One Thing is Needed
Introduction
I first encountered Jesus in a personal way in 1974. Soon afterwards I heard a talk and, all these years later, I still remember it. It was given by an eighty-year-old man. The title was, ‘The Five “One Things”’. His talk highlighted five significant occurrences of the expression ‘one thing’ in the Bible (Psalm 27:4; Mark 10:21; Luke 10:42; John 9:25; Philippians 3:13). Each one speaks about our priorities. One of those five occurrences is in our New Testament passage for today (Luke 10:42).
I have great empathy with Martha. Jesus said to her, ‘You are worried and upset about many things’ (v.41). There are so many things in life, but Jesus says, ‘only one thing is needed’ (v.42). It was Mary who had her priorities right.
Psalm 41:11–12
11 I know that you are pleased with me,
for my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 Because of my integrity you uphold me
and set me in your presence for ever.
Commentary
The priority of his presence
You can know God’s presence and his pleasure in the midst of all the challenges of life.
David had his worries and distractions. He had his enemies and, like Jesus, he says, ‘Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me’ (v.9; see also John 13:18).
Be confident, as David was, in the ultimate triumph of good over evil (Psalm 41:11b). Know that God is pleased with you (v.11a). David’s overwhelming desire is that God would set him in his presence (v.12). Make this your highest priority. This is what you were created for. The presence of God satisfies your deepest need.
Prayer
Father, help me today to enjoy your pleasure and your presence in the midst of all the challenges and difficulties of life.
Luke 10:25–42,11:1-4
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’
2 He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
‘“Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
Commentary
The priorities of Jesus
What are your priorities? Is time with Jesus something you try and squeeze into your busy schedule? Or do you schedule your relationship with him as your number one priority?
A learned theologian and lawyer asks Jesus, a layman, the billion-dollar question about the way to eternal life.
Jesus gives us a model way to respond – and one that we try to follow in small group discussions on Alpha. In effect, Jesus asks the question, ‘What do you think?’ (10:26,36).
The lawyer gives the correct answer: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ (v.27). This should be your highest priority. Your next priority is to love your neighbour as yourself.
The lawyer then asks a question, which shows he is looking for a loophole (v.29). He wants to make ‘neighbour’ a term of limited liability – family, friends, relatives, members of the same people and religious community.
Jesus responds with a story about injustice. A man was travelling on a notoriously dangerous road, 17 miles long with a 3,000-foot descent from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was carrying goods and valuables. He became a victim of injustice. He was robbed, stripped, beaten and left for dead (v.30).
The religious leaders came along. First, the priest (who had probably just been running the services in the temple in Jerusalem) and then the Levite (the assistant responsible for the liturgy and music). Both ‘saw’ the victim (vv.31–32) but neither of them stopped. There are at least three possible reasons why they, and we, don’t get involved:
1. We are too busy
Possibly they were in a hurry. They didn’t want to get involved in a time-consuming activity.
2. We don’t want to pollute ourselves
Touching a dead body would have made them unclean for seven days (Numbers 19:11). They would not have been able to enter the temple during this period (Leviticus 21:1). They might have lost their turn of duty at the temple.
3. We don’t want to take a risk
Obviously, there were robbers around. This could have been a decoy for a possible ambush.
The audience listening to Jesus would have been shocked by the eventual hero of the story. Jesus chooses their least favourite person. The Samaritans were a race despised by Jews socially, politically and religiously. This is a story about a person of a different race and religion having compassion (Luke 10:33). The Samaritan provided practical help. It cost him time, energy and money (vv.34–35).
The story Jesus told shows that the lawyer asked the wrong question (v.29). The right question is not, ‘Who is my neighbour?’ but, ‘To whom can I be a neighbour?’ Jesus teaches the absolute and unlimited nature of the duty of love. Jesus came to destroy all the barriers. The whole human race is our neighbour.
Queen Elizabeth II said in one of her Christmas Day messages: ‘For me, as a Christian, when Jesus answers the question, “Who is my neighbour?” the implication drawn by Jesus is clear. Everyone is our neighbour, no matter what race, creed or colour.’
‘[He] passed by on the other side’ (v.31b) is such an evocative expression. There are so many hurting people around us. Once you have seen, don’t be like the priest and the Levite in Jesus’ parable and pass by on the other side. The Samaritan ‘took pity’ (v.33b), as Jackie Pullinger points out he put the man on his own donkey (v.34) not the churches donkey! He took care of him (v.34b) and he gave his money (v.35). Jesus says at the end of this story, ‘Go and do likewise’ (v.37b).
Draw near to people who are in need – get involved and help them. You are never more like God than when you are helping hurting people, lifting up the fallen and restoring the broken. Try to make this a high priority in your life. Yet the next story shows that your ability to do this stems from an even higher priority.
Mary had her priorities right. She ‘sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he said’ (v.39). She realised that, although there were many distractions and worries around, there was nothing more important than simply sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to him. This should be your number one priority.
Martha was too busy to take time to enjoy her friendship with Jesus when he came to her home. Not spending time with Jesus is the biggest mistake you can make in your spiritual life. Nobody on their death bed ever said, ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office.’ Many regret not spending more time on their most important relationships.
It is probably no accident that the next story Luke tells is about Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray. We see Jesus himself modelling the importance of spending time with God in prayer, and the interest that sparks in his disciples (11:1). That is then the context for him to teach them the ‘Lord’s Prayer’.
The prayer starts with extraordinary intimacy with God, as you are encouraged to call him ‘Father’. But a relationship with God should impact the rest of your life as well. Pray for daily provision (v.3). Pray ‘your kingdom come’ (v.2) and think of the sins you need to forgive in others, and be forgiven in yourself (v.4).
There are many different ways to develop a relationship with Jesus. Whatever way you do it, it needs to be your number one priority.
Prayer
Lord, help me to enjoy your presence. May I have the love and courage to lift up the fallen, restore the broken and help hurting people.
Deuteronomy 4:5–7
5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?
Commentary
The priority of relationship
Moses recorded how God had given them the land and had also given them the commands. Yet the greatest privilege for the people of God is not the land or the law but the love of God: ‘The Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him’ (4:7).
Furthermore, there seems to be an intentional connection between the way God’s people were instructed to live and the impact they would have on the other nations (v.6). God intended them to be a highly visible example both as to the nature of the God they worshipped, and as to the quality of social justice embodied in their community. In other words, following the example of the Good Samaritan has an evangelistic consequence.
The law is an expression of God’s love and desire to be close to his people. That is why they are urged, ‘Watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them’ (v.9). The law was given in the context of the covenant (v.13). It starts with God’s commitment to us and his love for us.
Likewise, the new covenant starts with God’s commitment through the death and resurrection of Jesus and through God’s love being poured into your heart by the Holy Spirit. You have permanent access to the presence of God (Ephesians 2:18).
Prayer
Father, help me to stay close to you, to live in your presence, sitting at the feet of Jesus, hearing your words and going out and acting on them.
Pippa adds
Looking at Luke 10:38–42,
I can sympathise with both Mary and Martha. I know the feeling of tearing around trying to prepare something while people are sitting around ‘being spiritual’ and doing nothing when there is still masses to be done. But, I also have experienced times when I have been the one seated, while others have been running around working hard. Both sitting at the feet of Jesus and practical serving are necessary in life, but sitting at Jesus’ feet is better by far.
Thought for the Day
‘For me, as a Christian, when Jesus answers the question, “Who is my neighbour?” the implication drawn by Jesus is clear. Everyone is our neighbour, no matter what race, creed or colour.’
– Queen Elizabeth II
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References
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.