Martha (14 page)

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Lazarus continued to keep a low profile and no longer went into the city. Nathan or Tobias took Martha's weavings into the marketplace and sold them for her. Lazarus worked their fields. The flax was harvested just after the Festival of Purim, and Martha viewed the approach of Passover with mixed emotions. Jesus said he would return to them six days before Passover. The family had word that Jesus was returning to Judea and was ministering near Jericho. As she thought of her cousin's words earlier that winter, she feared for Jesus's safety.

True to his word, Jesus approached Bethany just as he'd told Martha. She welcomed him and his disciples once again into their home.

Peter, usually opinionated, was silent, and some of the disciples wore worried looks on their faces. Judas Iscariot watched Jesus, but his face was a mask, and Martha wondered what he was thinking. John, James, Matthew, and the others spoke in low tones among themselves, and Martha noted that they glanced at the gate from time to time. Were they expecting trouble? Soldiers? She looked at the face of the Lord and saw sadness there, a sense of resignation. It puzzled her as she and Mary went about their tasks.

Knowing Jesus was there, a great many Jews came to Bethany, not only to see Jesus, but out of curiosity to also see Lazarus. Some of the Pharisees came also. They said little but observed Jesus and Lazarus with narrowed eyes. Martha was fearful of them and cautioned Mary to make every effort to be hospitable. She wanted no trouble at her home, and especially feared for Lazarus. She was aware through other women in the village that many in Bethany had believed in Jesus because of the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. Martha was glad for that, but she carefully observed the leaders as they listened to Jesus speak and felt their animosity toward him. With a start she realized that they were also watching Lazarus, and the look on their faces sent cold chills down her back. When they finally left, she was so relieved she nearly wept.

Mary passed her, carrying a bowl of fruit and, putting a gentle hand on Martha's arm, murmured, “I am glad they are gone too.”

When at last it was just their family, Jesus, and his disciples, Jesus turned to Lazarus. “On the first day of the week I am entering Jerusalem. Will you join us?”

Martha paled as Lazarus spoke what they had all feared. “Master, it is dangerous to enter the city. The leaders plot against you. Did you not observe their manner when they were here?”

“We must all obey the commandment to observe Passover, my friend. Do not fear for me. I must continue to do my Father's will.” He turned and looked in the direction of Jerusalem, and Martha was puzzled to once again see the sadness on his face.

News that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem traveled like lightning, and by the time Jesus and his disciples left Bethany, people came from all directions to follow them.

Martha pleaded with Lazarus not to go but, seeing he was determined, decided that she and Mary would go also. Surely there could be no harm done to Jesus with all the people around him.

Looking around her at the happy crowd, Martha forgot her fears and her heart lifted as she too joyfully followed Jesus and his disciples to Jerusalem. As they neared the Mount of Olives, Jesus stopped and called Peter and John to him.

“Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it, and if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?' say, ‘The Lord has need of it,' and immediately he will send it here.”

The group waited patiently as Peter and John hurried into the nearby town of Bethphage. People sat down on the grass of the hillside and waited. In a short time the disciples returned, leading a colt just as Jesus had said.

Some of the onlookers threw their cloaks on the back of the colt and Jesus sat on it. Then the people began to spread their clothes on the road while others cut leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road in front of him. Women shook tambourines to add to the joyous sounds. Voices were raised in praise and Martha heard them cry out—

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest!”

Martha and Mary joined in the praise. Martha looked around her at the faces of the crowd. They were proclaiming Jesus the Messiah who has finally come, she thought to herself. How can they deny him now?

As the noisy procession descended from the Mount of Olives, some of the Pharisees called out to him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

Jesus answered them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

As Jesus drew near the city he stopped and those near him, including Martha, saw tears rolling down his face. He looked toward the city, and as he spoke, her heart became fearful again.

“If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Martha gasped at his words. When would this happen? She turned to Mary. “Did you hear what he said?”

“Yes, but I do not understand. Is the Lord speaking of a time to come soon or in the future?”

Lazarus, standing nearby, but careful not to stand with them lest he be recognized, spoke in a whisper from the cloak that hid his face. “I fear for him. I fear for all of us. He does not speak rashly. It is a prophecy.”

With the exuberant crowd following him, Jesus entered the city, riding with his head held high as any king. The people followed him to the Temple, and to the people's surprise and delight, he once again drove out the moneychangers and those who bought and sold animals there. This was the second time Jesus had cleansed the Temple. Martha remembered that first Passover, when Tobias and Lazarus had all but run from the Temple with their slain lamb, fearing the Temple police. Once again there was no action by the leaders, and when the bleating of the lambs and dust of feathers from released doves settled, Jesus began to teach. For some, the show was over. Many people who had not dispersed when the chaos began now began to slip away and the crowd thinned out. Those who remained listened attentively.

Martha stood with Mary behind one of the large pillars where Lazarus had drawn them once before for safety during the confusion. As Martha gazed over the crowd, she was puzzled to see Judas Iscariot glance at Jesus and the other disciples and quickly pull his cloak over his head as he slipped away by himself. He walked to the far side of the courtyard of the Temple and spoke briefly to one of the scribes. Then the two men left together. Judas was the treasurer for Jesus and the other disciples. Perhaps Jesus had instructed him to present a gift to the Temple. She turned back to listen to Jesus.

Jesus looked around at the faces of his listeners and began to tell the people a parable. “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. Now at vintage time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will
respect him when they see him.' But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come; let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.”

The people murmured among themselves and some cried out, “Certainly not!”

Then he looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'? Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

A priest standing about ten feet from Martha curled his lip in disgust and turned to a fellow priest. “He speaks this parable against us. He continues to incite the people, this rabbi from the rabble.”

Just then a servant came up to the first priest and whispered a message in his ear. The frown on the priest's face turned to a triumphant smile as he nodded. With one last glance back at Jesus, the two priests turned, and brushing people aside in their haste, went to the side door of the Temple.

The shadows lengthened and Martha needed to return home to prepare for the Teacher and those with him. The two women slipped through the crowd. Lazarus would wait a few moments and then leave separately.

Martha knew Jesus would come for the evening meal, and then possibly retreat to the Mount of Olives with his disciples for the night. She sensed he needed a quiet place away from the village.

Jesus and his disciples had come in separate small groups to attract less attention. They had covered their faces with their cloaks as Lazarus had done and left Jerusalem at dusk.

After supper was over, there was a knock at the gate and all eyes turned anxiously in that direction. Lazarus cautiously opened the gate and Simon entered the courtyard.

“Peace be upon this house.”

Lazarus let out the breath he was holding. “Peace be upon you, Simon. Enter our home and welcome. We haven't seen you in several days.”

“I have been preparing my household.” Simon stepped into the house and stood near Jesus, who was reclining on a cushion at the table.

“Lord, do you remember saying that the next time you were in Bethany you would be guests in my home?”

“Yes, Simon. I remember saying that.”

“Will you come tomorrow evening after you have taught in the Temple?”

“Thank you, Simon. We will come.” His eyes twinkled. “I'm sure Martha could use a respite from cooking so many large meals.”

Simon turned to Lazarus. “You and your family are also welcome. Be my guests tomorrow.”

“We would be glad to join you. Thank you for your kind invitation to my family.”

Simon turned to go, but then stopped. “There may be a few people you don't wish to see. Two of the Pharisees are coming.”

Jesus shook his head. “That is no matter, Simon. They are your guests also.”

Simon clasped his hands together, and a smile spread across his face. “Thank you, Lord. My household will look forward to tomorrow.”