Paper
for Society of Biblical Literature March 29, 2014 at Denver University Mary
A. Hanson
hanson139@comcast.net
Diakonia in Luke 10:38-42:
What Was Martha Doing?
Mary and Martha have drawn strong
reactions in countless sermons and devotions over the years. Since the seventh
century, this passage was the lectionary text for the feast of the Assumption
of Mary. This is but one indication of the importance of Luke 10:38-42 because
Mary, the mother of Jesus, is not a character in the text that was read on one
of her feast days. Homilies from as early
as Jerome, Origen, Cassian, and Augustine are still available to us. From the medieval period, Meister Eckhart, Teresa of Avila, and Bernard of Clairvaux produced
several sermons on the text. The Reformers reinforced the work ethic, but not
at the expense of the spiritual.Today best-selling authors have popularized the
traditional story of Mary and Martha.
Quoting G.B. Caird, “Few stories in
the Gospels have been as consistently mishandled as this one.” The text, as usually
applied, leaves the reader in a quandary. Each reading raises new questions. According
to Jesus himself, Mary is the example to follow,
while Martha appears to be reprimanded. Yet, most women have sympathy for
Martha. Or, is Martha’s activity good, but she should do less of it? Why does
Mary not say anything in her defense? Is a “silent” woman the preferred example
to one that “complains?” Is one sister necessarily an example of “good” and one
an example of “not so good?” Must the sisters be set against each
other?
Why would the “service” that Martha
performed on this occasion of Jesus’ visit be considered unsatisfactory. Jesus
himself offered extravagant practical service in his everyday ministry. He provided
multitudes with abundant food and gathered the leftovers, he changed water to
fine wine, and provided a bounteous harvest of fish. Likewise, in the parable
immediately preceding our passage, the Good Samaritan provides generous
resources to care for the left-for-dead traveler. Why is Martha then criticized
for doing what Jesus himself demonstrated as exemplary care for one’s neighbor?
What was Martha really doing in Luke 10:38-42?
II Difficulties
Interpretation is difficult for
many reasons. The earliest manuscripts contain many textual variants which
indicate scribal uncertainty. The location of the event is unspecified despite
the traditional understanding that Mary and Martha were located in Bethany near
Jerusalem. At this point in Luke’s travel narrative, starting at 9:51, Jesus was
not likely to be near Jerusalem, but still north in Galilee. There is also no consensus concerning the context of these four verses, with no obvious
connection to the text previous and following. This paper will concern yet another
key issue in Luke 10:38-42, and that is the meaning of the Greek vocabulary. In
particular, I will look carefully the family of diakon-words,
which occur twice in verse 40, both as a verb and as a noun.
Reconsider the possible “service” that Martha is
offering. In verse 40, Luke uses the noun diakoni,a in the accusative and the verb diakone,w as an infinitive. Altogether, Luke uses the verb eight times, which is more than any other NT author, and these are confined mostly
to his Gospel. The semantic range of the meaning of the diakon-words in Luke includes “wait on, helping to support, do the work, serves, and
preparations.” It can mean many
different kinds of service on the behalf of another, including but not
necessarily restricted to serving a meal.[1]
Of the thirty-four uses in the NT, fourteen times it is translated as
“ministry” in the NIV.[2]
III. Discussion of
Diakoneō
I will first discuss the eight uses
of the verb in Luke’s Gospel. In Luke 4:39 he describes
the activity of Peter’s mother-in-law where upon being healed by Jesus, she illustrated
complete recovery by serving those in attendance. Luke 8:3 describes the
activity of the women who “serve” Jesus, or Jesus and the disciples, while
traveling, with their own resources. The third occurrence of the verb is in the
verse under study: “Do you not care that my sister has left me alone to
serve?”
Further, in chapter 12,
Luke records a parable of Jesus using diakone,w when the master serves his servants who are properly prepared for his
return home. In verse 17:8, Jesus tells of the master who demands to be served
by his servant after a day of work. The last three occurrences are in the
discourse of Jesus in chapter 22:27-28 on “Who is greatest?” Jesus says of himself, “I am among you as one that serves,” where
the verb occurs as a participle.
The noun diakoni,a is used only once in all of Luke, and not in any
other of the Gospels, and this one occurrence is in (10:40), which in the
age-old understanding, concerns Martha’s service as a hostess. However, and
this is the crux of my thesis, it is not as clear, as many commentators and
popular authors claim, that the Mary and Martha event was a scene in a dining
room and kitchen.
Briefly, I will review Luke’s use
of diakon-words in his second
work. In Acts 1:17, a successor to Judas is chosen to continue the ministry of
the twelve, where diakoni,a refers to the
work of the disciples. Acts 6:1-6 has a concentration of diakon-words, one use of the verb and two of the noun. I include this passage because it is a good illustration of
the range of meaning of diakon- words
in Luke’s writings. Seven Hellenists were appointed to devote themselves to diakoni,a “service at the table” so the apostles could be free to do diakoni,a “service of the word.” Seven
of those chosen are never mentioned again. At least two in this group, Phillip
and Stephen, practiced word-service and
became preachers of the early Christian church.[3]
From Acts 6 alone, there certainly seems to be diverse meaning to diakoni,a.
Continuing in Acts, Luke also
refers to the famine relief collection for Judea in 11:29 as diakoni,a. This same diakoni,a was carried out
by Barnabas and Saul in 12:25, translated in the NIV “when they had finished
their mission.” In Acts 19:22, Paul uses the participle to describe the work of
Timothy and Erastus. Paul calls his overall ministry diakoni,a in 20:24 and
21:19. A similar passage is Rom 12:7. It would not be
out of the question to entertain the possibility that Martha was engaged in
this kind of work and therefore a deacon prototype.[4]
IV
Overview of Interpretations
With this background to the use of diakon-words I will review a sampling of
commentators. As an illustration of traditional thinking, Tannehill maintains
that diakoni,a in Luke 10:40 refers to hospitality, especially through
providing a meal. He does not broaden to the possibility of an established
ministry of preaching and leadership.[5]
A sample of well-known commentators who claim the conventional understanding of
Mary and Martha in a household dining scene is long and impressive including Green,
Bock, Nolland, Fitmyer, Marshall, LT Johnson, Hendriksen, Craddock, Tiede.
Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza in 1992 noted that
the text does not explicitly refer to a meal and does not place Martha in the
kitchen, and that the more general expression diakoni,a, leaves open various possibilities. Also, Jesus’ climactic
word does not mention diakoni,a but that Martha was troubled and anxious. Schüssler Fiorenza maintains that the word Luke used to describe
Martha’s activity had already become a technical
term for ecclesial leadership at the time he was writing when house-churches
provided both preaching of the word and the Eucharistic meal celebration.[6]
She claims that Luke was writing anachronistically several decades after the event described. According to her
hermeneutic of suspicion, Luke was now restricting women’s activities to
traditional serving, and passive listening by repressing Martha’s serving as a
deacon, and approving Mary’s listening.
Barbara Reid in 1996 acknowledges that
Mary and Martha raise more questions than any other Lukan pericope that
involves women. She maintains that diakoni,a can mean many different kinds of service on the behalf of
another, including but not necessarily restricted to serving a meal.[7]
She realizes that most women identify with Martha but warns against the
temptation to rescue Jesus or blunt the absolute approval of Mary and reprimand
of Martha. I agree with her statement, “Our instincts are correct when they
tell us that something is wrong with this picture; but to try to make it into
something that is is not is equally problematic.”[8]
J.N. Collins in 1990 defends the
idea that diakoni,a did
not describe domestic tasks, but service or ministry on behalf of Jesus and
other disciples. He wrote an entire book on the
meaning of diakoni,a working from
classical Greek texts to expand the semantic field from
lowly house service, to a “go-between or emissary,” such as an
ambassador or courier.[9]
The Jewish understanding of “service” being mundane household work, has always
been assumed, but Collins raised the possibility that NT writers may have also understood
diakoni,a in the
classic Greek sense of one who is a messenger, spokesperson or agent.[10]
This included, “mediation,
intercession, agency, and mission in the name of a principle.” The noun was
used for more formal activities and included religious contexts.
More recently in 2007, Anni Hentschel continues the work on diakoni,a and notes that the subject can be a man or woman, and
indicates ministry in hospitality or in the broader sense, Phoebe being an
example in Romans 16:1.[11]
She concludes that the understanding of diakoni,a in Luke 10:38-42 is
determined by context.[12]
She does not find such a strong contrast as Collins, that is, one meaning does
not necessarily preempt the other. Bringing food to the table, or serving in
the community in a more official
capacity, do not actually contrast so much.[13]
Warren Carter indicates that Martha
must be held as an example of the positive manner in which Jesus is to be
received as described throughout chapter 10. He notes that the six uses of decomai (receive)
in Luke prior to chapter 10 (2:28, 8:13, and four times in 9:48) connect
Martha’s reception of Jesus to those who embrace his eschatological mission
and openness to his message.[14] In 9:52-53 and 10:10 the same word is used to
show a negative reception. For Carter, Martha
is an illustration of the model disciple. “In receiving Jesus, Martha is a
child of peace (10:6) who has encountered God’s reign (Luke 10:9).”[15]
Therefore, it is unlikely that Martha is intended by Luke as a negative
example. He makes a convincing argument that Martha is distracted by her
responsibilities of leadership and house ministry.[16]
In summary so far, Luke is probably
intending both sisters as examples of exemplary discipleship. “Listening” (h;kouen) is
always a favorable activity in Luke. Mary’s h;kouen “listening” is the
opposite of the example of the person in 10:16 who rejects avqete,w. “To
hear” is the antithesis of “to reject.” Likewise Martha “receives” Jesus in
contrast to the Samaritans who did not receive him. To “hear” and to “act” describes
the ideal response to the gospel in 8:21. Both women are the positive examples
as opposed to the earlier negative examples.
V. Conclusion
Turid Karlsen Seim adds
insights to the conclusions of the previous commentators. Seim notes that the first
three uses of the verb in Luke have a woman or women as the subject. Furthermore,
Seim adds that diakone,w in two
of these three verses seem to indicate women supporting Jesus by use of their
own resources. I would say that could also be true in the case of Peter’s
mother-in-law, who may have been the owner of her house, serving Jesus from her
own resources. She was not a common servant in her own house. The use of a daikon-word seems to indicate a higher
level of service to the kingdom, as a householder taking care of her guests. Diakoni,a describes service by someone who is serving
voluntarily from their own resources. Another verb, \etoima,zw is commonly used by Luke to describe common
preparations, but which he did not use in this text.
Seim
makes a unique observation: the early use of diakon-words by Jesus describes the behavior of women, but as his
mission progresses, men are seen practicing diakoni,a, and finally Jesus himself. In other words, as women were
habitually accustomed to serving, so should all people willingly serve
self-sacrificially.[17]
In Luke’s history of Jesus’ ministry, diakoni,a is first found in the description of women’s activities, then used in
parables as teaching material, and finally the ideal behavior for leaders. All
people are to undertake leadership as “service.”
My goal in this presentation is to
move this well-worn passage away from the traditional understanding that Luke
is describing Martha as being over-worked in a dining situation. I intended to
remove the sisters from opposition to each other, especially as an example of a
contemplative life as preferable to the active life. I propose, that the source
of Martha’s distress is not too much kitchen work, but distress over too much
“service” of another unspecified sort and she is not getting the help from Mary
that she thinks she needs.
Putting aside whatever reason there
may be for Mary’s lack of availability to help Martha, there is enough
evidence that Martha’s activity does not have to be restricted to a narrow
definition of service such as preparing food. Martha was probably active in her
first- century community in ministry to new believers. I am not ruling out the
possibility that she served Jesus food on that day, and he may have stayed at
her house, but that was not the source of her being pulled apart by much worry.
She may very well have been a leader of an assembly place for early followers
of Jesus, instead of, or in addition to, providing as hostess the comforts of a
temporary home for Jesus.
There are very good grounds for
imagining that Martha’s activity is closer in line with the work of what we
would now call that of a deacon. If Martha’s work is described as a wide range
of diverse activities, the story attains more depth and resonates with men and
well as women. Further, to expand into
my further research, I do not think that there is even evidence that Mary is in
the house that day of Jesus’ visit. Therefore, Martha’s stress is due to worry
about her sister being away—perhaps on the road with Jesus in ministry—and
therefore unable to give Martha a hand with her “much service.”
