“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith"

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

Chapter 10:38-42:

Keep in mind that Jesus is traveling from Galilee through the region of Judea and is accompanied by His disciples. Here the Lord is going enter a certain village. This is the village of Bethany (John 11:1; 12:2), which is on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives and less than two miles from Jerusalem .

Text #1:

Luke 10:38-39 “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.”

Biographies:

Martha – Here name in Aramaic means, “Lady or Mistress” and she is the sister of Lazarus and Mary of Bethany. It is not known with any certainty whether this is the same house as Simon the leper's mentioned in Matthew 26:6-12; Mark 14:3, but the same village is a certainty. The Gospel of John will reveal that Martha, Mary, and Lazarus are intimate friends with the Lord (John 11:1-44). Although this story indicates that Martha was a careful hostess and maybe a little to concerned about the physical, she would also give the great confession that Jesus was indeed “the Christ the Son of God” (John 11:27).

Mary - Also known as Mary of Bethany, she is the sister of Martha and Lazarus. This is the Mary that would anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair (John 11:2; 12:1-8). For this act the Lord would state that she would always be remembered (Matthew 26:13).

Sat at the Feet of Jesus: Sitting at the feet was an ancient posture of pupils.

Acts 22:3 “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia , but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers' law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today.”

Here we are going to see that Martha would honor Jesus as guest, but Mary would honor Him as teacher!

Side Note: Jesus saw the value of souls, period (Matthew 22:16)! So, unlike the Rabbi's of this day, He taught all; men or women. The Rabbi's of this day did not overtly concern themselves with teaching women, especially in this fashion.

Text #2:

Luke 10:40 “But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 

Martha was evidently preparing an elaborate repast, and was experiencing the worry and distraction which usually accompanies such effort. Martha so forms her appeal to the Lord as to make it a covert insinuation that Mary had forsaken her duties.

Text #3:

Luke 10:41-42 “And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Martha, Martha: By stating her name twice the Lord exaggerates His admonishment to her. This was a common practice in scripture to bring additional attention to what is being stated, note:

Luke 22:31  “And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.

Acts 9:4 “Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

But One Thing is Needed: Here the Lord establishes that one duty or act is preferred. We can see that He is emphasizing that although bread for the stomach is important, but bread for the soul is the one thing truly needed.

Luke 4:4 “But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)

Good Part: To show that Jesus had spiritual food in mind when He talked about the “one thing”, He now eludes to the portion of honor usually offered to the guest of honor at a banquet. Again the contrast is being made between spiritual food and that of physical.

The Lord's rebuke of Martha is not directed towards the practices of hospitality, nor at a life of hard work over shirking. It is intended to reprove “Fussy Fretfulness”, which focuses on unnecessary things over vital things. Along side this intended instruction is that spiritual contemplation can only be of value along with and supported by spiritual activity and there are times and places for both the spiritual and the physical.

Uniquely, we will see this same thing play out again in John 12:1-8, when the Lord would come to this house again just before the Passover. Once again Martha would busy herself with preparations while Mary would display spiritual activity by anointing the Lord.

Next: “The Lord Teaches Prayer”