There is no incident in the New Testament but will be found upon analysis to have some profound meaning at the back of the simple fact related. Mrs. Eddy tells us that as a result of her discovery of Christian Science "the Scriptures were illumined" (Science and Health, p. 110), and this has to a greater or less extent been the experience of all who have accepted this truth. It is the possibility of gaining some further insight into the truth, in the measure of our spiritual understanding, which makes the Bible a book of reference in all our difficulties; moreover, the study of various experiences recorded in the Scriptures gives us a comprehension of human consciousness in its relation to immortal Mind that we could not gain otherwise.
The contrast in the characters of the two sisters of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, has formed an endless theme for comment and illustration. Dante in his "Commedia" gives numerous examples, taken from both the Old and New Testaments. For instance, he uses Leah and Martha as typical of the active life, while he employs Rachel and Mary as typical of the meditative life; in other words, the first two are emblematic of action and the second two of demonstration. Since the time of the master poet many meanings, both poetical and philosophical, have been given of Martha and Mary, but an explanation of the family as a whole, in regard to the works of Jesus, seems never to have been offered; it is therefore particularly interesting to consider the history of the brother and his two sisters from the metaphysical standpoint.
In Christian Science the way to study any fact, historical or otherwise, is to endeavor to trace out the thought which gives rise to the occurrence. In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says, "Metaphysics resolves things into thoughts, and exchanges the objects of sense for the ideas of Soul" (p. 269). In the case of Martha we have an expression of that material activity which is so often mere "busyness" without consideration for spiritual things. The rebuke which Jesus gave Martha was a very gentle one, and surely was not uttered as a reproach to her hospitality and activity in kindness to her honored guest; rather was it directed against the undue value evidently attached by her to material comforts, even while in the presence of the Christ-idea.
