Martha by Diana Wallis Taylor

Author:Diana Wallis Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group

16

In the month of Tishri, at the beginning of the first fall rains, Martha learned Jesus had come quietly to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Yom Kippur had ended and at the beginning of the Feast, five days later, her family had obeyed the Word of the Lord and lived in a shelter made of palm branches and woven coverings for seven days. She loved the joyous celebration in Jerusalem and knew it spread to all the towns and villages as God’s people observed this sacred holiday. Lazarus returned from Jerusalem and told Martha that over seventy oxen had been sacrificed in the Temple.

Now, as Martha folded the coverings and Lazarus took the booth apart for another year, Mary came back from the village well. “Word is spreading through the village. Now that the Feast of Tabernacles has ended, Jesus will be teaching again at the Temple.”

Martha sighed. “That will mean more crowds to hear his teaching.” She’d observed that while many came for enlightenment or healing, most came out of curiosity.

Mary agreed. “They hope to see one of his miracles.”

Martha and Lazarus made plans to travel into Jerusalem to hear the Master. This time Mary would accompany them.

It was a two-mile walk to the city with Lazarus striding out eagerly, causing Martha and Mary to hurry to keep up with him. By the time they reached the steps to the Temple and found a place to stand to hear Jesus, Martha was out of breath. She glared at her brother, to no avail.

Jesus was in the middle of teaching on forgiveness when there was an interruption and the people parted, murmuring to themselves as a group of scribes and Pharisees strode up to Jesus, dragging a young woman with torn clothing. The girl was weeping and trying to cover herself with her arms when they threw her down in front of Jesus. She slowly, painfully struggled to rise and ended up on her knees before Jesus.

One of the Pharisees stepped forward, a sneer on his face. Martha was startled by their angry mood. The faces of the men with him were hard, and there was something else, a sense of anticipation. They were almost licking their lips, their eyes intensely focused on Jesus.

“Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery.”

Martha was irate and looked around. “Where is the man who committed this act with her?”

Lazarus gave her a sharp look that suggested silence.

The Pharisee went on. “Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. What do you say?”

The crowd seemed to Martha to wait with almost palpable silence for his answer. Yet he said not a word; he merely stooped down and wrote on the ground as if he hadn’t heard them.

When they continued pressing their question, he raised himself up and looked at the group of men, his expression one of pity.

“He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” He then stooped down and again wrote on the ground.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.