Reel Luke
Jesus Visits Martha and Mary
Luke 10:38-42
Helpful Stuff to Know
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- We learn more about Jesus’ friendship with Mary, Martha, and their brother, Lazarus, from a story in John 11:38-44 when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.
- Martha likely owned her own home, and her younger sister, Mary, lived with her.
- This story shows that women believed, followed, served, and learned from Jesus.
Be Sure Not to Miss
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- Martha did a good thing by inviting Jesus into her home. Things went wrong when she shifted from an attitude of hospitality to one of comparing and complaining.
- Jesus didn’t reprimand Martha for preparing a meal and doing a good thing. He reprimanded her for worrying about the wrong things and for telling him what he should say to Mary.
- Martha and Mary had different ways of connecting with Jesus. Both ways were OK.
- Comparison is always a lose-lose situation. Martha both thought she was better than Mary (“I’m doing all the work”) which can lead to pride, and thought she had it worse than Mary (“It’s unfair that she’s just sitting here!”) which can lead to bitterness.
- Right before this story is the parable of the Good Samaritan which shows the importance of loving others and serving them. Be sure to consider that context when reading this story.
Be Careful About
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- Some think this story teaches that people shouldn’t do things for Jesus, they should just be with Jesus. But the story doesn’t say that. Perhaps “the one thing worth being concerned about” is Jesus himself. For Mary, that meant sitting at his feet and listening and learning. For Martha that could have meant serving him behind the scenes by preparing a meal — but at some point she was no longer satisfied with that and things became about her instead of Jesus.
1. Read Luke 10:38–42
Here's a few different ways you can read and recap the story with your group.
- Read it through one time with people just listening to you. Then read it through a second time with people following along in their own Bibles.
- Ask a few people to act out the story while you read it.
- Ask one or two people to retell the story after hearing it.
- Ask two people to retell the story in the first person, as though they were actually there. One person can do the play-by-play (tell the details of what happened), and the other can offer color commentary (add details about how they felt, what surprised them, what confused them, etc.). First-person retelling can make the story feel more real. It's also a blast.
2. Reel Questions (set the scene)
- Where did this story happen? What do you think it looked like? Smelled like? Sounded like?
- Make a list of all the people in the story (including "crowd" if there is one), and give a one-word description of each e.g. impatient, desperate, funny, selfish, awkward, etc.
- List everything that Jesus did and said in the story. What was your favorite scene or statement?
3. Story-Specific Questions
- How do you most naturally connect with Jesus — through your head (e.g., thinking and learning), heart (e.g., praying and reflecting) or your hands (e.g., serving and helping)? For more about this idea, check out the Head, Heart, Hands series of Lessons.
- What are some ways you serve Jesus? What are some ways you spend time being with Jesus?
- What do you think caused Martha to change her focus from serving Jesus to feeling sorry for herself?
- What could Martha have done differently to keep her attitude in the right place?
- How can you keep your heart focused on Jesus, no matter what the circumstances are and what other people are doing?
4. Wrap-Up Question
- Why do you think this story is included in the Bible? What do you think God wants us to learn from it?
