Biography of Mary and Martha
Mary Magdalene is probably one of the most controversial figures in the New Testament. There are many claims about her personality, from a notorious sinner to until recently, the wife of Jesus Christ. Actually, Mary Magdalene is mentioned as one of Jesus’ female disciples in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. All throughout the New Testament, there are other references to Mary Magdalene. Accounts about her life, although plenty, are sometimes confusing depending on the source. The name Magdalene suggested that she came from the town of Magdala, hence the name Mary Magdalene.
The town of Magdala is believed to be on the Sea of Galilee’s western shore. The town was a source of salt for the neighboring towns. It was also the administrative center and the largest among the towns surrounding the lake (George, 2003). Mary Magdalene is the sister of Martha and the brother of Lazarus. Accordingly, the story of Martha is intertwined with the story of Mary Magdalene but there are also claims that the Mary who anointed the Lord Jesus, the woman sinner and the Mary of Bethany are three different persons.
Pope Gregory the Great declared that all three women were the same person but in 1969, the church retracted that position (Ehrman, 2006). One account tells that Mary Magdalene came from a middle-class family in an affluent fishing village. Later on, Mary Magdalene was believed to be possessed by seven demons which drove her sometimes to madness but was freed by Jesus. Mary Magdalene suffered these demons in her life since childhood and when Jesus freed her, she followed Him. Since then, Mary Magdalene became part of Jesus’ circle of disciples.
There were many disputes about her personality. Some say she was a prostitute, others say she was a female divinity figure. Still others claim that she became the wife of Jesus (George, 2003). Mary Magdalene has been both revered as well as reviled for almost 2,000 years. There are claims of her being a witch, a whore and to being the eternal feminine and devoted companion of Jesus. New researches have also shown that Mary Magdalene could have played a central role in the ministry of Jesus and possibly an influential figure in the creation of Christianity (Chilton, 2005).
Mary Magdalene was an eyewitness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. She was also believed to have played an important role in the growth of Christianity following Jesus’ ascension to heaven (Lester, 2006). The most famous mention of Mary Magdalene in the New Testament was her anointing of Jesus with perfume and washing his feet in one of the dinners that Jesus frequented in the house of Mary Magdalene and her siblings. Interestingly, many new accounts are coming out disputing the popular belief among Christians that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute.
Recent works by scholars claim that there is no concrete evidence to suggest that indeed Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. Some point to the sermon by Gregory the Great five centuries after Mary Magdalene’s death which started that notion (Ehrman, 2006). Since Mary Magdalene was claimed to come from an affluent family, there were also claims that she helped pay for the expenses of Jesus’ ministry. Since Jesus and his disciples never collected donations from people, according to some texts, it was possible that Mary Magdalene helped sustain their ministry through her own funds (George, 2003).
When Jesus was crucified, Mary Magdalene was there at the foot of the cross along with Jesus’ mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and one of his apostles John. Being present at the foot of the Lord’s cross with Jesus’ mother bolstered the claim of other people that indeed Mary Magdalene may have been the wife of Jesus because why would she be there along with His mother. These claims were unfounded and probably misunderstood the deep faith and courage of Mary Magdalene on the Lord Jesus Christ. She was avid follower.
The story of Martha complaining to Jesus about Mary Magdalene sitting there listening to Him while she serves all the guests, is a testament to the devotion of Mary Magdalene to the teachings of Jesus (Chilton, 2005). When the Risen Christ showed Himself to Mary Magdalene, again many justified that Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene because she was His wife. The risen Christ chose to appear before Mary Magdalene because she was a repentant sinner. It was probably an analogy or symbolic gesture on Jesus’ part (Chilton, 2005).
After Jesus’ ascension, accounts say that Mary Magdalene together with her sister Martha and brother Lazarus were seized by the Jews along with many other Christians and left to die on board a ship without sails. They survived miraculously and Mary Magdalene was further mentioned to have chosen to live on a cave and every day, the angels of the Lord visited and carried her to heaven (“Memorial of St. Martha”, 2006). There is no clear record on when and where Mary Magdalene died. There were claims that she was miraculously transported to the chapel of St.
Maximin where she was given the last sacraments. Others claim that she spent her last days in Ephesus. With so many conflicting accounts on the life of Mary Magdalene, many scholars have spent countless hours researching her life story. With the recent interest on the life of Mary Magdalene because of claims that she was the wife of Jesus and she bore him a child, many writers and scholars have offered their own theories and writings based on their findings. In her book, Joan Norton even ventured as far as interpreting the mind of Mary Magdalene and writing a novel with a first-person perspective.
Though conflicting are the accounts on her life, what was certain was Mary Magdalene followed and served the Lord Jesus Christ while He was preaching and continued to do so even after his ascension to heaven. The feast day of Mary Magdalene is celebrated every July 22. She is regarded to symbolize the virtue of penitence. Hence, her title “The Penitent. ” St. Martha Not much is known about the life of Martha. In the Bible, she was only mentioned twice in the New Testament in the Gospels of John and Luke. Specifically, Martha was cited in Luke 10:38-42 and John 11, 12.
That mention is the story about the visit of Jesus in the house of Martha, Mary and Lazarus at Bethany. It was said that Jesus loved to visit them whenever He was in Judea. In one of Jesus’ visits to Martha’s home, Martha was busy serving the Master, preparing food for the guests and doing errands around the house when she noticed that her sister, Mary, was not doing anything but instead is seated near Jesus listening to his preaching. Martha, annoyed by Mary’s attitude, approached the Master to ask Him to persuade Mary to help her in doing the house chores.
Jesus understood what Martha was complaining about. Not wanting to offend her because Jesus loved them both, He explained to her that she was worrying too much at the things that are trivial and in the process loosing sight of the more important thing which is what Mary had been doing, and that is listening to the word of God (“Memorial of St. Martha”, 2006). There are, however, some snippets of stories about Martha that sheds some light on her life. According to one account, Martha came from a rich and noble family.
Her parents have enough wealth to live comfortably and to take good care of their children. But in spite of their wealth, Martha chose to serve the Lord in the ways she knew best. In fact, she is most remembered in the Christian world for the hospitality she gave to Jesus and his disciples whenever they visited them in their home (“Memorial …”, 2006) After the event where Jesus explained to Martha the importance of listening to the word of God, not much is known about what events followed on Martha’s life.
Martha was mentioned again in the New Testament when her brother Lazarus, who died of an illness, was raised from the dead by the Lord Jesus. Upon learning of Lazarus’ death, Jesus was saddened and He immediately set off to Judea. There, at the tomb of Lazarus, Martha was mentioned again wherein she spoke to Jesus uttering those intense words of faith, which later on became part of the Christian funeral liturgy. Martha told Jesus: “I know he will rise again on the resurrection on the last day.
” To which Jesus replied, telling her He, the Lord Jesus, is the resurrection and the life and whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life (“St. Martha”, nd. ). Martha’s conversations with Jesus showed her faith and courage. It is evident in the available writings that Jesus loved the family of Martha. Some time after Lazarus was raised from the dead, Jesus again visited Martha and her siblings and shared a meal with them. Because of their association with Jesus, the siblings were known throughout their town.
Lazarus was always talked about as the one that Jesus raised from the dead; Mary was known as the one who cause a commotion in one of the many dinners Jesus had with them by washing Jesus’ feet with her hair and pouring expensive perfume after. In contrast, Martha was known only as the one who always served Jesus the meals and took care of the guests whenever the Master came for a visit. She simply and humbly served Jesus (“St. Martha”, n. d). After the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and his eventual ascension to heaven, there was no mention of Martha again in the Scriptures.
Again, other accounts say that after the ascension, Martha, Mary and Lazarus were held by the Jews. Together with Martha’s handmaid Marcella and a disciple named Maximin who performed the baptism of the whole family, and with many other Christians were herded on to a ship. The Jews then left them on the open sea while on board the ship that was stripped of its sails and oars with the intent of exposing them to the elements of the sea and possibly send them to their doom through shipwreck or disease (“Memorial …”, 2006). But God had other plans for them.
The ship was not wrecked and all the passengers arrived safely in the city of Marseilles, now known as part of the nation of France in Europe. The miraculous journey became known to the local population. The Christians, including Martha and her siblings, set off to preach throughout Marseilles and the neighboring towns such as Aix, eventually converting many to become believers of Christ (“Memorial …”, 2006). The same account continued to say that because of their works, Lazarus was made bishop of Marseilles and Maximin the disciple, was also made bishop of the neighboring Aix.
Mary, it was said, decided to retire into a deserted cave and devoted herself to prayers and enjoyed the part wherein she had chosen when Jesus was still among them and that is immersing in the joys of heaven. Martha, it was believed, withdrew form the public eye and together with other virtuous women, lived apart from the community of men and settled in a remote place in the Marseilles. She spent the rest of her life serving the Lord Jesus Christ through her piety and prudence (“Memorial …”, 2006). Some accounts specifically mentioned that Martha died on the fourth of the Kalends of August.
Her body is believed to be interred at Tarascon where it is held in great veneration generations after generations (“Memorial …”, 2006). Still, others believe that where and when Martha died is unknown or whether she died a natural death or at the hands of those who persecute Christians (“St. Martha”, n. d. ). The feast day of St. Martha is celebrated every 29th of July. She is recognized as the patron saint of cooks, housewives, servants and travelers. Application to One’s Life/Lessons From the life of St.
Martha, one lesson which I believe many of us can relate to is that sometimes, with all the hustle and bustle of daily life, we worry too much about many things. Some are trivial, some are not but just the same, we become so immerse with the daily grind of life that we forget to pause and pray, just like what Martha experienced when Jesus made one of his many visits to their home. We need to stop and meditate, even contemplate because we may not realize it but taking a break and spending time to pray energizes our spirits and helps us cope with everyday problems and stress.
One other lesson that I can see from the life of St. Martha is that even simple things like household chores or small works outside our homes, can also be an instrument or a way to serve the Lord because in serving others, we serve also the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, Mary Magdalene represented the symbol of unwavering faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. If truly she was a prostitute, she displayed great courage and devotion when she followed Jesus in spite of her sins.
Recognizing one’s sins and repenting is probably the most valuable lesson that Mary Magdalene have taught us through her example. No matter how sinful we are, the Lord can forgive us and even elevate us to a level we could never expect. From the lives of St. Martha and St. Mary Magdalene, we can learn that serving the Lord Jesus Christ can be done in various ways albeit it should be based on true devotion and faith. References Chilton, B. (2005). Mary Magdalene: A Biography. New York: Doubleday. Ehrman, B. (2006). Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History
and Legend. Philadelphia: Oxford University Press. George, M. (2003). Mary, Called Magdalene. New York: Penguin Group (USA). Lester, M. (2006). The Everything Mary Magdalene Book: A Divine Profile. Massachusetts: Adams Media Corp. “Memorial of St. Martha, virgin”. (2006). Catholic Culture. Retrieved on November 25, 2006 from http:/www. catholicculture. org Norton, J. (2005). The Mary Magdalene Within. New York: iUniverse, Inc. “St. Martha”. (n. d. ). St. Martha. org. Retrieved on November 25, 2006 from http://www. stmartha. org/St%20Martha. htm
