Bethany (1) : four friends of Jesus

13.03.2022

Sunday March 13, 2022

For us, we love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4.19

On four pages, I offer you a short journey through time and space in Bethany, near Jerusalem, from the time when Jesus was on this Earth. A certain Martha had a house there. She was the sister of Lazare and Marie.

Jesus liked to go to Bethany. It was he who had come to our friends, and they had welcomed him !

If we come to Jesus, it is because he has sought us, as a shepherd does for his lost sheep. He loved us first !

He himself affirms : No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. (John 6.44) A concern : What if he did not attract everyone ? Jesus himself reassures us : When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me. (John 12.32)

But then, why aren't all of them attracted ? We cannot claim to have understood everything, but this attraction of my Savior seems to me more like that, soft and tender, that my wife exerts on me than that, quite mechanical and impersonal, of a magnet on a nail ! Jesus had exerted a strong attraction on Martha, Simon, Mary and Lazarus. And they had welcomed him into their lives and loved him back ! The real question : Are we responding to its powerful appeal ?

Claude Schneider

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Proposed readings : Gospel according to Luke, chapter 10, verses 38 to 42.

10.38 As Jesus was on the way with his disciples, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha received him into her house.

10.39 She had a sister, named Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to his word.

10:40 Martha, busy with various domestic duties, came up and said : Lord, does it not matter to you that my sister leaves me alone to serve ? So tell him to help me.

10.41 The Lord answered her : Martha, Martha, you worry and worry about many things.

10.42 Only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken from her.

Source (Live Today)