A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Mary and Martha
MARY AND MARTHA
Sisters of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead; lived with their brother at Bethany, a village near Jerusalem. Jesus had a particular affection for this family, and often resorted to their house. One day Martha, preparing an entertainment for him, while Mary sat at his feet, listening to his words, wished her sister's assistance, and said to Jesus, "Do you not see. Lord, that my sister leaves me to minister alone? Bid her come to help me." But Jesus said, that "Mary had chosen the better part, that should not be taken from her."
Six days before the passover, Jesus came to Bethany, and was at meat in the house of Simon. Martha attended, and Lazarus was one of the guests. Mary took a pound of spikenard, the most precious perfume of the kind, and poured it over the head and feet of Jesus.
The sisters were of one mind in the reverence and love they bore him; yet the characters of the two are in striking contrast—Martha was active, Mary contemplative. Martha seems to have been a creature of impulse; Mary was slower of apprehension, and, of course, less sudden in her resolves and movements. Martha had the most fervent faith; Mary the most humble piety. "Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus." What a beautiful illustration is here! showing that the sweet, pure affections of domestic life arc sanctified by the best blessings of heaven. See St. John, chap. xi.