What Your Sunday School Never Told You - Martha Wasn’t Wrong for Working

Martha has gotten an unfair reputation, and frankly, it’s tired.

She’s been cast as the frazzled one, the anxious one. The woman who loved Jesus but somehow didn’t “get it” because she couldn’t sit still. Meanwhile Mary gets framed as the spiritual hero because she parked herself on the floor and listened.

So the lesson usually goes like this: stop doing so much, stop being busy, and try harder to be present.

Cute.
Also wrong.

“But Martha was distracted with much serving; so she approached Yeshua and said, “Master, doesn’t it concern you that my sister has left me to serve alone? Then tell her to help me!’”
Luke 10:40 (TLV)

Let’s start here. Martha is not scolded for serving. She is hosting. She is feeding people. She is doing what hospitality required in that culture. Jesus didn’t float into her house on vibes alone. There was no DoorDash. Someone had to make sure there was actual food.

Martha didn’t misunderstand hospitality. She misunderstood what was happening inside her while she was doing it.

Martha’s Real Problem Wasn’t Busyness

Luke tells us Martha was distracted, and that word means pulled apart, dragged in different directions, internally fragmented. This isn’t a commentary on productivity. It’s a commentary on pressure.

Martha isn’t upset because she’s working. She’s upset because she’s working, watching Mary not work, and quietly keeping score.

And instead of saying something directly to her sister, she does what many of us do. She spiritualizes the frustration and brings Jesus into it.

“Don’t You care?”

That question is doing a LOT of emotional labor.

This isn’t rebellion, it’s resentment. And resentment always leaks.

Jesus Doesn’t Side-Eye Martha. He Slows Her Down

“But answering her, the Lord said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and bothered about many things;’”
Luke 10:41 (TLV)

That repetition of her name isn’t irritation, it’s tenderness. It’s the verbal equivalent of Jesus putting a hand on her shoulder and saying, “Come back to yourself.”

Notice what He does not say. He does not tell her to stop serving. He doesn’t say Mary is better. He doesn’t turn this into an episode of Bethany’s Got Talent.

He names Martha’s inner state. Worried. Troubled. Overloaded.

Jesus isn’t correcting her work. He’s addressing the cost it’s extracting from her soul.

Mary Is Not the Standard. She’s the Moment

Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet has been turned into this ideal Christian posture, usually at the expense of people who carry responsibility… especially women. Especially the ones who keep things functioning while everyone else is “choosing the better portion.”

But Luke doesn’t say Mary chose the better life. He says she chose the better portion in that moment.

This isn’t Jesus announcing that quiet people win and practical people need to repent. It’s Jesus refusing to let Martha’s service be poisoned by comparison and internal chaos.

Martha’s service mattered but her resentment was draining her.

Why Sunday School Got This Wrong

This passage gets taught as a warning against being too busy to spend time with Jesus because it’s easier than teaching people how to serve without losing themselves. It’s easier than addressing anxiety, control, and the unspoken pressure to be everything for everyone.

So Martha becomes the cautionary tale, and Mary becomes the goal.

And Jesus gets miscast as someone who prefers stillness over faithfulness, contemplation over contribution.

That version of Jesus doesn’t survive the rest of the Gospels.

Final Thoughts

Martha didn’t need to stop working to be faithful. She needed to stop measuring her faithfulness against someone else’s posture.

Jesus doesn’t ask her to drop responsibility. He invites her to carry it without resentment, comparison, or internal collapse.

This story isn’t anti-service. It’s anti-spiraling!

And honestly, that’s a word a lot of us needed way more than “just sit down.”

Verse Mapping Aid: Luke 10:38–42

Luke is very precise with his language in this scene, and the Greek exposes what Sunday school usually skips.

When the text says Martha was “distracted,” the word is περισπάω (perispao). It literally means to be pulled apart or dragged away in multiple directions. This isn’t simple busyness. It’s inner fragmentation. Martha’s attention isn’t just occupied; it’s being divided against itself.

Jesus then tells Martha she is “worried,” using μεριμνάω (merimnao). This word describes anxiety that fractures focus and creates inward tension. It’s the same word Jesus uses elsewhere when talking about anxiety that weighs a person down internally.

He adds that she is “troubled,” from θορυβάζω (thorybazo), a word connected to agitation, disturbance, or being emotionally stirred up. Martha was essentially FUMING. Luke is stacking terms to show that Martha’s struggle is internal overload, not moral failure.

By contrast, Mary is described as sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening. The posture signals discipleship, not laziness. Sitting at a rabbi’s feet was a recognized position of learning and attentiveness.

When Jesus says Mary has chosen the “better portion,” the word μερίς (meris) refers to an allotted share. It’s often used for inheritance language. Jesus is not comparing sisters. He’s naming what nourishes rather than depletes in that moment.

The text never contrasts service with spirituality. It contrasts attentiveness with anxiety.

Download Our Printable Verse Mapping Worksheet

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Bible Study Questions

1. How do the Greek words perispao, merimnao, and thorybazo deepen your understanding of Martha’s internal state?

2. What cultural expectations around hospitality help explain Martha’s sense of pressure?

3. How does Mary’s posture signal discipleship rather than passivity in Luke’s Gospel?

4. What does Jesus actually correct in this passage, and what does He leave untouched?

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Reflection Questions

1. Where has your service started pulling you apart internally rather than anchoring you?

2. How often do you spiritualize frustration instead of naming it honestly?

3. What comparison has quietly crept into your obedience or faithfulness?

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Action Challenges

1. Re-read Luke 10:38–42 and circle what Jesus does not say to Martha.

2. Identify one responsibility you carry that has become tangled with resentment, and bring that honestly before God.

3. Practice attentiveness this week without dropping responsibility, noticing how your inner posture shifts.

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About the Author

Diane Ferreira is a Jewish believer in Yeshua, a published author, speaker, seminary student, wife, and proud mom. She is the author of several books, including The Proverbs 31-ish Woman, which debuted as Amazon’s #1 New Release in Religious Humor.

She is currently pursuing her graduate degree in Jewish Studies in seminary, with her favorite topics being the early church and Biblical Hebrew. Diane writes and teaches from a unique perspective, bridging her Jewish heritage with vibrant faith in the Messiah to bring clarity, depth, and devotion to everyday believers.

When she’s not writing, studying, or teaching, you’ll find her curled up with a good book, crocheting something cozy, or playing her favorite video games.

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Tree of Life (TLV) – Scripture taken from the Holy Scriptures, Tree of Life Version*. Copyright © 2014,2016 by the Tree of Life Bible Society. Used by permission of the Tree of Life Bible Society.