As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary [who] sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” The Lord said to her in reply, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”
Luke 10:38-42 (NABRE)
I wonder what Jesus was saying to Mary as she listened to him.
We are not told that Jesus was necessarily teaching Mary a doctrinal precept about the kingdom of God or giving her a moral exhortation. Of course, these are important and had a place in the teachings of Jesus. However, it is interesting to note that the text mentions that Mary was simply sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to him speak.
This describes two relationship dynamics working at the same time between Jesus and Mary: the teacher-student and the friend-friend. Here we are given a model for our own relationship with Jesus. We look up to him as one having authority over us (he is God, after all) and being worthy of our careful attention and committed religious devotion, but we can also see him as one who is a friend to us. We look to him for teaching and commandment, but also see him as one with whom we can simply speak about our everyday troubles and joys. It is true that God desires relationship with us. He does not want to hear from the costume that we wear when we are around other people. He wants to hear from unique you as you are right now. This is the person that God wants to wash clean with grace and mercy and lead on a path of Christian freedom away from sinful habits and toward eternal and intimate union with Him in Heaven.
I think we could all use from giving Jesus company by sitting at His feet and simply listening to him speak. Not that he needs it, but that we need it.
Thank you for reading. Peace.
Eat the Scroll 