Mary and Martha again

The gospel stories about Mary and Martha of Bethany are among my favourites. Each time I read them I notice something different. I'd love to meet those real women, not the ones presented in medieval art or countless sermons.

One of the stories (Luke 10: 38 - 42) about Mary and Martha  will be read in churches all over the world tomorrow. Some preachers will be saying, 'not Mary and Martha again!' It can be a challenge to find something new to say about that story. And an even bigger challenge not to fall into some of the theological and political traps for the unwary. It's easy to forget that this story is not a parable, but is about real women who love Jesus and struggle to find their role and true voices in a patriarchal society. 

Most of the images in my head of those sisters tend to come from certain well-known European paintings. This African picture interests me because the woman (Mary) sitting with Jesus and learning from him appears better dressed than the one (Martha) at the cooking pot. What is that saying I wonder?

I've previously posted about Mary and Martha on this blog and on the bigbible.org.uk website, so rather than repeat myself here are the relevant links:

• Women Bishops and Mary of Bethany's Story

• Mary of Bethany's Story

• Martha of Bethany

Here I some other links to this story that are definitely worth a look and a read:

• post by Blue Eyed Ennis with reflection and images

• Rachel Mann's post ''The Politics of Mary and Martha raises some interesting and pertinent questions

Image Credit: From website of Vie de Jesus Mafa