At my seminary’s Board meeting yesterday, the Board chairperson, Joe Longo led a devotion on Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus. The three siblings lived in the villiage of Bethany, just a few miles east of Jerusalem. The two sisters appear together in three passages in the New Testament (Luke 10, John 11 and John 12). I’ve studied the story of Mary and Martha many times in Luke 10:38-42, but Joe made a striking connection to John 11 and 12 that I had never seen before. In each of these three chapters, Mary is at the feet of Jesus.
“She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying” (Luke 10:39).
“When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:32).
“Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair” (John 12:3).
What was so attractive about Jesus’ feet that kept drawing Mary? (This is a serious question.) What lessons can we learn from Mary about being focused on Jesus? Any comments about the image? (The image is “Martha and Mary” by He Qi. I assume you can figure who is who.)