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Mary (Lazarus' sister) |
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Hospitality is an art. Making sure a guest
is welcomed, warmed, and well fed requires creativity, organization, and
teamwork. Their ability to accomplish these goals makes Mary and her
sister, Martha, one of the best hospitality teams in the Bible. Their
frequent guest was Jesus Christ.
For Mary, hospitality meant giving more attention to the guest himself than to the needs he might have. She would rather talk than cook. She was more interested in her guest’s words than in the cleanliness of her home or the timeliness of her meals. She let her older sister, Martha, take care of those details. Mary’s approach to events shows her to be mainly a "responder." She did little preparation—her role was participation. Unlike her sister, who had to learn to stop and listen, Mary needed to learn that action is often appropriate and necessary. We first meet Mary during a visit Jesus paid to her home. She simply sat at his feet and listened. When Martha became irritated at her sister’s lack of help, Jesus stated that Mary’s choice to enjoy his company was the most appropriate response at the time. Our last glimpse of Mary shows her to have become a woman of thoughtful and worshipful action. Again she was at Jesus’ feet, washing them with perfume and wiping them with her hair. She seemed to understand, better even than the disciples, why Jesus was going to die. Jesus said her act of worship would be told everywhere, along with the gospel, as an example of costly service. What kind of hospitality does Jesus receive from your life? Are you so busy planning and running your life that you neglect precious time with him? Or do you respond to him by listening to his Word, then finding ways to worship him with your life? It is that kind of hospitality he longs for from each of us. 1- Strengths and accomplishments
2- Lessons from her life
3- Vital statistics
4- Key verses "She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. I assure you, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be talked about in her memory" (Matthew 26:12, 13). Mary’s story is told in Matthew 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9; Luke 10:38–42; John 11:17–45; 12:1–11.
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Mary, Sister of Lazarus and Martha The three are spoken of as those whom Jesus loved. They resided at Bethany, where they were privileged to welcome the Lord Jesus as a guest. On one of these visits Mary took her place at the feet of the Lord, feasting upon the words that fell from His lips. Martha wanted her help, but the Lord declared that one thing was needful, and Mary had chosen that good part, which should not be taken away from her. #Lu 10:38-42. The heart of Mary was riven at the death of Lazarus. Word had been sent to the Lord that he was sick, and yet He had not come. When Jesus arrived Mary exclaimed, as Martha had done previously, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died:" but Mary said it at the feet of the Lord. Jesus wept, and Mary thus learned His sympathy, and had a fresh taste of the good part which death could not take from her. To Martha Jesus said that she should have her brother back, and should see the power of death broken by the One who was "the resurrection and the life;" but Mary had Himself. #Joh 11:1-44. Afterwards, when they made the Lord a supper, a few days before He suffered, Mary, in full appreciation of her Lord, anointed His head and His feet with costly ointment. Judas and others were indignant at what they called ‘waste,’ but the Lord defended Mary’s action, and said He was being anointed for His burial: this act should be told of her in the whole world. Nothing was too costly to be spent upon such a Lord. #Joh 12:1-8: cf. #Mt 26:6-13 Mr 14:3-9. It should be noted that this is not the same event as that recorded in #Lu 7:36-50. |