Here we are again friends, talking about two women.

Mary of Bethany - sister of Martha and Lazarus. Rubbed Jesus feet with oil then dried with her own hair, "anointing him".

Her taking position at Jesus' feet in her sister Martha's house was a bold move culturally, as women were not often taken as 'discples', which the sitting position at Jesus' feet indicates.

How did Jesus respond? By complimenting her.



Martha of Bethany - sister of Mary and Lazarus. Received Jesus at Lazarus' grave and knew that Jesus was the Christ, before resurrecting Lazarus.

When Jesus was at her house, she is described as "distracted by all the preparations", fussing over preparing the hospitality basically. She even asked Jesus to force Mary to help her

How did Jesus respond? By [gently] teaching Martha that her sister had 'chosen' the better position of receiving the manna from heaven, at Jesus feet (basically), rather than worry about what is served at the meal.

Lazarus of Bethany - brother of Mary and Martha. Died. Resurrected by Jesus after 4 days, 6 days before Passover.

Jesus was "especially fond of him".

Lazarus was present at Martha's house when Mary anointed Jesus with the oil.

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Two women. Lazarus, which is "Eleazar" and means "God is my help", is resurrected.

Lazarus isn't over-defined; kind of like he represents "A Man", who Jesus is fond of.

Hmmm ... Jesus was especially fond of mankind taken as 'wisdom' in Proverbs 28 right?

What do we see here?

- A man Jesus was especially fond of has two sisters.

- Though never explicitly defined in the scriptures, it's generally agreed that Martha as the hostess, and a home mentioned as hers, is the older.

- Martha was too distracted by 'preparing' the meal to listen to Jesus

- The younger Mary uses her hair to anoint Jesus' feet with oil

- All of this happens 10 - 6 days from passover

I don't want to over-define this, but you get the picture