Significant in God’s Eyes

Every time we seem to read in the Bible about Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, she is at the feet of Jesus. Maybe that is why she had the insight that she had.

On one occasion when Jesus went to visit the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, Martha was whipping up a meal in the kitchen, and Mary wasn’t helping. Instead, she was sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening. Understandably, Martha became frustrated, and she burst in and said to Jesus, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me" (Luke 10:40).

Jesus responded, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her" (verses 41–42). To loosely paraphrase: "There is a time to work and there is a time to sit. And Mary is doing the right thing."

Mary was taking advantage of every opportunity to hear what Jesus had to say. Later, when Jesus was visiting the home of a man named Simon in Bethany, she took a costly flask of fragrant oil and poured it over Jesus’ head. It was as though she were saying, "I know what Jesus is going to do for us. And I have to tell Him in a tangible way that I love Him." Mary seemed to grasp something that everyone else, for the most part, missed.

I find it interesting that when we read through the Bible, we read very little about the great historical figures of the day—the great Caesars or the Herods. Yet these stories about Mary are included. It just shows us that God sees things differently than we see them.