receiving His word is more important. Man shall not live by bread alone (Luk 4:4). He needs most of all the bread from Heaven.

‘One is needful.’ This may be saying ‘there is only one thing that is absolutely necessary’ (to hear His word) or it may be saying to Martha, ‘only one course was necessary, if you had remembered that you would have been able too listen to Me too’. Mary had recognised this because she was so eager to hear His words. But whichever way that was, the stress is on the importance above all else of hearing His words before anything else.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Luk 10:42. But one thing is needful: “There is one thing absolutely necessary, and of infinitely greater importance than any of those domestic and secular affairs; even the care to have the soul instructed in the saving knowledge of the way that leads to eternal life, and to secure a title to it. And Mary is wisely attending to this; therefore, instead of reproving her, I must rather declare, that she has chosen what may eminently be called the good part, which shall not be taken away from her,which I would by no means hinder her from pursuing; but rather invite thee to join with her in attention to it, though the circumstances of the intended meal should not be so exactly adjusted as thy friendship could desire.” There is a peculiar spirit and tenderness in our Lord’s repetition of Martha’s name, Martha! Martha! Nothing can be more frigid than the interpretation given by some of this passage, which certainlycontains a most important truth: Thou art careful and troubled about many dishes, but there is need of one only. The praise bestowed on Mary, as having chosen a better part than Martha, does not imply that the contemplative life is more acceptable in the sight of God than the active, as the Papists would have us believe: for though it should be granted that the comparison is carried on between the employments of Martha and Mary, as they stand in the sight of God, the conclusion will not follow which they pretend to draw from it. The reason is plain; they are not two courses of life, but two particular actions, which are here compared; in which case nobody will deny, that to hear the word of God as occasion offers, provided we do it with a view to profit by it, is more acceptable in the sight of God, than to exercise any art or occupation relative to the present life; for no other reason, however, but that it tends more to the happiness of the person himself, which is the great end that God has proposed in all his laws and ordinances. In the mean time it may be doubted, whether this be the meaningof the comparison; our Lord designed rather to signify, that though he was not displeased with Martha’s civility, Mary’s listening to his doctrine wasmore acceptable to him, because he had infinitely greater pleasure in instructing, sanctifying, and saving souls, than in any kind of sensual indulgences whatsoever. As he beautifully expressed it on another occasion, His meat and his drink was, to do the will of his heavenly Father.

Inferences on Our Lord’s interview with Martha and Mary. The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; he that had all things, possessed nothing: our Lord was now in his way; the sun might sooner stand still than he; the more we move according to his will, the more we resemble heaven, and God its Maker. His progress was now to Jerusalem, for some holy feast: he whose devotion neglected not any of those sacred solemnities, will not neglect the due opportunities of his bodily refreshment; he knew where a ready welcome awaited him, and retires to the village of Bethany.

There dwelt the two devout sisters, with their brother, his friend Lazarus: their roof receives him: O happy house, into which the Son of God vouchsafed to set his foot! O blessed women, that had the grace to be the hostesses of the God of Heaven! How might we envy your felicity, did we not see the same favour lying open to us also, if we be not wanting to ourselves. We have two ways of entertaining the Saviour:in his members, and in himself: in his members, by charity and hospitality: for what we do to one of his little ones, we do to him; in himself, by faith:If any man open, he will come in, and sup with him.

Martha, it seems, as being the eldest sister, bore the name of the housekeeper; Mary was her assistant in the charge: a blessed pair, sisters not more in nature than in grace, in spirit no less than in flesh. How happy a thing is it, when all the parties in a family are jointly agreed to entertain Christ!
While his bodily repast is preparing, he prepares spiritual food for his hosts: his best cheer was to see them spiritually fed; how then should they whom he has called to the sacred function be instant in season, and out of season, after his blessed example! They are, by his divine ordination, the lights of the world: and we know that no sooner is the candle lighted, than it communicates the light which it has received, never intermitting, till it be wasted to the snuff.
Martha’s house is become a school of Divinity. Jesus, as the doctor, sits in the chair: Martha, Mary, and the rest, sit as disciples at his feet. Had these sisters provided our Saviour never such costly delicacies, or waited on his board never so officiously, yet, had they not listened to his instructions, they would never have bidden him welcome, nor would he so well have liked his entertainment. This was truly the way to feast him;to feed their ears with his heavenly doctrine: O Saviour, let my soul be thus feasted by thee; do thou thus feast thyself by feeding me: this mutual diet shall be thy praise, and my happiness.

Though Martha was for a time an attentive hearer, yet now her care of Christ’s entertainment removes her from his audience. Mary sits still: Martha’s care is to feast Jesus, Mary’s to be feasted of him: good Martha was desirous to express her joy and thankfulness for the presence of so blessed a Guest, by a careful and plenteous entertainment: and who will censure this excess of her solicitude to welcome her Saviour? Doubtless, she herself thought she did well; and, out of that confidence, fears not to complain to Christ of her inactive sister.

I do not see her come to her sister, and whisper in her ear the great need of her aid; but she comes to Jesus, and in a sort of petulant expostulation, addresses him, (Luk 10:40.) Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Why did not she rather make the first application to her sister? Was it that she knew Mary’s ears were so tied with those adamantine chains which issued from Christ’s mouth, that till his silence and dismission she had no power to stir? Or was it out of honour and respect to Christ, that in his presence she would not presume to call off her sister, without his leave?

We cannot, however, excuse this holy woman from some weaknesses; it was a fault to measure her sister by herself; and, apprehending her own act to be good, to think her sister could not do well, if she acted not alike. It was a fault, that she thought an excessive care for the liberal outward entertainment of Christ, was to be preferred to a diligent attention to his spiritual entertainment of them; and it was a fault, that she presumed, as it were, to question her Saviour, as of a kind of disrespect to her toil:Lord dost thou not care?

And yet, surely, Martha, it will be allowed, that thou here wantedst not fair pretences for the ground of thy expostulation: Mary, the younger, sits still, while thou art cumbered with much serving: and what work was thine, but the hospitable reception of thy Saviour and his train?Not for the gratification of thy own, or any carnal friend’s luxury, but for the refreshment of Christ himself, to whom thou couldst never be too obsequious:all this, however, cannot deliver thee from the just blame of this hasty and petulant complaint. How ready is our weakness, upon every discontentment, to quarrel with our best friend; yea, with our good God; and, the more we are touched, to think ourselves the more neglected, and to challenge heaven for our own neglect!

It could not but trouble devout Mary, to hear her sister’s impatient remonstrance.A remonstrance, urged too with so great vehemency, as if such a strangeness had now subsisted between the two sisters, that the one would do nothing for the other without the compulsion of a superior. And yet, we hear not one word of reply from that modest mouth. O holy Mary, I admire thy patient silence; thy sister now blames thee for thy piety; the disciples (afterwards) blame thee for thy bounty and cost: not a word falls from thee in just vindication of thine honour and innocence; but in a humble taciturnity thou leavest thine answer to thy Saviour. What an admirable lesson is thine for us, when complained of for well-doing, to seal up our lips, and wait our vindication from above!
And how sure and ready is our Lord to speak in the case of the modestly-dumb; Martha! Martha! &c. (Luk 10:41.) What needed Mary to speak for herself, when she had such an advocate? Doubtless, Martha had been in a manner divided from herself with the multiplicity of her anxious thoughts: our Lord therefore doubles her name in his appellation; that thus, amid such distraction, he may both find, and fix her heart; doubtless she fully expected that Christ would have sent away her sister with a check, and herself with thanks; but now her hopes fail her; and though she be not directly reproved, yet she hears her sister more approved than herself: Martha! Martha! thou art careful, and troubled about many things.

Our Saviour receives courtesy from her in this diligent and costly entertainment; yet will he not gloss over her error, or sooth her in her weak misprisionA caution to us, that no obligations may so enthral us, as that our tongues should not be free to reprove faults, where we find them.
Alas! how much care do we see every where, but how few Marthas? Her solicitude was for her Saviour’s entertainment, ours is for ourselves: one finds perplexities in his estate, from which he desires to extricate himself; another racks his thoughts for the raising of his house, or distracts his imagination about the doubtful condition, as he thinks, of the times, and casts, in his anxious fancy, the possible events of all things,opposing his hopes to his fears. O why do we so needlessly, so fondly set our hearts upon the rack, and with such avidity endure to bend under those unequal burdens, which more able shoulders have offered to undertake for our ease?

Whether Martha be pitied or taxed for her assiduity, Mary is evidently applauded for her devotion: (Luk 10:42.) One thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen, &c. One thing is necessary, not by way of negation, as if nothing were necessary but this; but comparatively, since nothing else is so necessary. There must be no opposition, but a subordination only, between spiritual and temporal things; the body and soul must be friends, not rivals; nor may we so cultivate the Christian as to neglect the man.

How great is the vanity of those men, who, neglecting that one thing necessary, affect many things superfluous! Nothing is needless with worldly minds, but this only necessary thing, the care of their souls. How justly do they lose that which they care not for, while they take an over-care for that, which is neither their proper pursuit, nor possible to be kept. Mary chose the good part; it was not forced upon her, but taken up by her own option; and we too have still this holy freedom of choice, through the divine operation of him, who hath called us unto the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Happy are we, if we improve this liberty to the best advantage of our souls.

The liability of good adds much to its praise: Martha’s part was soon gone; the thanks and use of a little outward hospitality cannot long continue; but Mary’s shall not be taken away from her. The act of her hearing was transient: the fruit was permanent; she now hears that, which may abide with her for ever, if faithful unto death.

But what couldst thou hear, O Mary, from those sacred lips, which we hear not still?That heavenly doctrine, for ever still the same, and equally unchangeable with its author. It is not impossible, that the exercise of the gospel should be taken from us; but, if we be faithful, the benefit and virtue of the gospel will be as inseparable from our souls, as is their being: in the hardest times, they shall take the closest hold upon the persevering believer; and till death, and in death, yea, and after death, shall make him eternally happy.

REFLECTIONS.1st, The harvest was plenteous, but hitherto the labourers had been few. We have therefore seventy disciples ordained to the ministry, invested with miraculous powers, and sent as harbingers to prepare the way of Christ in all the adjacent country whither he was preparing to go. Their number corresponds with the elders of Israel on whom the Spirit of the Lord rested in the wilderness; and they were sent two and two for their mutual comfort and encouragement.

1. They must address themselves in prayer to God for success upon their own labours, and that he would raise up and qualify many more to go forth and preach the gospel. And this must be still the constant subject of our requests to God: the more we look round on the world, and see immortal souls perishing for lack of knowledge, the more zealously should we labour, and the more fervently pray that the Lord would send forth labourers into his harvest.
2. He tells them what they may expect to meet with. Though they were never so harmless and inoffensive, and their discourses breathed nothing but peace and love, they would have enemies to encounter, fierce and savage as wolves: but he who sent them would afford them protection, and minister strength and courage to them in their work. And, if God be with us, we need not fear who are against us.
3. He orders them to make no provision for their journey, but trust in Providence for the supply of their wants: and, as their work required dispatch, they must not lose any time in unnecessary discourse or civilities with any person whom they met. Not that Christ enjoined rudeness and incivility; but there was no time for compliments, when the service was urgent.
4. Wherever they entered into a house, there he orders them to say Peace be to this house, praying that all blessings, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, might rest upon those who dwelt there. And if the son of peace be there, any who wait for the consolation of Israel, and of consequence into whose hearts the Son of God hath put a desire to hear and receive the gospel of peace, then an answer of peace should be given to their prayers, your peace shall rest upon it; but if not, if there be none in the family, whose hearts are open to embrace the truth, it shalt turn to you again, and your prayers for them shall be answered in blessings on your own souls. Note; (1.) They who preach the gospel of peace, cannot but fervently desire, for all those among whom they minister, that God would speak peace by them to the consciences of their hearers. (2.) Some receive, but more reject, our preaching and prayers; yet even to those who perish, our labours and prayers are not in vain; we are still a sweet favour of Christ; and, though they reject the salvation which we bring, Christ will approve and reward our fidelity.

5. In whatever house they were at first received, there they must abide; thankfully and cheerfully making use of the provision set before them, and not doubting but their labours would procure them that welcome which they deserved. They must be content with the meanest fare, and never, affecting nicety, change their lodgings for better accommodations, lest they should incur the suspicion of being fickle or flesh-pleasers. Note; (1.) Christ’s ministers have a right to a maintenance. (2.) When the love of souls, not of filthy lucre, draws men to labour in the gospel, they will learn, in whatever state they are, therewith to be content, and put up with the poorest accommodations.

6. He directs them what must be the subject of their preaching. They must say, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you; the kingdom of the Messiah, with all its inestimable blessings and privileges, is now ready to appear; prepare to receive him: and he empowers them to heal the sick, in confirmation of their preaching, as well as in return for the kind civilities which they received. Note; Nothing is ever lost by kindness shewn to Jesus and his servants.

7. In case their ministry is rejected, and they are driven from their work, they are to leave that devoted city, publicly declaring the doom ready to light upon the place, and shaking off the dust of their feet for a testimony against the inhabitants thereof, assuring them of the nearness of the Messiah’s kingdom, and the dreadful consequences which must unavoidably ensue from their obstinacy and impenitence. And in the day of judgment it shall be more tolerable for Sodom than for the inhabitants of that city, because they have rejected greater means of grace than were vouchsafed to that abandoned city. Note; (1.) None sink under such aggravated guilt as those who despise and reject the gospel. (2.) The day is near when these despisers will wonder and perish.

8. On this occasion our Lord turns his discourse to the inhabitants of those cities where such multitudes of his miracles had been wrought, and who notwithstanding continued impenitent. Chorazin, Bethsaida, have their fearful doom read. Had the most wicked cities of the Gentiles enjoyed their blessings, and privileges, and calls to repentance, even Tyre and Sidon had long ago been brought into the dust of humiliation. Therefore the judgment of the impenitent heathen, in the day of vengeance, shall be more tolerable than theirs: and the inhabitants of Capernaum, exalted to heaven in privileges, shall sink as low in hell under the wrath of God, provoked by their hardened infidelity. Let the lands and places that enjoy the gospel light, hear, and tremble at these denunciations.
9. He encourages the seventy to go forth. They are his ambassadors: he will reckon the treatment they meet with as shewn to himself. Those who heard and respected them, he would regard, as if they shewed this attention and kindness to his own person; while they who despised their persons, and rejected their ministry, he would consider as insulting him, and putting contempt on God who sent him. Note; Many ill-use, slight, and contemn Christ’s ministers, and treat them as mean and despicable; but they will shortly feel, to their cost, that the King of glory will fearfully avenge the insults shewn to his ambassadors.

2nd, Having finished their ministry, we have,
1. The return of the disciples to their Master, transported to find that even the devils were subject unto them, and ascribing the glory to him, in whose name they were enabled to work such stupendous miracles. Note; All our victories over Satan must be ascribed to the grace and power of the great Captain of our salvation, and in him we may and ought to rejoice greatly.

2. He received them very graciously.
(1.) He tells them it was no news to him that the devils were subject unto them. I beheld when I sent you forth to preach the gospel and work miracles, Satan as lightning fall from heaven; his power and kingdom began now to be shaken and totter; and this was the presage of his more irretrievable ruin, when in the Gentile world the gospel should quickly spread, and, rooting up idolatry and spiritual darkness, turn the hearts of sinners from the power of Satan unto God.

(2.) He enlarges their powers, as the reward of their fidelity, and an encouragement to persevere. They shall tread upon serpents and scorpions unhurt; and the old serpents and his venomous associates, whether men or devils, should be bruised under their feet. And nothing shall by any means hurt you. Under almighty protection you may defy every danger. Note; They have nothing to fear, who have Christ for their master, and execute his commission.

(3.) He checks their joy on this singular distinction with which he endued them, and directs them to a nobler cause for it; rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven; else, though they had cast out devils, they might themselves finally perish, and become companions with them. It is not gifts, but graces that evidence our adoption of God, which should afford us most joy.

(4.) Christ expresses his delight and thankfulness for the blessings conferred on these his poor disciples: and to this hour nothing rejoices the hearts of his people so greatly as beholding the progress of his gospel, the fall of Satan, and the conversion of men’s souls. He said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, the great Disposer of all things, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes, leaving the proud scribes and doctors of law under the darkness of pretended science, wilfully and obstinately prejudiced against and strangers to the mysteries of grace; while poor illiterate men, of low capacities, and contemptible in the eyes of the worldly-wise, are put in trust with the gospel, and enlightened with the Spirit of truth. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight: such was the pleasure of infinite wisdom, the more to manifest his own glory. All things are delivered to me of my Father, all power and authority, all wisdom and grace to communicate to them that believe. In Jesus are all the treasures thereof laid up, and out of his fulness we must receive. And no man knoweth who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him: the perfections of the divine nature are only fully known by the divine Persons themselves; and we can only be acquainted with them, and their gracious purposes towards fallen man, so far as the Son of God is pleased to reveal them to us: and he does reveal them to every believing soul.

(5.) Turning to his disciples privately, he pronounces them truly blessed, favoured with the sight of the Lord’s Christ, and enjoying clear discoveries of that kingdom of grace, which the Messiah was now come to erect in the world. Prophets and kings in former ages desired in vain to see and hear what they, more highly favoured, saw and heard. Note; The distinguishing mercies we enjoy, should exercise our thankfulness, and quicken our diligence to improve them.

3rdly, We have the same question proposed by one of the scribes, as was put by the young ruler, Mar 10:17 not so much with a view to be informed, as with the intention to entangle our Lord in his talk.

1. In answer to his question, Christ turns him over to the law; in which he fancied himself deeply conversant, and bids him say what he read there, as the way of obtaining the eternal life which he sought: and when the scribe replied, that the conditions there prescribed were the perfect love of God and our neighbour, Christ approves the answer, and assures him, Do this, and thou shalt live. Such perfection of obedience without any deviation will entitle those who can plead it, to the reward. But where alas! is this to be found? The more we read the tenor of the covenant of works, the more, if our minds are enlightened, shall we be driven to despair of ourselves, conscious how far we have been from continuing in all the things written in the book of the law to do them. But the lawyer had not read with this view. For,

2. He, willing to justify himself, as if he had kept the whole law, desired to know who was to be reckoned his neighbour; conceiting, probably, that his justice and charity had been so extensive to the whole house of Israel, that he might justly claim the reward of immaculate obedience.

3. Christ, by an apposite case in point, lets him see his ignorance of the divine law, and the defectiveness of his charity; correcting at the same time the corrupt notions of the Jewish teachers, who reckoned themselves not at all obliged to shew the least kindness to those who were out of the pale of their communion. The history here represented is very beautiful and affecting.
[1.] A Jew, as he travelled from Jerusalem to Jericho, fell among thieves, with which the road was greatly infested; and these, not satisfied with having plundered and stripped him of his raiment, inhumanly wounded him, and departed, leaving him weltering in his blood, half dead, and ready to expire. This case may fitly represent the state of mankind, by nature way-laid by Satan the great enemy of souls, robbed of the garments of innocence, wounded, and dying in their sins, without power or strength to help themselves.

[2.] In this disastrous condition, in which the poor wounded traveller lay, by chance there came down a certain priest that way, whose office and character should have engaged him to exercise his humanity and compassion towards an object so pitiable, especially to one of his own nation and religion: but his unfeeling heart was steeled against his brother, and, turning to the other side of the road, he pursued his journey unconcerned. A Levite quickly followed, as callous to every humane sensation: he just came and looked on; and, not caring to be at the trouble or expence of providing for a dying man, he kept on his way, and left him to perish there. Hard-hearted monsters! cries every tongue. But alas! such Levites and priests are found in every age, who not only with-hold their hand from relieving the wants of the miserable, but leave the more precious souls of men to perish, unconcerned what becomes of them. Some suppose that these represent the law of Moses, from which no mercy is to be expected: it makes no provision for a man a sinner, nor speaks one word of comfort to the guilty; but leaves the soul under a curse which extends to eternal death.

[3.] A Samaritan, one of that despised nation, travelling that way, saw the miserable object, and compassion instantly melted his heart. Without waiting to know of what country he was, he went to him; and pouring oil and wine into his wounds, he bound them carefully up, perhaps with the very linen garments that he wore, and, gently setting him on his own beast, he carried him to the nearest inn, and saw every accommodation provided for him which the place would afford. And on the morrow, having waited that night to see the poor patient well provided for, he gave the host, on parting, two-pence, about fifteen pence of our money, with a charge to take all possible care of the wounded man; and engaged to defray, on his return, whatever expence might be farther incurred. A noble instance indeed of humanity and generosity! We cannot be at a loss to whom this character of the good Samaritan eminently belongs. Jesus is come down from heaven; he sees sinners lying in their blood, helpless and desperate; his compassions are kindled towards them; he binds up the wounds of the guilty sinner’s soul, even of all who will believe; his own blood is the healing balm that he pours into them; he brings them into his church, where they are fed with the provision of his ordinances; he revives them with the cordials of his love, and bears their charges through the inn of this world, supporting them with the riches of his grace; he commends them to the care of his ministers, whose diligence, if they be faithful to the end, he will not fall, at his second coming, to reward.

4. Christ proposes to the lawyer the question, which of these was the neighbour to the wounded traveller? and the case was too clear to admit of hesitation; he could not but answer, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. Think not you have kept the law, or even understood the extent of the command, before you feel the same compassionate spirit, the same readiness to relieve even a Samaritan, as he shewed towards this Jew.An extent of charity to which he had been hitherto an utter stranger; and therefore his self-justification was self-delusion.

4thly, We have,
1. The hospitable entertainment given to our blessed Lord by a good woman who lived at Bethany, named Martha. Though his character was obnoxious, and his retinue numerous and poor, yet she was not ashamed of owning her respect for him, and was happy to furnish him with the best that her house afforded. A gracious heart makes an open hand. We should grudge no expence, when Christ’s cause demands our support.
2. Mary, the sister of Martha, sat at Jesus’ feet, attentive to his divine instructions; and, as, according to his usual custom, he began to discourse about the glad tidings of his salvation, she listened with eagerness to the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. Note; (1.) Ministers not only in public, but from house to house, should delight to dispense the gospel-word. They are profitable visits, when a gracious discourse seasons the entertainment. (2.) They who would be wise unto salvation, must sit at Jesus’ feet.

3. Martha, desirous to shew her respect for her honoured guest, was very busy in providing the entertainment. Her diligence was commendable; but she was too much taken up, cumbered with much serving; she wanted to make the feast splendid, and was so distracted with those worldly engagements, that she could not find leisure to attend the heavenly discourse of the Redeemer. Note; (1.) Family cares, inordinately engaging the mind, are a great snare to our souls. (2.) Christ’s servants should not cumber themselves with much serving. They who eat and drink to the glory of God, will not look for delicacies.

4. Displeased that Mary came not to her assistance, Martha brings her complaint to Christ; Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? She seems not only to blame Mary’s backwardness to assist her, but almost reflects upon Jesus, that he should suffer her to sit there, when she wanted her help in the family; and therefore suggests that it was but reasonable, that he should bid her go, and assist in providing for the guests. Note; (1.) They who have their own hearts much set upon the world, are ready to find fault with those as negligent, who shew not the same anxiety after it. (2.) Too many, like Martha, are apt to think that the exercises of religion encroach upon the duties of our station; but, usually speaking, the fault is, as here, far on the other side.

5. Christ reproves her inordinate carefulness. Martha, Martha; he speaks with earnestness and pity, thou art careful and troubled about many things; giving herself unnecessary anxiety, when Christ required no such sumptuous entertainment. But one thing is needful, to know Christ and partake of his salvation. Compared with this, every thing besides is unimportant; therefore should this engage our first and chief concern: and we are highly culpable, when other things divert us from attending to the interests of our immortal souls. Note; (1.) Faithful rebukes are the truest marks of genuine love. (2.) They who are full of inordinate care, are sure to involve themselves in many troubles. (3.) Christ’s disciples have need deeply to remember this reproof and caution; for Martha’s anxiety is a besetting evil.

6. Instead of blaming Mary, as her sister expected, Christ commends her choice, and approves her conduct; She hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Note; (1.) However serious godliness may provoke the censures of the lukewarm, Jesus will commend what they condemn. (2.) They who have chosen Christ as their portion, and his word as their rule, have indeed wisely determined.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

DISCOURSE: 1518
ONE THING NEEDFUL

Luk 10:42. One thing is needful

HERE we are introduced, as it were, into the bosom of a holy family; and hear, in part at least, the instructions given to them: One thing is needful. Let us now suppose that we ourselves are that family; and that, in the place of our blessed Lord, I am called to instruct you. My subject shall be, that One thing is needful: and whilst I deliver that truth, so necessary to be received by you, I would deliver it as myself feeling its importance, and declare it with all the fidelity that such a subject demands.
Let me then,

I.

Shew what this one thing needful is

In general terms, it may be called, The care of the soul. But, that we may have the precise view of it which was conveyed at that time, I will speak of it,

1.

Simply

[Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to his instructions. This was the tiling complained of by Martha, and the thing applauded by our blessed Lord. Now, this is the one thing needful for you also. True, you cannot have the same access to him that Mary had: but he speaks to you in the written word, and through the ministration of his servants. What, then, should you do in relation to the written word? You should sit at the feet of Jesus there, from day to day, and ponder every truth that is there recorded. If you read, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me; you should instantly determine, through grace, to come to God by Christ, and to make him all your life and your salvation. Do you read that you are not to live henceforth unto yourselves, but unto Him who died for you and rose again; you should determine, through grace, to devote yourselves altogether to the service of your Lord, and to live for him alone. In like manner, when you attend upon the ministry of the word, you should hear it, not as the word of man, but, as it is in truth, the word of God. You should come in the very spirit of Mary, and sit as in the very spirit of Mary, and hear as in the spirit of Mary; not from curiosity, not in a cavilling spirit, not to perform a customary duty, but to get instruction for your souls. Your whole soul should be swallowed up, as it were, in the subject proposed for your consideration; and every word that is spoken should be treasured up in your heart for the regulation of your faith and practice. This attention to the interests of your soul should be the one employment of your minds from day to day.]

2.

In a way of contrast

[The one thing needful is not contrasted with vice of any kind. The man who indulges in any evil course is far enough from the one thing needful: he goes in the high road to perdition, without so much as dreaming of the one thing needful. No: the thing of which Martha complained was, that when there were household concerns which called for her sisters attention, she was attending to the concerns of her soul. This was what she blamed; and what our Lord commended. Let me not however be misunderstood, as saying that any person is at liberty to neglect his worldly business; for an attention to that, in its place, is necessary for every living man: but it must not be suffered to interfere with the more important interests of the soul. On the contrary, where the two duties come in competition with each other, that must invariably be deferred. We blame not Martha for performing the rights of hospitality towards the Lord Jesus and his friends: but her care about this was excessive, and unseasonable too; inasmuch as, through her anxiety about this minor concern, she lost an opportunity for the benefit of her soul: and our Lord informs her that this was wrong. This, then, is the comparative view of the subject. The one thing needful is, to feel the paramount importance of eternal things, and to have the things of time and sense entirely subordinated to the concerns of the soul.]

Having explained the one thing needful, I will now,

II.

Commend it to your choice

Mary had chosen it, as I wish you also to do. And that I may induce you to choose it, I will set before you,

1.

The importance of it

[This is needful, more needful than any other thing under heaven. It is altogether needful both to your safety and happiness. Suppose you are ever so little engaged in worldly business, you may go to heaven: whatever relates to the world may be done for you: but no one can act for you in relation to the soul: if all the people in the universe were to unite their efforts, they could not supply your lack of services in the concerns of your soul. They must be attended to by yourself: and without the strictest possible attention to them, you never can secure heaven, never can be approved of your God. Nor can you be happy without this. You may be happy in the want of earthly things, even if you were as destitute as Lazarus himself: but can you be happy without the favour of God? without an interest in the Saviour? without a renewed heart? without a title to heaven? No, you cannot: you cannot know what peace is: you cannot look forward with comfort to a dying hour: you cannot contemplate, with any kind of satisfaction, the terrors of a future judgment, or the realities of an eternal state. Then, if without an attention to the one thing needful you can be neither safe nor happy, is it wise to neglect the concerns of your soul? It is well said, What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall he give in exchange for his soul? Methinks I have already said enough to engage you on the side of Mary, and to impress on you the necessity of following her example. Remember, this is the one thing needful; and, in this view, the only thing that is needful.]

2.

The excellency of it

[Two things our Lord speaks in commendation of it: first, it is good; Mary has chosen the good part: and next, it is permanent; It shall never be taken away from her.

Consider now these two points. First, it is good. Worldly labours, I grant, are good in their place, as means to some end: but there is nothing intrinsically good in any worldly office whatever. But spiritual exercises are good, irrespective of any end whatever. The love of God is good: the love of Christ is good: the love of holiness in all its branches, is good. The world may cry out against these things as they will, and load them with every opprobrious name: but they are good. They are reputed good by God, who expressly calls them so; and by angels, who know it by sweet experience; and by all the saints that ever lived, and who chose them on this very account. Yes, in the estimation of the ungodly too, even by the very men who hate and despise them, they are good: for it is in consequence of this conviction, that in their hearts they venerate a holy man, and wish to die the death of the righteous, though they cannot be prevailed upon to live his life. What does every man feel on his dying bed? He may not feel any great desire to serve God; but he feels a secret wish that he had served him: and that clearly shews what his judgment of this subject is. As for those who are gone into the eternal world, ask one of them what he now thinks of the one thing needful? There would be no difference of opinion between one that should come from heaven, and one who should come from hell: they would be equally decisive in their judgment, though, alas! with widely different feelings: and the very instant any one of you shall open his eyes in the eternal world, I will venture to say, he, if suffered to come back and deliver his sentiments, would speak more strongly and more decidedly upon it, than I ever have done, or ever can do. Will any of you, then, be so mad as to go on seeking the poor contemptible vanities of this world, in preference to what, by all in heaven, earth, and hell, is acknowledged as supremely good?

But consider, also, its permanency: If you choose this good part, it shall never be taken away from you. Can this be said of earthly things? Possess crowns and kingdoms, if you will: experience proves, that, by popular commotion or the events of war, you may soon be hurled from your eminence, into a state of bondage and misery. But of common possessions how soon may you be bereaved, by fraud, or violence, or inundation, or fire! And how soon must you, at all events, be deprived of them by death! But if you have sought for eternal happiness, who shall deprive you of that? God will not; and no other can. What can men do? All that they can do, is, to kill the body: they cannot touch the soul. And devils, what can they do? They can tempt, but they cannot force you to any single act. They could not even enter into the swine, without leave: how, then, shall they destroy a child of God? Your final enjoyment of the blessings you seek is secured to you by covenant and by oath: and whilst others, at death, lose all their possessions, you at death come into the fullest possible enjoyment of yours, an enjoyment that shall endure through all eternity.

Need I then say more? Surely, there can be but one common sentiment amongst you all. Would to God that there might be one determination also, a determination to devote yourselves unreservedly to God, and to mind from henceforth the one thing needful!
Think not, however, that this can be done without great and abiding efforts. For the ungodly world will surely cry out against you, as acting a most absurd part, and as carried away by a heated imagination. Yes, and even good people of a worldly cast, notwithstanding they be amongst your nearest and dearest relatives, will, like Martha, complain of you as carrying matters too far. And no doubt your minister also will come in for his share of the blame: for even Christ himself was blamed, and that by a pious person also, for encouraging Mary in an extravagant attention to her spiritual interests, to the neglect of her worldly business: Lord, carest thou not that my sister has left me to serve alone? Bid her, therefore, that she help me: for I cannot but consider you as encouraging her to carry matters to excess. As for me, brethren, I am willing to bear my share of the blame: it is no pain to me to bear what my Lord and Saviour bore before me. But be not ye discouraged. You see in Mary what you have to expect. You see, however, on the other hand, what approbation she met with from the Lord himself. And that sufficed for her. Let it also suffice for you. Only approve yourself to him, and you need not mind any thing that man can either say or do. It is decidedly the good part which I recommend to you; and therefore choose it, and follow it, and adhere to it, under all circumstances. Never will you repent of this line of conduct. Sit now, with unwearied perseverance, at the feet of Jesus; and you shall, ere long, receive his applauding testimony, and be seated with him on his throne of glory to all eternity.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

REFLECTIONS

Reader! in pondering the several weighty and important things contained in this chapter, let us both look again and again to the Almighty Author of his holy word, to accompany our reading of it with his gracious teaching. Jesus, when he sent forth the seventy disciples here spoken of, to the work to which he called them, sent them forth only to the city, or place, whither he himself would come. And without the Lord’s presence with us, what can we hope to enjoy of the Lord’s grace and blessing? We see in Chorazin and Bethsaida the awful event of Gospel Ordinances, unaccompanied with the divine favour. Lord! in mercy grant the doom of Capernaum may never fall on our British Israel!

Amidst this awful view, help me, thou dear Lord Jesus, help every truly regenerated Reader to rejoice in what thou hast said of Satan’s fall, as lightning from Heaven. Oh! for a heart renewed by grace to sing that song which John once heard in vision: Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And oh! the greater joy still, than that of treading on serpents and scorpions, to know our names are written in Heaven. Secured by this in God the Father’s everlasting love, we are One with Christ, and Christ with us; and sealed by God the Holy Ghost, unto the day of eternal redemption. Oh! Holy Father! taught by thy dear Son, let every renewed soul praise thee, that though these things be hidden, from men who are worldly wise, and prudent in their own eyes, yet hast thou revealed them unto babes. All which we humbly and thankfully refer unto thine own sovereign will and pleasure. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight!

Precious Lord Jesus! give us grace to hail thee, thou great Samaritan! Surely it is thou, and thou alone, which fully answereth to the character, thou thyself hast drawn, when from heaven thou camest down to this our world, to seek and save that which was lost. Lord! thou wilt bring thy whole redeemed home, though wounded by Satan, and dead in trespasses and sins! And oh! for grace, that until that hour comes for thy return, thy people may not be found like Martha cumbered with the many things of this unsatisfying, dying, sinful state; but through thy grace giving the power, like Mary, we may choose that good part which cannot be taken away.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Ver. 42. But one thing is necessary ] That bonum hominis, good of humanity, Mic 6:8 , that totum hominis, Ecc 12:13 ; the happiness, the whole of a man, viz. to hear the word of God and keep it. The original hath it thus, there is need of one thing; that is, say some, of one dish only: but the other sense is the better.

That good part ] Non tu malam, sed illa meliorem, saith Augustine. Thou hast done well, but she better.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Luk 10:42 . . With this reading the sense is: there is need of few things (material); then, with a pause or rather of one thing (spiritual). Thus Jesus passes, as was His wont, easily and swiftly from the natural to the spiritual. The notion that it was beneath the dignity of Jesus to refer to dishes , even as a stepping stone to higher things, is the child of conventional reverence. , the good portion, conceived of as a share in a banquet (Gen 43:34 ). Mary, having chosen this good portion, may not be blamed ( ), and cannot be deprived of it, shall not with my sanction, in deference to the demands of a lower vocation.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

one thing, &c. = of one of [them] is there need. Not the unspiritual idea of “one dish”, as there were not two or more as in our days. The Lord referred not to Martha’s serving, but to her over-care.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Luk 10:42. , whereas there is need of but one thing) The antithesis is , about many things, Luk 10:41. Comp. Sir. (Ecclus.) Luk 11:11; Luk 11:10 in the Greek. This one thing seems to be said of the same kind (class, genus) as the many things. One thing ( is the original, not , the one thing) in relation to the necessities of food (living), without the distracting varieties of a great feast.[103] The , but, twice employed, accords with this view. One needful thing, in the class (genus) of spiritual things, is equally commended [at the same time that the one needful thing in the way of food is praised], when it is termed , that good part: and therefore, if you refer the , one thing, to frugality in the viands of the entertainment, not only is the doctrinal lesson in the whole passage[104] not attenuated, but it is rendered the more full and fruitful by this interpretation. However, I do not dogmatically assert this view. I have said, seems. As concerns the thing itself, the force of the sentiment is not diminished thereby.-, good) better than Martha thought: tranquillizing, enriching.-, portion) A metaphor from a feast.-, hath chosen out for herself) What each soul chooses out, that it enjoys. The elect soul is accounted to have chosen the good part. So great is the goodness of the Lord towards those who are willing to receive it.- , shall not be taken away) Comp. Mar 4:25. The exemption from worldly service was thus confirmed to Mary.

[103] Called by the Latins dubia cna; ubi dubites quid capias, where you are puzzled by the variety what to take.-ED. and TRANSL.

[104] In a similar way, ch. Luk 17:21, there is no disparagement to the truth that the kingdom of God possesses the whole inner man of believers, even though the discourse, addressed directly to the Pharisees (and not to believers), is thus to be understood: The kingdom of God and the Messiah Himself is even already near at hand and in the midst of you. So also in Php 1:21, Christ does not cease to be the life of Paul, although Paul says in that particular passage, My life, wherein I must remain in the world for some time longer, altogether aims towards Christ as its object and mark. There is no reason that we should try to gain for the meaning and intention of the sacred words of Scripture, which are never void of the power of the Spirit, a richness of meaning even fuller than was designed. The denial of mere human caprice and fancy is certainly better than giving scope to such exercises of religious devotion.-V. g.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

The One Thing Needful

But one thing is needful: for Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.Luk 10:42.

1. An unending interest broods over this story. We return to it again and again, finding fresh lessons in it every time. Martha and Mary are sisters to whom every reader of the Lords life is drawn. In a certain way we feel grateful to them. They opened their home to the Lord when others cast Him out. They believed in Him; they ministered to Him; they worshipped Him. Yet to many readers they are a perplexing study. The one seems to exhibit a life ideal and spiritual; the other a life care-filled and worldly. It is a contrast which everybody feels to be painful; against which we all, at one time or another, have uttered our silent protest. Yet it continues to be felt. The two sisters have come to be looked upon as types of contrasted life rather than living beingstypes vague and conventional, mere figures in an old story, portraits of which the true features are effaced, the legend over the one being a word of praise, under the other a word of blame.

But the memory of the two women was not preserved in the Gospels to be a perplexity, or a contrast, or a mere mist cloud of vagueness and uncertainty. It is plain that to the two writers who have recorded their story, the forms of the sisters were definite, clear cut, natural, very human, and such as were to be studied in after days, and pondered, and profited by. And certainly the Lord had two very real, very greatly esteemed souls in His presence when He addressed them as He is here represented.

2. Martha was determined to provide a fine entertainment on this occasion. She was doubtless a notable housewife, and, not unnaturally, a little proud of it; and she had with her now her dearest and most honoured Guest, and was bent on setting before Him her best, and in her best style. So there was much anxious discussion, we may suppose, about what dishes should be prepared, and not a little anxiety about their being properly cooked and served, and that the honoured Guest should have what might please Him most. It was a loving impulse on her part, and our Lord did not fail to appreciate it. All natures do not express their affection in the same way. What a blessed fact it is that our Master and Judge sees the love behind the differences, and tolerates the differences for the loves sake!

The genuine kindness and mingled humour with which this old man of eighty-eight [Dr. Dllinger] looked on at youthful ways, is observable in the following letter, in which he described to me his holiday mnage with his nieces at Tegernsee:

We, uncle and nieces, are leading an idyllic life here, if an unsentimental one. I sit much in my room, and the girls go their different ways. Elise lives here much as the sparrows do, and has no cares except as regards the weather; she skips about, upstairs and down, now in the house, now in the garden, and finds room in that spacious heart of hers every day for a fresh friend. I believe she counts half the female population as her allies and patronesses. Jeanette, on the other hand, goes thoughtfully about, burdened with our household and culinary cares. She has a problem to solve which much resembles the squaring of a circle. It is her ambition to carry the art of saving to its highest point, and to eclipse, if possible, in this respect my old pensioned housekeeper. With all this, the old uncle is not to miss any of his comforts, nor is the dinner-table to be worse served than formerly, but rather better. Such opposite ends cannot of course be attained without much wear and tear of brain, especially here at Tegernsee, where living is dear, and the resources of Munich are not at hand.1 [Note: Louise Von Kobell, Conversations of Dr. Dllinger, 60.]

3. Custom in all ages has prescribed a feast as an appropriate way of honouring a guest. You give a man a mark of your confidence and respect by inviting him to your table; but you do not, after all, if you will think of it, show him the highest mark of respect by inviting him to a splendid and formal banquet, assuming that he is best entertained by the gratification of his appetite. You show him a higher token of your regard when you invite him to partake of your informal family meal; taking him into your private life, and assuming that he cares more for your society than for your fare. Mary discerned this fact, with a loving womans quick perception; and so she was less anxious than Martha about the details of the feast. She had done all that she thought necessary for comfort and decency; and she valued her Guest enough to desire to get something more out of His visit than the mere pleasure of seeing Him eat, or the gratification of having Him praise her viands. Call it a kind of selfishness, if you willindeed, Martha had no hesitation in calling it soit was nevertheless true, that Mary was bent on enjoying as well as entertaining her Guest. Surely we are all selfish to that extent. She knew the blessing of Jesus presence in the house.

When the allied armies entered Paris after the great battle of Waterloo, the British Ambassador prepared a banquet for the Duke of Wellington. The lady of the house observed that the Duke talked much, but ate little. So she called his attention to the fact that he was not eating. No, said he,No! I dont care much about eating and drinking.

There are many aspects in which the incident of the text may be viewed. Let us take three of them, and consider:

I.Two Temperaments.

II.Doing and Being.

III.First Things First.

I

Two Temperaments

1. There are some natures which are essentially passive, whose power is in their receptivity, and whose chief ministry is in their presence. Their lives pronounce benedictions, just as the activities of others confer benefactions. The bequests with which they enrich the world are not great charities and noble deeds, but sacred memories and gracious influences. They are the flower-gardens of humanity, whose value is in their beauty, not the orchards and fields, whose value is in their utility. Their charm is not in what they do, but in what they are. They are no drones in the hive of human industry, nor yet busy bees hurrying here and there in the prosecution of their useful task. They are flowers in the garden, distilling fragrance and supplying sweetness. They do not toil, neither do they spin; yet the aroma which they exude no toil can produce, and the exquisite beauty in which they are clothed no spinning can equal. They transform the crude materials in their environment into fragrance and sweetness, but the operation is carried on within, the aroma and the nectar are in their own natures. While they thus work for themselves, they live for others. They exude their aroma with generosity, they part with their nectar with liberality.1 [Note: Conversations with Christ, 160.]

While a most pleasant and delightful companion, enjoying nature and all good and innocent things in this life, Robert MCheyne had in a rare and singular degree his conversation in heaven, and the influence for good he left in every place which he visited was quite extraordinary. I remember Dr. Anderson of Morpeth telling me how, when he was minister of St. Fergus, which he left at the Disruption, MCheyne had spent a day or two in his manse; and not only while he was there, but for a week or two after he had left, it seemed a heavenlier place than ever before. Associated with MCheynes person, appearance, and conversation, on the walls of the house and everything around seemed to be inscribed, Holiness unto the Lord.2 [Note: Autobiography of Thomas Guthrie, i. 217.]

2. The contrast drawn here is not between two types of character, one of which is held to be inferior to the other. Our Lord is not commending a contemplative life, and reproving a life of action. As there are varieties of hue and form among the flowers of earth, as one star differeth from another star in glory, so there will ever be diversities of gift and nature among the members of Christs mystical body. He would not in this sense have all His Marthas become Marys, or all His Marys Marthas; only He would that both, that all, whatever their natural disposition or acquired character, choose the good part, and supremely and constantly approve their choice.

Both sisters were sincere and warmly attached disciples of our Lord. It is expressly stated by St. John that Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. The whole family were alike the objects of His tender regard. He honoured them with His friendship, blessed them with His society, and was well-pleased to make His abode within their dwelling. And when He came to raise Lazarus from the grave, He distinguished the two sisters, and Martha even more than Mary, by the full and comforting assurances of His power and grace. We must view both the sisters, then, as His faithful and devoted followers. Both of them looked to Him in faith as the Redeemer of Israel. Both of them acknowledged His claims, received His doctrine, relied upon His promises, and, in the face of obloquy and persecution, were ready to confess His name, and willing to bear His cross.

3. The contrast is between a bustling outward spirit in Christian service, even where the service is real, and that spirit which acts or rests, works or hears, gives or receives, speaks to others or feeds itself, prepares for Jesus or sits at His feet, always with the one thing in view, Christ Himself and His glory in our salvation. This one thing determines all life and work for the Christian, as it is the only hope and portion for the seeker after salvation. When working, even, as we think, in Christs name, takes us away from Christ Himself, working is wrong; we must then be content to be nothing, and to do nothing but sit at His feet. When this again would degenerate into selfishness or sentiment, we must bend our love to show itself in active serving. Ever the one thingChrist last, first, everywhere. His glory in us, our love to Him. For that which is needful, after all, is not our providing for Him, or even our sitting at His feet, but that He do show Himself in us, that we have Him dwelling in our hearts by faith.

The Martha and Mary type of character and disposition, if allowed to develop separately, must lead to extremes that would be pernicious to both. The one tends to materialism, and the other to asceticism and monkish laziness. But if these different modes of existence, viz., a life of activity and a life of contemplation, in germ already found in every man, were allowed to develop in a reasonable and just proportion, and brought into harmony with each other, then we should have a character well-pleasing to God and man. If the rational and sober care for the things of this world is counterbalanced by the care for the things of the spiritual world, and if the one thing needful is allowed to influence, control, and regulate our life and conduct, we should have a Christian character tending to perfection.1 [Note: A. Frst, True Nobility of Character, 22.]

I cannot choose; I should have liked so much

To sit at Jesus feet,to feel the touch

Of His kind, gentle hand upon my head

While drinking in the gracious words He said.

And yet to serve Him!Oh, divine employ,

To minister and give the Master joy,

To bathe in coolest springs His weary feet,

And wait upon Him while He sat at meat!

Worship or service,which? Ah, that is best

To which He calls us, be it toil or rest,

To labour for Him in lifes busy stir,

Or seek His feet, a silent worshipper.1 [Note: Caroline A. Mason.]

4. Christ gladly accepted the offering presented to Him by different types of followers. He sat at Marthas table. He proclaimed His pleasure in Marys offering. Special qualities, even when in excess, He did not reject. Marthas extravagant activity, and Marys extravagant generosity, did not offend Him. He looked at the motive, and, knowing that was right, He did not disdain the deed. He saw in the one a desire to honour Him in life, and in the other a desire to honour Him in death; and the desire consecrated the meal, and made of the anointing an embalming. Thus, whatever may be our native characteristics, love to Jesus will render them all acceptable to Him. And without that love, they will all be to Him an offence. Though some or all faculties and sensibilities be developed in you to the utmost possible extent, though you had all knowledge, and could remove mountains, and gave your body to be burned, without love you would be nothing.

It is worth remarking how much the poco pia little morewill add to a whole character. Two persons may seem to have equal elements of mental power, but there is an indescribable somewhat in the one which gives a flavour to all he has, or a certain direction to it, and which makes him more diverse, or even opposite. Mood is its passive form, purpose its active. It is like the perfume of a plant, or the amalgam in a conglomerate stone, and gives the man this individuality. By the first of thesewhat may be called the perfume of a characterour likings and friendships are determined; by the secondthe purpose of itwe guide our moral judgment. If we are to have a true friend these should go together.1 [Note: J. Ker, Thoughts for Heart and Life, 12.]

II

Doing and Being

1. Of the two sisters we have speaking likenesses. Their characters are of that pronounced type which is stamped on every act and manifested in every scene. In joy or in sorrow, at the feast or at the funeral, the individuality of each is clearly marked, the position of each is definitely fixed. Christ knows them perfectly. He has no need to ask Mary where Martha is at the time of feasting, or to ask Martha where Mary is at the time of mourning. There is the hall-mark of goodness on each of them, but we must look for it in the activity of the one and in the receptivity of the other. The goodness of Martha will be manifested in her many duties, that of Mary in her deep feeling and serious thinking. They were ideal sisters, and together took the place of the ideal wife, whom Lazarus must have despaired of finding. The one sister was the complement of the other in the home at Bethany. Martha made the home complete with every comfort; Mary filled it with peace and joy. If Martha was absent Lazarus felt uneasy, if Mary was away he was depressed. Neither sister could fill the others place. Martha would have made a most fidgety Mary, and Mary a most unconcerned Martha. The one was a perfect head of the house, the other was the heart of the home. A division of work could never have been discussed between them, for it divided itself. Each instinctively took the part that naturally fell to her, and their united efforts made the home at Bethany an elysium of comfort and happiness.

The Master does not extol sentiment at the expense of practical duty. We once knew a lady who sat for hours mooning over religious themes, and who grew quite lyrical on the subject of entire sanctification, whilst her fire-grate was choked with ashes, and her house became a veritable chaos. She mistook herself for Mary.

Our Lord delicately touches the defect of Martha in the word cumbered, or, as it is given in the margin, distracted. Simply, we must not allow legitimate cares to impair our full and free fellowship with our Master. It is here that so many of us err. The sisters represent two types, in themselves equally admirable; as an old writer puts it, Martha is good before dinner, and Mary after. Happy the Christian who combines the two!1 [Note: W. L. Watkinson, The Gates of Dawn, 280.]

2. It is easier to do than to be. God has planted in us so strong an impulse towards doing that into that, almost by a necessity of our nature, our main strength ordinarily flows. He has made us restless in childhood, active and energetic in youth, that we may not sink into sloth. There is an inherent delight in ones own activity which makes all in some degree, and some, perhaps, even to excess, long to be on the move, to have a share, or, if they can, to take a lead, in all that is to be done. Every one knows that an unemployed life is not the happiest; and if no employment is a necessity of our position, we are forced to make employment, or otherwise we are wearied out with having nothing to do. And with this natural spur to activity, God has further linked some of the highest gifts that He has put within our reach. It is generally in active service that we learn the warmest love. Those to whom we give our labour almost always at last win our hearts also. Those for whom we have made sacrifices we involuntarily cherish with the truest affection. If we wish to learn to love, the way to it is generally to serve.

3. But the life of being is higher than the life of doing. Perhaps we can quite see that the heavenly mind, and the pure soul, and the inner life which is true quite through, and which, the nearer we approach it, only shines with a purer and more unearthly light, is higher, is better, is more God-like, than any service that we can render. Perhaps when we compare the two, we are able to prefer in our judgment the Christian saint to the Christian hero, the highest of those who have attained to the life of inward holiness to the highest of those whose chief excellence is in their active service. Yet in our ordinary life, in our hopes and wishes for ourselves, in our judgment of our own conduct, the lower often supplants the higher.

We know full well that unless the fire of Christian self-surrender be within, all that we can see without is but hollow and dead, at the very best a mere part of the machinery of the world, having no more true spiritual value than the revolution of the earth on its axis. But what we are slow to know is that the inner fire, even when it has no outer service to set in motion, even when it burns alone, simply for the sake of burning, in the presence of the Lord, is still doing its appointed service, is still a power in the world of spirits, still preaches and teaches, and inspires and upholds, and is a channel of grace connecting earth and heaven, while it seems to be so still and so unemployed. Such lives are fountains of holiness, and nothing else has equal value.1 [Note: Archbishop Temple, Rugby Sermons, ii. 160.]

As for matters of Huswifery, when God puts them upon you, it would bee sin either to refuse them or perform them negligently, and therefore the ignorance of them is a great shame and Danger for women that intend Marriage. But to seek these kinds of Businesses for pleasure, and to make them your delights, and to pride yourselves for your care and curiositie in them, is a great vanitie and Folly at the best, and to neglect better things and more necessarie by pretence of being imployed in these things is surely though a common Practize, yet a peice of sinfull Hypocrisie. Doe them therefore when God puts them upon you, and doe them carefully and well, and God shall reward you, however the things themselves bee but meane, accepting them at your hands as if they were greater matters, when they are done and undergone out of Obedience to His Command. But let your Delight bee onely in the better part.2 [Note: Mary Ferrar.]

O Sister! leave you thus undone

The bidding of the Lord;

Or call you this a welcome? Run

And deck with me the board.

Thus Martha spake: but spake to one

Who answered not a word:

For she kept ever singing,

There is no joy so sweet,

As musing upon one we love

And sitting at His feet!

O sister! must my hands alone

His board and bath prepare?

His eyes are on you! raise your own:

Hell find a welcome there!

Thus spake again, in loftier tone,

That Hebrew woman fair.

But Mary still kept singing,

There is no joy so sweet,

As musing upon Him we love

And resting at His feet.1 [Note: Aubrey de Vere.]

III

First Things First

1. One thing is needful. According to some commentators, the reference is to Marthas unnecessary preparations, and the meaning is: A single dish is sufficient. But our Lord has a deeper purpose than to give a lesson on simplicity of diet, and the phrase has passed into popular and universal use in a purely religious sense.

The saying of our Lord may be read thus: Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things; few things are needful, or one. Or, paraphrasing the words, we might take the Saviours statement to be this: You do wrong to be thus encumbered, divided between this care and that. I appreciate the motive, I commend the aim; yet I cannot but blame the method. You are forgetting in your ministrations to Me what others forget in their provisionings for themselvesthat the real requirements of existence are few, few for the purpose of lifes maintenance, and few for the purpose of lifes fulness. Given certain great general elements, certain great general treasures, you have all that is really necessary; the heart that possesses them will be happy, the lot that includes them will be safe. Nay, continues the Saviour, I will go further. Did I say man wants few things? It would be truer to say he really wants only one thing. But that is the thing that ensures all, binds all, sums all, surpasses allnamely, the knowing, the loving, and the following of Me.

(1) One thing is needful even for worldly success.This saying of our Lord may be viewed with perfect truth as giving the law of success in earthly things. The way to get on in this world is to feel strongly that one thing is needful; to have one paramount object to which all others shall be subordinated, and to which the undivided efforts of mind and body shall be devoted.

Amongst an otherwise infinite variety of qualities, one is always the same, one always appears prominent, in the characters of those who have stamped their image and superscription on the history of man. They have been men devoted to one grand object; men not careful and troubled about many things, but to whom one thing, whatever that thing might be, seemed needful; men of one idea, of one pursuit, to which they made all else accessory. And this was the secret of their success. For this unity of purpose is to the mental powers what the burning glass is to the suns rays. By concentrating them it makes them irresistible. The faculties which, if scattered, would have been weak and ineffectual, when made to converge on a single object, become a consuming fire. No opposition, unless equally concentrated and therefore equally energetic, can in the long run resist the concentrated force of all the powers of even a single average mind, steadily directed to one darling purpose.1 [Note: C. P. Reichel.]

(2) One thing is needful for spiritual attainment.Just as for success in this life, considered as far as possible irrespectively of the next, we have seen that it is needful to have one main object, so does the same truth apply to the next life, with this limitation only, that as success in the next life means only one thing, so it can be attained in only one way. For it is obvious that nothing can give satisfaction to the immortal spirit save the being at one with Him from whom it is derivedthe God of the spirits of all flesh. Union with God is therefore the one thing needful for eternal happiness; and unless that union be attained already here, we have no sure ground for hope that it may be attained hereafter. For death, which is simply the transition from this world to the next, cannot at once, as by magic, change the character. He that is filthy here will after death be filthy still; death cannot make him holy; death cannot give the one thing needful. It must be sought and gained now, if it is to be possessed then. The one thing needful for eternity must therefore be the one thing needful for time. Here then we have an object set before us, in comparison with which all other objects are insignificant; an object, to succeed in which is a greater triumph than to gain the empire of the whole world.

Many things we may have, but one thing we must have, if life is to be life. Many things are useful, many are important; but one is necessary, absolutely necessary. Mary had chosen it; and we are almost given to understandthough Jesus gently refrains from saying sothat Martha had not. While Martha was preparing one meal, Mary was enjoying another; for the portion of which Jesus speaks is the word used elsewhere for the share of a meal. Two banquets were preparing in that house; and Mary was already sitting at the table of her Lord in the heavenly world, partaking, at His gracious hand, of that bread of which he who takes shall never hunger again. This portion could never be taken away from her.1 [Note: J. E. McFadyen, The City with Foundations, 16.]

As mid the thickness of some leafy wood

The sun-beams find a passage here and there,

And light some spot which erst in shadow stood,

Making each leaflet look more bright and fair,

While other patches, that lie round it, miss

The ray of radiant Light that fills itself with bliss,

So is it in the tangled wood of life:

Some souls there are that keep the open way,

Free from the boughs of earthly hindrance, rife

For every advent of the Heavenly ray;

Ready to catch it as in love it comes

To seek the loving souls that are its willing homes.2 [Note: John Sharp, Poems and Hymns.]

(3) One thing is needful for Christian service.We all know the difference between the gift that is the expression of a grateful heart and the gift the value of which lies in its costliness. The worth of the one is exactly measured by its price in the market, by the immediate use to which it can be put, or in the exchange which it will secure. The other may have no market value. It is but a withered flower, a bit of ribbon, a leaf sent in a letter, some fragment of handiwork; but it is the expression of a love that is embodied in the gift, a love that tries to find utterance, that does not wait to obtain a gift of value, but that knows its own worth, and rejoices in the opportunity to pour itself out upon the one who has called it forth.

One of the family was a little lad who was weak-minded, and him the father and mother specially loved. Yet there was little response to their affection. But one day, when the other children were gathering flowers and bringing them to their parents, the poor little lad gathered a bundle of dry sticks and brought them to his father. I valued those sticks, said the father afterwards, far more than the fairest flowers. We are not all equally giftedsome can bring lovely flowers to Gods service and honour; others can only gather dry sticks. But even the cup of cold water is accepted by Him.

2. The one thing needful does not supersede all other things. It does not rob us of all other interests. In accepting and following Christ, we are not as a rule called to withdraw from any of those great primal influences that replenish and illuminate life, and make natural living bright and full and glad; we receive them afresh from the hand of the Saviour we have accepted, to be ours with a new safety, ours by a new right. Society may remain to us; but social intercourse will be purified. Beauty may remain to us; but our sense of the beautiful will be regulated, our standard of the beautiful will be raised. Culture may remain to us; but it will be culture through the purest sources, culture for the highest ends. Relaxation may remain to us; but it will be relaxation guarded by Christian principles, and made subservient to Christian aims. In the choosing and pursuing of the one thing, we have the assurance that the lower things will be sanctified, so long as these lower things abide. And if they abide not, but pass, then the gospel will make up for their absence by more than compensating elements in itself: for society, the fellowship of the faithful; for beauty, the beauty of holiness; for culture, the enlightening, the expanding, and the refining influences of the Word of God; for relaxation, the quiet of Christian meditation, or the timely relief of changes in Christian work.

To all highly sensitive natures which shrink from action and effort, which are revolted by the coarseness, the stupidity, the brutality of the world, it is a great temptation to get away from it all, and to live life more congenially in the contemplation of perfection. The contemplative man finds the vision of moral purity and holiness so ineffably beautiful and sacred that he is sorely tempted to conceal it, to enjoy it, to lose himself in it. If he speaks of it, the rough comments and the dull derision of the world are so wounding, so cruel, that he does not venture to profane it. Here he diverges from the method of Christ, whose whole teaching was devoted to setting out in the simplest terms the beauty of holiness; and the amazing secret growth of Christianity, which ran like an electric pulse over the world, testifies to the fact that thousands of hearts had the same dim vision, and only needed that it should be defined.1 [Note: A. C. Benson, Thy Rod and Thy Staff, 141.]

3. The one supreme thing keeps other things in their proper place and colours the whole of life. The nearness of the Divine, as it diffuses itself over the souls horizon, permeating the inner and outer courts thereof, will give colour and character to all the things of the life that now is. Earth will be purified by being taken up into the embrace of the spiritual. All will be informed with a light that never was on sea or land. As heaven bows down, overshadowing and permeating our spirits, earth, standing in the presence thereof, will be compelled to put off its shoes and be made in its expression to harmonize with it. It will then become a help instead of a hindrance to the upward longings, affections and movements of the soul. There has been no natural antagonism placed between them on the part of their Maker. They are full of mutual analogies, the one being but the vestibule of the other, or the lower part of a ladder by which the soul is, or should be, helped upward to the vision and joy of Divine things.

What if earth be but the shadow of heaven,

And each to other like more than on earth is thought?

Astronomers were long puzzled by certain minute bodies that revolve in the highway of the planets, too small and too numerous to be accounted separate satellites, revolving round the sun in mixed and interlacing orbits. At length the thought was hit upon that these were the fragments of a larger planet shattered out of its original unity, yet retaining the direction of its original impulse and continuing to revolve as disjointed members of that which was a planet no more. The finger of their great Former had implanted in them a law under which they still moved even in ruins. So it is with our human heart; the restless search, the constant care and cumber, the unslaked thirst for happiness, the saying Who will shew us any good?these are the traces of a divinely implanted law. The soul is dislocated and out of joint, and hence the law breeds nothing but confusion and distraction. Only get the central gravitating power restored, only let all desires and strivings find their satisfaction in the one thing needful, and the same law is the harmony of the soulthe equilibrium of the heart.1 [Note: J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, 232.]

4. The one thing is a lasting possession. In all the years to come, Mary was to carry as a treasure in her soul the memory of that hour. She had sat at Jesus feet, she had looked into His loving face, she had seen in the depths of His eyes the preparation for the giving of Himself for her and for the sins of the world. The memory of that hour was to remain so vivid, so satisfying, so compelling, in all her later life, that she entered at once into the knowledge of that new intimacy with the Risen Lord which was expressed in His promise: Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

Mary was quick to perceive that there are times and seasons in our relations to God. The Lords ministry was rapidly passing away. The opportunity for the privileges of loving expression and for personal service would be few. Mary seizes this one as it passes; and the wisdom of her act, not to say its supreme importance, is what the Lord recognizes and approves. There are times when the Lord means to give us surcease of care, and to lift our spirits into the light of His countenance, and to create in us the radiant joy of a Divine companionship,times when our spirit responds to the Spirit of God, and when we are permitted to hear the voice of God calling to us as the still small voice spoke to the prophet after the whirlwind and the fire. Then is the golden opportunity for the man who would know God. In such hours the Master calls us to new duties, or opens to us new doors of opportunity, or seeks to bestow upon us new joys in new revelations of Himself. Well for us if, with Mary, we recognize the hour and the privilege.2 [Note: H. A. Stimson, The New Things of God, 151.]

She sitteth at the Masters feet

In motionless employ;

Her ears, her heart, her soul complete

Drinks in the tide of joy.

Ah! who but she the glory knows

Of life, pure, high, intense,

In whose eternal silence blows

The wind beyond the sense!

In her still ear, Gods perfect grace

Incarnate is in voice;

Her thoughts, the people of the place,

Receive it, and rejoice.

Her eyes, with heavenly reason bright,

Are on the ground cast low;

His words of spirit, life, and light

They set them shining so.

Sure, joy awoke in her dear heart

Doing the thing it would,

When He, the holy, took her part,

And called her choice the good!

Oh needful thing, Oh Marys choice,

Go not from us away!

Oh Jesus, with the living voice,

Talk to us every day!1 [Note: G. MacDonald, The Gospel Women (Poetical Works, i. 243).]

The One Thing Needful

Literature

Aitchison (J.), The Childrens Own, 247.

Chadwick (W. E.), Christ and Everyday Life, 144.

Crawford (T. J.), The Preaching of the Cross, 255.

Davies (D.), Talks with Men, Women and Children, iii. 512.

Flint (R.), Sermons and Addresses, 123.

Frst (A.), True Nobility of Character, 15.

Gray (W. A.), Laws and Landmarks of the Spiritual Life, 27.

Goulburn (E. M.), Thoughts on Personal Religion, 278.

Keble (J.), Sermons for the Christian Year: Miscellaneous, 289.

Laidlaw (J.), Studies in the Parables, 231.

McFadyen (J. E.), The City with Foundations, 13.

Martineau (J.), Hours of Thought, i. 59.

Morris (A. J.), The Open Secret, 74.

Morrison (G.), The House of God, 159.

Newman (J. H.), Parochial and Plain Sermons, iii. 318.

Price (A. C.), Fifty Sermons, i. 137.

Reichel (C. P.), Sermons, 237.

Rutherford (R.), That Good Part, 1.

Stimson (H. A.), The New Things of God, 141.

Temple (F.), Rugby Sermons, ii. 154.

Vincent (M. R.), God and Bread, 39.

Winterbotham (R.), Sermons, 359.

Homiletic Review, lvi. 383 (J. Williams).

Preachers Magazine, xi. 369 (J. W. Keyworth).

Sunday Magazine, 1893, p. 205 (B. Waugh).

Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible

one: Luk 18:22, Psa 27:4, Psa 73:25, Ecc 12:13, Mar 8:36, Joh 17:3, 1Co 13:3, Gal 5:6, Col 2:10-19, 1Jo 5:11, 1Jo 5:12

chosen: Deu 30:19, Jos 24:15, Jos 24:22, Psa 17:15, Psa 119:30, Psa 119:111, Psa 119:173

good: Psa 16:5, Psa 16:6, Psa 142:5

which: Luk 8:18, Luk 12:20, Luk 12:33, Luk 16:2, Luk 16:25, Joh 4:14, Joh 5:24, Joh 10:27, Joh 10:28, Rom 8:35-39, Col 3:3, Col 3:4, 1Pe 1:4, 1Pe 1:5

Reciprocal: Pro 1:29 – not Pro 4:7 – Wisdom is Pro 8:18 – durable Pro 11:16 – gracious Pro 30:7 – have Isa 56:4 – choose Eze 46:16 – If the prince Mic 6:8 – what is Mat 13:12 – from Mat 25:28 – General Mat 25:29 – shall be taken Mar 10:21 – One thing Luk 12:31 – General Luk 16:12 – that which is your Joh 16:22 – and your 1Co 12:31 – covet Phi 3:13 – one Heb 10:34 – in yourselves that ye have

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Luk 10:42. But there is need of one thing. A few authorities omit: and troubled about many things and this clause also; a number of others read here: of few things, or of one. We vary the order from that of the E. V., since but one thing, etc., is usually wrongly taken to mean: only one thing. The contrast with the preceding verse shows that this clause means: one thing is needful as the proper object of the anxiety and carefulness which we may manifest in receiving the Lord. A reference to one dish is trivial.

For Mary hath chosen the good part, etc. Marys choice proved what the one thing was, and that anxiety about the many others was unnecessary. The good part chosen by her, in receiving the Saviour, was: undivided devotion to His word, the feeding on the bread of life by faith, which cometh by hearing. In the highest sense, the good part is the spiritual reception of Christ Himself, in contrast with all bustling works, excited defences of the truth, and over zealousness for what is external in any and every form.

Which, of such a kind as.

Shall not be taken away. The possession of this part is eternal. Both of these women loved the Saviour; Martha is not the type of a worldly woman, nor is the one thing conversion. They represent two classes of Christians, which have always been found in the Church. But our Lords judgment in regard to the two classes is often reversed. The two mistakes are: (1) Slighting proper Christian work, under the thought of sitting at Jesus feet. But doing good is sitting at His feet. He rebukes only the overdoing of what is good at the expense of what is better. Mary, in her love, made no such mistake. For when the crisis drew near, it was of her that the Lord said: She hath wrought a good work upon me (Mat 26:10). (2) A more common mistake is that of supposing that those of quieter, more contemplative temper, are not doing their duty, are casting reproach on their Christian character, because they do not bustle through the many prevalent methods of church activity. This is Marthas mistake (Luk 10:40). Bustling philanthropy should note that this story follows the parable of the good Samaritan.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament