The Dispute Between Mary and Martha

Christ with Mary and Martha

A sermon idea based on Luke 10:38-42.

Which is more important? To get all the details of life right? Or to get to know God along the way?

Martha didn’t do anything “wrong” in this passage. She served the Lord well and desire to give him the very best she had to offer.

The problem, in this passage, is that Mary chose to set at the feet of Jesus and to soak up all that he had to offer.

Both women were close friends to the Lord. Both women wanted to be all God made them to be.

But Mary chose the path of growing spiritually while Martha chose the path of hustling to please God.

There’s a huge lesson here for each of us – that it’s always more important to get to know the God who created us than to work hard to please him. It’s important to recognize him as our personal God than to see him as one who needs to be appeased by our performance.


Adriaenssen, Vincent, 1595-1675. Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.

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