mary and martha

In Luke's Gospel (10:38-42), we find the famous story of Jesus' visit to Bethany and the house of the two sisters, Mary and Martha. The latter is a woman of great practicality, while the former embodies the more contemplative virtues, so that - when Jesus comes to them - Martha makes herself busy with preparations while Mary sits at the visitor's feet and listens to his teachings. Annoyed at Mary's neglect of the household chores, Martha complains that she has been left to do all the work. But Jesus rebukes her, saying: 'You are worried and upset by many things, but few things are needed - indeed, only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her' (Luke 10:41-42).

When Piscator, the emblematic fisherman of The Compleat Angler, speaks of the relative merits of contemplation and action, Walton has him allude to the story of Mary and Martha as he describes the arguments for valuing contemplation more:

[I]n ancient times a debate hath risen, and it remains yet unresolved, whether the happiness of man in this world doth consist more in contemplation or action? Concerning which, some have endeavoured to maintain their opinion of the first; by saying, that the nearer we mortals come to God by way of imitation, the more happy we are. And they say, that God enjoys himself only, by a contemplation of his own infiniteness, eternity, power, and goodness, and the like. And upon this ground, many cloisteral men of great learning and devotion, prefer contemplation before action. And many of the fathers seem to approve this opinion, as may appear in their commentaries upon the words of our Saviour to Martha. (Compleat Angler)

This passage is, in itself, very rich and interesting. In particular, I'm struck by the idea that contemplation is characteristic of God's own nature and so, by engaging in it, Christians imitate God. But what is on my mind this morning is Velasquez's painting, Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (which he painted in 1618), not least because the ingredients laid out on the table in Martha's kitchen include garlic, chili ... and four fresh  fish arranged on a chipped black plate:

The painting gives rise to a number of interesting questions and perhaps I'll return to some of them later. For the moment, though, think about the symbolism of the plate of fish, a meal for Christ, who was himself associated with the symbol of the fish (because the initial letters of the phrase 'Iēsous Christos Theou Huios Sōtēr' spell the Greek word, ichthus), who promised to make Simon Peter and his brother Andrew 'fishers of men', and who fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes in the previous chapter of the same gospel.

I'd very much like to eat the meal that Martha is preparing in this picture. This is a Spanish kitchen, quite clearly, and a robust meal of fish with garlic and chili would be very welcome on these strange and wintery evenings.