Feast of St. Martha

Today, the Church celebrates the feast day of Martha. She was the eldest of three siblings who extended hospitality to Jesus while he was preaching in Bethany. Mary the younger sister sat the Jesus' feet, listening to his teaching while Martha was busy serving (Luke 10:38-42). Mary was also the one who anointed Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair (John 11:2). Their brother Lazarus, whom the gospel of John says Jesus loved (John 11:3), was ill and died. Later Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. In all these incidents, Martha was not in the spotlight. She served and she complained like many of us. That probably is a genuine reflection of the personality of the eldest among the siblings. St. Martha is very accessible for us.

However, there is one remarkable thing Martha did. It all began with her usual complaint.
Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." (John 11:21-22)
Natural enough, Martha expected better treatment from Jesus because last time, Jesus had taught her to choose the good portion (Luke 10:42). For the time being, she might not know what better portion to expect from Jesus. Nevertheless, she expressed her strong faith in the Lord.
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." (John 11:23-24)
Jesus led Martha along to look upon, to expect resurrection. For Martha, and even most of us, we know that there will be bodily resurrection at the end of the world. For many times, when I attended funerals, I would fantasize what a scene it would make when the dead person sat up from the coffin. Of course, I did not have the strong faith as Martha to expect Jesus to raise my friends during funerals.
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26)
This is a very profound piece of theology, one of the seven "I am" sayings in the gospel of John. (I am the bread of life, the light of the world, the door of the sheep, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way the truth and the life, the true vine.) In short, Jesus is our Saviour and our life. He will give us eternal life. But Jesus does not demand sharp understanding of theological niceties. Jesus demands faith. Do you believe this?
She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world." (John 11:27)
Martha believed. She confessed that Jesus was the Son of God. Not only did Martha serve and complain, she also believed.

The First Epistle of John is full of talks of love. The word "love" appears 33 times in 23 verses. In the midst of an exposition of love, John discusses how God is love, God has loved us first by sending Jesus to die for us and that we should love one another to show that God abides in us etc. (1 John 4:7-12) Then, John suddenly remembered something. He came up with the following line.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God (1 John 4:15).
What was in the mind of John? It must be love.
When we search the gospels and Acts, we find the following people who confessed that Jesus is the Son of God:
John the Baptist (John 1:34); Nathanel (John 1:49), demons (Mark 3:11); the possessed man at Gerasenes (Matthew 8:29, Luke 8:28); all the apostles after Jesus walked on the water (Matthew 14:33); Peter (Matthew 16:16); Martha (John 11:27); the Roman centurion (Matthew 27:54, Mark 15:39); a eunuch baptised by Philip the deacon (Acts 8:37) and Paul (Acts 9:20).
I am sure there were many more. But I think Martha was special not just because she was the only woman mentioned, but because of her profound love of Jesus. Her faith in Jesus must have been thoroughly infused with her love of the Lord. St. Martha, pray for us.

Dear Lord, as far as love is concerned, I still have a long journey to travel. I have not loved enough. I pray that my studies will not harden my heart instead. Amen.