Today is the memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. As we hear in today’s Gospel Mary comes to full faith in Jesus: “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” The only other figure in John’s Gospel to come to this full and explicit understanding of Jesus is “doubting” Thomas:
“Then Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.’ Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:27-28).
We also hear of Martha and Mary in Luke’s Gospel where we hear that the basis of Mary’s faith is listening to Jesus:
“Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.’ The Lord said to her in reply, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.’” (Luke 10:38-42).
In the Gospels there are different pathways to faith but the most important thing or the “better part” is to “sit at the Lord’s feet and listen to him speak.” But this listening to the Lord should also lead to service and sacrifice as Jesus himself shows us at the Last Supper as he washes the feet of his disciples. Faith is Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God challenges us to follow his way of humility and service.
What does it mean for Mary or Thomas to confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God? Jesus teaches us in today’s Gospel that it means Life: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
Jesus teaches throughout John’s Gospel that he is Life, the Living Water or the Bread of Life. This life that Jesus offers to us means not only resurrection and life after death but also a qualitatively different life in the present. When we follow Jesus’ way, the way to the Father, we are truly free. We see and experience in Jesus the one true God, the God of love and mercy. We become more aware that God “walks with us on the journey of our life” and so our life is different because our life is now lived day in and day out with God by our side.
Image: “Christ in the House of Martha and Mary” by lluisribesmateᥩ is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.