{"id":326,"date":"2025-01-17T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/?p=326"},"modified":"2024-11-22T04:50:54","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T04:50:54","slug":"marthas-faith-a-model-for-discipleship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/marthas-faith-a-model-for-discipleship\/","title":{"rendered":"Martha\u2019s Faith: A Model for Discipleship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Often when we think of Martha the picture that comes to our mind is of a woman who \u2018was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made\u2019 when Jesus and his disciples came to their house. Many women identify with Martha – the housewife who receives guests and works in the kitchen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Her sister Mary, meanwhile, listened to Jesus\u2019 words while sitting at His feet. The text contrasts the two sisters, and the tradition interprets it as an image of opposition between the contemplative life, represented by Mary, and the active life, in the person of Martha. But is this the only Biblical image of Martha? In John\u2019s Gospel Martha is presented as a disciple with a very strong faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manifested Faith: ‘The sisters sent word to Jesus, \u201cLord, the one you love is sick.\u201d (Jn. 11:3) Jesus was expected to heed the message, but he came not and their brother Lazarus was in the grave. Later \u2018when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. \u201cLord,\u201d Martha said to Jesus, \u201cif you had been here, my brother would not have died\u201d (Jn. 11:20-21). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here we find proof of a genuine faith in Jesus with the hope of His presence to prevent her brother\u2019s death. In her faith God is the great source of supreme & universal power and the intercession of Christ was all prevailing with the power of God. Contradicting the style of the Fourth Gospel, in which Jesus always takes the initiative in beginning a dialogue, this time it is Martha who begins it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is presented to us as a person full of life and faith, with initiative and determination, abounding in hope. Strengthened Faith: Faith is strengthened during trials, troubles and disappointments. Even in the midst of trial, Martha\u2019s hope is in Jesus. \u201cBut I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.\u201d (Jn.11:22). In this we see Martha\u2019s faith stretched forward. Christ express Himself directly, \u201cI am the Resurrection,\u201d not \u201cI can raise the death,\u201d \u201cI am the life,\u201d not \u201cI can give life by prayer to God.\u201d Thus, to Martha\u2019s faith, what was distant is now near, what was future is now present, and the resurrection and life are embodied before her in the person of the Lord. Her faith is strengthened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Triumphant Faith: Jesus reveals to Martha precisely what kind of Messiah He is: the one who give life and new life. \u201cI am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?\u201d (Jn. 11:25-26) \u201cYes, Lord,\u201d she told him, \u201cI believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.\u201d (Jn.11:27). Martha accepts Jesus as the Messiah, as the Son of God and as the one coming into the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martha confesses her messianic faith neither as a reaction to a miracle nor as a reaction to any statement about her. Her confession comes as an answer to the revelation and to the challenge that Jesus makes of her faith: \u201cDo you believe this?\u201d The profession of faith is similar to that of Peter – \u201cYou are the Christ, the Son of the living God,\u201d (Mt 16:16, Mk 8:29). This is the high point of revelation and the proclamation of faith. Many times we hear only the story of Mary where she is glorified but Martha is always (brought down). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we look at her faith there is no difference between the faith of Peter and the faith of a woman who was busy in the kitchen. How do we look at Martha in our present daily life? Martha stands for the many women who are involved in sharing and caring for others. These women sacrifice their lives for the betterment of the community. I\u2019m taking my mother as an example. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a wife of a Pastor, a mother of ten children and a schoolteacher, just like Martha she is always busy with all the domestic works. She has to be busy, because she has to entertain the guests, give them something to eat. Make the house clean and tidy so that the guests will feel comfortable. She also has to look after the ten of us. In spite of all these her faith has never been shaken. As a mother and a wife she is the one who always express the hope in strengthening our faith. Martha is concerned about the needs of the community and the guests, a person who is dedicated and faithful, who always acts when necessary and who always radiates confidence and hopefulness. She fits the Gospel\u2019s model of the disciple: she hears the revelation, responds her faith in a powerful profession, and goes off to serve the community. This combination of listening and doing is precisely what ought to characterize the follower of Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Author: Mr. Joshua Das is a graduate of UTC, Bangalore and heads an NGO \u2018Human Development Foundation\u2019 working for the empowerment of gold miner\u2019s family at KGF.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Often when we think of Martha the picture that comes to our mind is of a woman who<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10,57,93,88,92,33],"tags":[23,123,124,28],"class_list":["post-326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bangalore","category-christian-matrimony","category-christian-organization","category-human-development-foundation","category-methodist-church","category-mr-joshua-das","category-utc","tag-christian-marriage","tag-marthas-faith-a-model-for-discipleship","tag-mr-joshua-das","tag-yt-christian-matrimony"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":329,"href":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions\/329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ytmatrimony.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}