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." (Lk 10:38-42)
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. As he goes he completes his work of establishing the kingdom of God. He preached and worked miracles and gathered the people to join this kingdom movement. It was like a new exodus. As he moves around he completes certain works.
Here in this house at a place called Bethany, he meets these two sisters. There seems to be only two of the in that house as Luke narrates. Both of them were interested in Jesus. Martha welcomed her and Mary listened to her. One was busy preparing food for him while the other was keeping him company so that he would not feel neglected or unwanted.
Interestingly there was no male person in the family to listen to him. Shall we say that Mary was playing the role of a male person? She was sitting at his feet and listening. Could it be that she was learning from him (sitting at the feet of the Master to learn). People would sit at the feet of the Master (Rabbi), to learn to become Rabbi (like Saul at the feet of Gamaliel). This could mean that Jesus was breaking the Male – Female barrier that existed in the society. He permitted a female to sit at his feet to learn like a male. Would that mean that Mary could also become a teacher? Probably this is what disturbed her sister Martha.
