Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C 17th July 2022
Lectionary Readings: Genesis 18 v1-10a; Psalm 15; Colossians 1 v15-28; Luke 10 v38-42.
What bothers Jesus.
Luke follows the story of the ‘Good Samaritan’ with a seemingly random tale of two sisters.
The Lord and his disciples were travelling along and came to a village. When they got there a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat in front of the Lord and was listening to what he said. (Luke 10 v38,39).
It is John, not Luke, who explains that Mary and Martha are the sisters of Lazarus, a good friend of Jesus. (John 11 v1).
Why has Luke put these stories together? Is it that Luke is seeking to make clear to us, his readers, what really bothers Jesus?
Luke continues his tale by explaining that Martha was worried about all that had to be done.(v40a). (regarding the provision of hospitality to her guests). Finally, she went to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it bother you that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!” (v40b).
Just as with the ‘Teacher of the Law of Moses’ in the story of the ‘Good Samaritan’, Jesus
challenges the man-made cultural norms and traditional Jewish interpretation of the ‘Law of Moses’. Jesus (and Luke) wants us to understand that God intends everyone, Jews and Gentiles, men and women, young and old, that his love is for all people, his teaching is for all people, his invitation to be reconciled to him is open to all people.
Jesus answered Martha, “Martha, Martha! You are worried and upset about so many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen what is best and it will not be taken away from her.”
(Luke 10 v41,42).
I think the ‘one thing necessary’ is to listen to Jesus, and seek to understand his message and live our lives accordingly.
King David, in Psalm 15 says, that we should ‘obey God, speak the truth, treat others fairly, don’t say cruel things, respect other worshippers, keep our promises, be generous, don’t take bribes or hurt the innocent.’
I think that what really bothers Jesus is that we are ‘hard of hearing’, slow to learn and slower still to act.
The writer of the letter to the Colossians suggests that God loves us despite our faults and failings. He says, God himself was pleased to live fully in his Son. And God was pleased for him to make peace on the cross, so that all of us could be reconciled with God.
The writer goes on to say, ‘the mystery is that Christ lives in you and he is your hope of sharing in God’s glory’ (Colossians 1 v27b).
Like Mary, we are to be reassured that if we choose what is best for us, it will not be taken away from us.
Bible quotations are taken from the Contemporary English Version.