The Gospels
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 Who Say Ye That I Am? - Mary And Martha
The part of Luke's gospel that deals with Christ asking His disciples as to His identity is not a passage that can be misunderstood too easily. Within the
preceding verses there is a thread that reveals much more depth to the passage.
Here is the passage for reference;
-- Click To Expand/Collapse Bible Verses -- Luke ch9:v12-35
Luk 9:12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place.
Luk 9:13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.
Luk 9:14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.
Luk 9:15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.
Luk 9:16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.
Luk 9:17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.
Luk 9:18 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?
Luk 9:19 They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again.
Luk 9:20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God.
Luk 9:21 And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing;
Luk 9:22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luk 9:24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
Luk 9:25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
Luk 9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.
Luk 9:27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.
Luk 9:28 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.
Luk 9:29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.
Luk 9:30 And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:
Luk 9:31 Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
Luk 9:32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.
Luk 9:33 And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.
Luk 9:34 While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.
Luk 9:35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
(KJV)
To start with the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, The bread has an astonishing parallel to Christ as the bread of heaven: That broken, he is there to feed, or sustain them. Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John to be "fishers of men".
There are two fishes here that have a parallel to the two groups of Jew and Gentile. The five loaves for five thousand is a mystery (were it not for the five refining churches of revelation or the five virgins (both as five wise or five foolish, the latter comprising laodicea), but the twelve baskets left over at the end run parallel to the twelve tribes of Israel (c.f. Revelation and the sealed saints.) The healed Israel, or kingdom of God that is the end result of Jesus sustaining all the Father's (and His) children.
One loaf per thousand men: A Roman legion consisted of one thousand soldiers, but Jesus asked his disciples to make the people sit down in companies of 50. This makes one loaf per one hundred people. I think the Roman legion is a red herring, compared to Jesus' parable of the sower, where seed sown
into good soil may bear fruit as much as a hundred fold. With this miracle, Jesus shows how the word of God through Christ can be fed to heal the nations and bring about the spiritual Israel of the new covenant, and Israel is no longer a blood-right
privilege.
It is no wonder then, that After Jesus has made this miracle and declared himself as the Christ, sent to be Messiah and Saviour of all the nations, that He would ask His disciples "Whom say the people that I am?" as well as to
His disciples "But whom say ye that I am?" Jesus told his disciples to tell no-one he was the Christ. I expect he wished for the people to believe on his miracles and his teaching, rather than rumour. - For rumour the
Pharisees would have put him to death on that basis alone, not because he declared Himself the true Christ.
Now on to Jesus' visit to see Mary and Martha, here is the passage for reference;
-- Click To Expand/Collapse Bible Verses -- Luke ch10:v38-42
Luk 10:38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
Luk 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
Luk 10:40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
Luk 10:41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
Luk 10:42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
(KJV)
A brief one this; I was always a little concerned that I was missing the point because it was always made too simple for me. I used to think that Martha was missing out, and it was unfair, but Mary was listening which was the good thing to do. I simply thought all the point was that Martha should have just said "To hell with the dinner, I'm gonna listen too". I didn't realise the obvious point being made, that Martha was listening so that she could teach others also. That is the one good and needful thing for Mary to do, so she could later serve her sister Martha, and others alike. It wasn't the listening to Jesus which was 'needful'. By listening to Jesus it is Mary's ability to share to her sister, that is the one needful thing to Martha, that later she be instructed because someone in her house listened.
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