July 10, 2009

• Pastor Martha

  In John 12:2, it says that “Martha served.”  One must wonder why Martha was back to ‘serving’ after having been ‘rebuked’ by Jesus to be more like Mary by learning instead of being busy with housework (Luke 10).  Jesus’ rebuke was radical for that time and culture because women were not given the privilege of learning from Rabbis — in fact, they were not even believed to have the capacity to think and make good decisions.  But by telling Martha and all the other disciples that Mary had chosen the better thing (learning from Jesus instead of what was believed to be ‘women’s work’), He was bringing women to their rightful standing — right beside the men.  Martha was freed to exercise the mind that God had given her, but did she embrace that?  In John 11, it seems like Martha attained a new level of understanding with her profound declaration, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”  She certainly was a forerunner in the faith.  So why did she go back to ‘serving’?

  I recently read some commentary on the book of John, which gave some richer insight.  The Greek verb used to describe Martha’s act of ‘serving’ is diakonein.  Diakonein is the word from which we derive “diaconate” and “deacon”.  In “Women of the Gospel of John,” Pastor Jones points out that by the time John’s gospel was written, this word had become a liturgical term of ministry in Christian communities.  Martha was a symbol of hospitality and service required of those who follow Christ.  Just as clearly, she was recognized as fulfilling the role of minister.  (pp. 43-44)

  S.S. Schneider (Written so May Believe: Encountering Jesus in the Fourth Gospel, 107) also attests further that by the time John’s Gospel was written at the end of the first century the term diakonos, “servant”, had become the title of a recognized ministerial office in some Christian communities (see Phil 1:1, 1 Tim 3:8, 13, Rom 16:1), and waiting on table a function conferred by the laying on of hands (Acts 6:1-6).

  So when listening ears of that time and culture heard that Martha “diakonein”, they were thinking, “She was ministering; she was pastoring.”  They weren’t thinking, “She was waitressing.”  So it looks like she embraced the radical freedom which Christ gave her to learn, serve and minister, after all!

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