What it means to abide in Jesus Christ's pattern - Serve and Rejoice in Jesus Christ

 

Introduction:

    The last few posts have looked at what it means to abide in Christ. The posts are based off of a recent sermon I preached on the subject. Featured in the posts are Mary and Martha, two sisters whom Jesus met in the course of His earthly ministry some few months before His crucifixion. The last few posts dealt with how Mary highlights for us what it means to abide in the presence of Christ. We learned that to abide in Christ means:

"To abide in Christ is when my faith is settled in spiritual union with Him, identification with Him, and bearing fruit for Him." 

    Mary had her faith "settled in Jesus" but how she abided in His words, His cross, and His majesty.  We are now going to switch our attention to her sister Martha to learn what it means to abide in the pattern of Christ. In the last post we witnessed Martha learning to seek and know Jesus Christ as she mourned over her brother's death. She found Jesus to be who He said He was, the resurrection and the life. Today's post will conclude our character studies of these two sisters as we focus on how Martha abided in the pattern of Jesus Christ by serving and rejoicing.

Serve and rejoice. John 12:1-3 

   Martha would continue on in the pattern of following and serving her Lord. Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead in John 11. In the wake of that we read John 12:1-3 “Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”

    No doubt this meal and gathering was a mixture of jubilation with an undertone of plotting against Jesus. Judas’ coldness toward Mary’s anointing of Jesus and the plotting against Lazarus by some in the background remind us that we’re but days away from Jesus’ crucifixion. Such coldness and plotting contrasts with an otherwise joyous occasion – Lazarus was alive and well and Jesus was present in the home. 

    All John 12:2 tells us is “Martha was serving”. In the first scene we looked at a few posts back, Jesus corrected Martha not for her serving but for her distraction in her serving. Here in John 12 we see Martha serving but with a difference. She was abiding in the pattern of her Lord - that of service.  

    Lazarus was sitting beside Jesus at the table. As was typical oriental fashion in those days. The guests would have been reclining on one another, propping themselves up by one arm while reaching for food with the other. Mary was anointing Jesus. Martha served. The scene is one of celebration along with the pending crucifixion of Jesus looming in the not-so-distant future. The Lord's pattern of service was closely connected to His cross.

    Our Lord’s pattern was “to serve and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Other than Judas, do you notice how the whole scene is joyous. Martha was not there to have her praises sung in service, but she served so that her Savior’s praises would be sung. 

Closing thoughts on post series:

    We have done a series of character studies on the lives of Mary and Martha. They taught us what it means to abide in Jesus Christ. From Mary we learned what it meant to abide in the presence of Jesus Christ,

1. Abide in His words.

2. Abide in His cross.

3. Abide in His majesty.

   We then saw Martha's abiding in Christ pattern as we noted the following,

1. Stop, look, and listen. Luke 10:38-42

2. Seek and know. John 11:20-28

3. Serve and rejoice. John 12:1-3 

    My hope is this series of posts has caused the reader to more closely consider the importance of abiding in Jesus Christ, having their faith settled in their spiritual unity with Him, their identity with Him, and bearing fruit for Him.