Misinterpreting Study
Luke 10:38-42
- Who do you identify with most in this story?
- Whose choice is better? What does this say to you?
- What about serving others? (Jesus is warning not to lose our focus on him. Without sitting at His feet, we lose sight of what service is about. We get distracted by unimportant things.)
- Have you come across any other interpretations of this story?
- The Interpreter's Bible says: �Building an economic order in which every man shall have a fair share is one of the most important aims we can have, but it is not the only important thing in the world, or even ultimately the most important. Perhaps we can say that there are two most important things.�
What do you think of this statement?
- William Barclay does the same sort of thing. Speaking of Mary and Martha, he says: �There is no right or wrong in this. God did not make everyone alike. One person may [pursue God] . . . by getting meals and washing up the plates. Another may sit with folded hands . . . to think and pray. Both are serving God. God needs His Marys and His Marthas, too.�
That may be true, but it�s something Jesus failed to mention.
What do you think of this?
- Martha�s mistake is one we who are primarily concerned about social justice make all the time. We must keep our focus on Jesus or things will go wrong. But because of our concern for justice, we try to find ways to reinterpret this text. Do you agree?
- Do you think we are comfortable with stories that we agree with, but ignore or reinterpret those we don't agree with?
- How can we keep ourselves from doing this?
- Passages you don�t like are the important ones for you.
- A passage means what it says unless you have compelling evidence to the contrary. The interpretation you like least is normally the correct one.