My idea is to conflate four different Bible stories, to make one character out of four. I would combine Simon the Leper, Simon the Pharisee, Lazarus of Bethany (the resurrected brother of Mary & Martha), and Lazarus the Leper in the parable.
How interesting would it be if this Simon Lazarus was from a wealthy family (olive groves) and then, through “prodigal” living, contracted some skin disease (Leprosy was a term applied to several bad skin conditions)?
Because Leprosy was considered communicable though touch, Simon Lazarus would be ostracized by his family and by the entire community. He would sit outside the gates of his own family’s estate, begging for alms (and wishing he could return to his former life).
At some point in the story, Simon Lazarus would be cured of his disease by Jesus. That cure would lead to a conversion experience and to an ongoing friendship with Jesus ... but much damage would already have been done by his previous profligate life, and not just to his health.
His younger sister, Mary, had followed his example and become involved in similar wild living and dissolution. His elderly parents, orthodox Jewish believers, blamed Simon Lazarus. Already broken-hearted by Simon Lazarus’ rejection of all they believed, Mary’s poor life choices break their health. In time, their grief leads first one and then the other to their deaths.
The cured and converted Simon Lazarus is eventually welcomed back into his home, but now only he and older sister Martha constitute the family.
Eventually, over the years of his ministry, Jesus would visit the home of Simon Lazarus multiple times. On one occasion, a woman comes in and anoints Jesus’ head. On another, the same penitent woman enters and weeps on Jesus’ feet before anointing them with perfume and wiping them with her hair.
This woman would be Mary, the younger sister of Lazarus. Having lived a dissolute life, she has been drawn to Jesus by his teachings and his obvious love of sinners. He would have formed a personal relationship with her, just as he did with other “tax collectors and sinners.” She would even attend some of those early gatherings where Jesus dined with some of them. In other words: her own story of being drawn to Jesus would be told, completely separate from that of Simon Lazarus.
She would be so changed by her lifestyle (and the passage of years) that Simon Lazarus would not recognize her when she first appeared to anoint Jesus. It would only be after her conversion that Lazarus would realize she is his baby sister, the one he was not allowed to see all that time he was ostracized.
And what about Martha?
Martha stayed true to her family’s beliefs. Martha stayed and kept the home, nursing her parents in their old age. Martha watched her siblings waste their inheritance and their lives. And after her parents’ deaths, Martha became the matriarch. Maybe the years were not so many, but they were heavy with import. Much of significance had happened ... much that might not be forgivable.
In my novel, this is the Martha we would encounter in this week’s scripture from Luke; the one who stayed, the one who held it all together, the one who was, as Jesus described her, “worried and distracted by many things.”
Let’s remember this: Jesus knew the depths of those He encountered. When he spoke these words to Martha, he knew where Mary needed to be ... and he believed that, in that moment and in her future, that is where Martha needed to be, as well. His words were not an indictment of Martha, or of her desire to maintain order and decorum in her home.
Martha needed Jesus just as much as her siblings ... but not for the same reasons. Martha needed to hear those words from Jesus. They were for her. Let’s not make the same mistake many have made over the years. This is not, and never was: Mary good, Martha bad.
Jesus was issuing an invitation to Martha. It’s the same one He speaks to us: you can set down your heavy load. You can rest in Jesus. You can take a risk and allow Jesus to gently remove your armor. You are safe with Jesus.
You are, finally ... really ... home.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 11 (16) (July 21, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=271
Amos 8:1-12
Psalm 52
Genesis 18:1-10a
Psalm 15
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42
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Friday morning will be another amazing gathering of folk at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. When we gather at 8:00 at the “Egg and I” restaurant, we share an hour where, together, we encounter God. It’s food, fellowship, Bible discussion, and, surprising to some, joy and laughter.
Join us.
Blessings,
Steve
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