Jesus visited the home of his friends, Mary and Martha. While Martha was busy with meal preparations, her sister sat at the feet of Jesus, listening to his teaching. When Martha got upset at her sister for not helping, Jesus told her that Mary was choosing to do what was better.

Although there are many activities we can do, listening to Jesus should be our first priority.

Bible verses used in this episode:

Luke 10:38-42

Outline:

1. Martha invites Jesus and his disciples to her home (Luke 10:38)
2. Mary sat and listened to Jesus (Luke 10:39)
3. Martha instructs Jesus to reprimand Mary for listening to him instead of helping her (Luke 10:40)
4. Jesus tells Martha that Mary has made the better choice (Luke 10:42)

Tips for teaching:

• For children, re-create a home setting like it would have been in Martha’s home.  Children can lounge on pillows (not tables) and taste-test 1st-century foods like nuts, raisins, grapes, flatbread, curds (cottage cheese), honey, etc.
• Discuss priorities and choices.  If a tornado or bushfire was approaching your home and you had to leave then what would you choose to take with you? Which are the more important or better things? You would choose people over furniture, for instance.
• Adults and children can listen to the words of Jesus being read.  
• For an adult class activity try some or all of these methods. When you have completed all of the readings, then ask students to talk about what they learned from listening in these different ways.
  • Everyone else closes their eyes and listens to Luke 10:38-42 being read by 3 different readers, one after the other.  The 3 readers should use the same translation of the bible.  It would be better to have a diversity of readers. These can be different ages, sex, ethnicity, etc.
  • Repeat the exercise but, this time each reader should read from a different translation of the Bible.
  • Finally, listen to a pre-recorded dramatic reading of the Scripture.

Full teaching instructions available free from Mission Bible Class:
Bible Lesson:  Mary and Martha

Scriptures quoted from the International Children’s Bible®, copyright ©1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Tommy Nelson. Used by permission.

Excerpts from Mission Bible Class used by permission.

For questions or comments email: mary@missionbibleclass.org