Jesus in the House of Mary and Martha (Vermeer)
....patron saint of housewives (among others.)
19 And many of the Jews were come to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.20 Martha therefore, as soon as she heard that Jesus was come, went to meet him: but Mary sat at home.
21 Martha therefore said to Jesus: Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
22 But now also I know that whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
23 Jesus saith to her: Thy brother shall rise again.
24 Martha saith to him: I know that he shall rise again, in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live:
26 And every one that liveth and believeth in me shall not die for ever. Believest thou this?
27 She saith to him: Yea, Lord, I have believed that thou art Christ, the Son of the living God, who art come into this world. John 11:19-27 (Douay-Rheims)
I would have put this up earlier but I was, um, busy with much serving. Steven has a reflection on St Martha up today and another in his archives.
Jesus didn't tell Martha to stop serving and sit down. Rather, He gently chided her for being "worried and anxious about many things." Perhaps Martha got the message, and this is what enabled her to make her magnificent profession of faith.
I am on the side of Martha. I personally think both Jesus and Mary should have got up and helped Martha. Both expected to be fed yet both were too busy talking and expected poor old Martha to do it all. Martha was naturally anxious becasue she got stuck with all the work, if those two lazy people had done the proper thing and di theri bit, Martha too would have had a lot ot time to sit around joining in their discussion. I bet Jesus would have got short shrift from his mum if he had been sitting around when she had work for him to do.