Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20051204.htm

JESUS' DISCIPLING OF WOMEN: AN ADDENDUM TO HIS DISCIPLING OF PETER
Part I: Maturing Mary and Martha By Trials As With Peter
(Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-39; 12:1-7)
  1. Introduction
    1. Having studied the Lord's discipleship of Peter, we might ask: "Does God disciple a woman the same way he does a man like Peter? How far may we go in applying these steps of the Lord's discipling of Peter to working with us as women or the women we disciple?!"
    2. These questions deserve a Biblical answer, so we study a three-part segment on Christ's discipling of women in His earthly life and ministry for the answer (as follows):
  2. Maturing Mary And Martha By Trials As With Peter, Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-39; 12:1-7.
    1. Mary and Martha were somewhat opposites in personality -- one was an introvert, the other an extrovert:
      1. Martha, the extrovert, the socialite who loved to throw a big meal, tended to become so preoccupied with externals of service to the Lord that she drained her inner soul. She tended toward legalism, to get caught up in busyness instead of caring for her soul and the souls of others around her, Luke 10:38, 40.
      2. Mary was just the opposite: unlike Martha, Mary was more introspective, the thinker who loved to sit at Jesus' feet and ponder His teaching rather than be preoccupied in chores like meal preparations, Luke 10:39-40. Though Jesus rebuked only Martha for her preoccupation with the meal preparation, saying Mary had chosen the better part of sitting at His feet to hear Him teach, Mary revealed a tendency to be immobile, not translating her devotion into considerate action toward Martha!
    2. Christ used the crucible of the trial of their brother's death and resurrection to disciple these women:
      1. Jesus intentionally stalled coming to Lazarus' aid when he lay ill near death so that He might later raise him from the dead, John 11:1-7, 11-14. His purpose was to use this event in the lives of his sisters, Martha and Mary as a maturing trial that would balance out their personalities.
      2. When Lazarus died, both Martha and Mary expressed their complaint to Jesus that, had He arrived when He had first been called, their brother would not have died, cf. John 11:21, 32.
      3. Jesus approached Lazarus' grave and gave orders for the unthinkable, to remove the stone and expose the decomposing body of their brother, John 11:38-39a. Martha, the extrovert, verbally objected to this move, stating the body's odor would become evident to everyone's dismay, John 11:39b.
      4. Jesus moved Martha and Mary through this threatening event, calling them to trust in Him beyond all their own human imaginations, and they would see the glory of God, John 11:40.
      5. Accordingly, they obeyed, removing the stone, and Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead to the utter amazement, joy and faith-building edification of both women, John 11:41-44!
    3. The effects of this faith-building event on both women is evident in a later meeting Jesus had with them:
      1. As for Martha, she served a meal where Jesus attended with no record of complaining about her sister, Mary's lack of help, John 12:1-2a. Though "they" made Jesus the supper, meaning possibly Martha and Mary prepared it together, John 12:2a points out that it was MARTHA who "served" it! Martha may have insisted on serving in an effort to shoulder the task apart from Mary as a willing servant, a blessed victory over her former complaint back in Luke 10:40!
      2. Conversely, Mary did more that just sit at Jesus' feet and hear Him speak as a thoughtful introvert: (a) though she had begun at Jesus' feet by hearing Him teach God's Word (Luke 10:39), and (b) she had next fallen at Jesus' feet when Lazarus died faithlessly to complain in her grief (John 11:32), in this final Biblical scene about Mary, (c) she knelt at Jesus' feet to DO A GREAT WORK: she anointed His feet with expensive perfume and washed them with her hair, John 12:3.
Lesson: God BALANCED out the extrovert and introvert tendencies of Martha and Mary respectively, maturing them both through the TRIAL of the death and resurrection of their brother. Thus, though the issues involved differed in each case, Jesus used TRIALS in the life of Peter as well as these women to ADJUST each one that they might follow Him in greater spiritual maturity!

Application: (1) May we as men OR women disciples realize our Lord Jesus Christ, our CREATOR, will ably work with us to get us to HEED His will, and mature us even through trials to His glory! (2) When we disciple others, we should direct them to respond to trials in faith that they might mature!