Mary, sister of Lazurus

A servant of God must first be willing to sit at His feet and hear His voice, and then pour out our lives, present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service. 


(Rom 12: ¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.)




We find this lovely woman named Mary, the sister of Lazurus, mentioned often in the Gospels. After the healing of her brother, (John 11), she is seen again sitting at Jesus’ feet, then later on a few days before His burial, anointing His feet. Looking at her life, I see a woman so totally at rest, at peace, and surrendered to God.


Luke 10: ³⁸As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
 ⁴¹"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but only one thing is needed.^[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

I am a person who likes to be busy cooking, and baking, and doing something, so I can sympathize with Martha. Obviously she has the same kind of irritation that I have when Samuel is sitting at the computer doing nothing while I have something important to do (this happens vice-versa too). Martha was more than irritated though, she was very worried and upset. Having opened her home to Jesus, she would have at least expected Mary to help her. The strivings of the flesh will never lead to the fruit of the Spirit.

Ps Shaw Ming actually mentioned this incident on Sunday, saying that Mary had the courage to break the cycle and strict timetable of Jewish women, to sit at Jesus' feet. She probably had plenty of things to do, but she just knew that this was the time to sit at Christ's feet. She just knew that what she was doing now was more important than anything else, what what she ate and drank into her Spirit would have eternal value. She had stillness and peace in her spirit, soul, and body. 

Matthew 5: ⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 

For they shall be filled. 

What a hunger for God Mary had, she knew that with Him was the words of eternal life! She just sat at His feet and listened. Today many of us (including me many many times), lack peace within our soul, we are restless and probably have a spirit of slumber - falling fast asleep during the sermon, or fighting very hard to stay awake, then becoming extremely awake the minute the service is finished, and have so much energy to talk and listen to our friends, or worse, go and do something called "serving God"! Servants, rather, slaves, of God must minister out of a strong inner life! If we do not drink from the living waters of God, how do we expect to minister and water others. If we do not hunger for the bread of life, what makes us think we can witness to others so that they can hunger too! If we do not have the abundant life of God and true faith in us now, all we think, speak, and do, will be of the flesh, and it will be dead works! Worse still, without faith, it will be SIN! Romans 14 states, "But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin."

Remember, the peace of God passes all understanding. Ask Him for the peace, that you may learn all the wondrous things of His law. Ask Him to breathe into you His breath of life, that you may receive the abundant life which comes through His son. Oh that you may receive the things of God, for that can never be taken away from you! (Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33) Heaven and earth, everything tangible, that is physical, all can pass away, but the Word of God never will. It will abide for all eternity. The promises of God are everlasting - what more can we want!

In, John 11, Mary's brother Lazurus was raised from the dead. It is revealed that Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazurus very much (vs 5). It must have been very hurting when Martha, and even more so Mary, did not understand the will of God and His purpose in that event. Even His disciples did not comprehend. 

^{vs. 28} And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was^[b] in the place where Martha met Him. ³¹ Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”^{[c] 32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”} 

³³ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴ And He said, “Where have you laid him?” 
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” ³⁷ And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

I learnt this from Ps Shaw Ming three years ago at Glory Place: Jesus saw her weeping - He groaned in His spirit and was deeply troubled. Why would he weep for Lazurus? He is going to raise Him from the dead. He  knew that death is not the end. He was troubled by the unbelief of Mary and Martha. Perhaps he understood Martha, who was a practical person... but Mary who sat at His feet was now weeping because her brother was dead. 

^{1 Thes 4:13} But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.^[b] 

Sorrow for a loved one is fine, but we should never grieve as if there is no hope!

John 12: ¹ Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead,^[a] whom He had raised from the dead. ² There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. ³ Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
⁴ But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, ⁵ “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii^[b] and given to the poor?” ⁶ This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. ⁷ But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept^[c] this for the day of My burial. ⁸ For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”



Oh what a great sacrifice she surrendered to the Lord,it was indeed a fradant aroma before Him. She was more than perfuming Him - it was an act of worship, symbolic of pouring out ourselves to God, giving all we have to Him. 


What was Martha doing? Serving dinner. No doubt Martha did her very best, she probably was a good cook. It must have taken her time and money to serve Jesus and his twelve disciples, including all her guests, but all her works and efforts, were nothing compared to the one thing Mary gave that Martha didn't - she gave herself.


What more can I say? Our bodies are to be a living sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable to God. God doesn't want the things that you do, the "dinner that you cooked", the works. God calls us first to put ourselves completely into His hands, to surrender everything we were, we are, and we ever want to be to Him. Then only can He use us, when we are nothing, then only God can use us to do something. 


Oh that you and I may learn to truly die, so know that all the doings of the flesh are futility itself! Oh may I learn that lesson every day - it is not what I can do for God,  nor what I can give Him - it is the sacrifice of myself and all  my ambitions, goals, plans, all my bag and baggage, every single thing, including every thought, word, motive, and deed, all my very breath, has to be given to Him. Oh what a difficult lesson indeed it is to learn, but may we, as Mary, be a willing disciple of Christ. When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die (Bonhoeffer)

We can summarize 6 things about Mary did: She sat, She seeked, she sorrowed, she saw, she surrendered, she sacrificed.

Fact: The New Testament name “Mary” came from the Hebrew word “Miryam”, the same name as Moses’ sister. The word Mary, is the anglicized version of the Greek “Mariam”. It is likely she was named after one' of Israel's foremost prophetess?


UPDATE: Here's a video on the song my mom wrote on Mary, "In Brokenness I Come to You "
ADDITIONAL UPDATE: Ps Susan's book, A Monumental Work, covers this issue in a much deeper and apostolic way - it is now available on her website but you can contact her to buy the book at http://station-of-life.org/CONTACT_US.htm