What an odd way of mentioning the family. The order in which the three siblings appear in the Gospel of Luke seems to point to the fact that Martha was most likely the oldest of the family circle of three. Mary may have been in the middle and Lazarus seems to be younger than his two sisters. John goes out of his way to switch the order between the older sisters, while Lazarus is still listed in last place, which could mean he was still a child at the time. There seems to be some intentionality in this reversal which may become apparent as the story progresses.
On the other hand, why does John not even mention Martha’s name? What did she do to merit such an omission? Mary is listed first and Lazarus last, but he at least has his name mentioned. There’s something about Mary, I guess. One thing is certain, Jesus loves the three of them. There is an out-of-ordinary relationship between Jesus and the Bethany Three. Martha the responsible eldest daughter, most likely is the owner of the house where Jesus frequented. Lazarus is the youngest, perhaps much younger than his sisters. But Mary is the middle child, with all the pitfalls of the sibling who falls into this often invisible category. She becomes the problem child and is soon led astray by poor choices. She is rescued at least seven times by the Master and restored to her family. There is history between Jesus and Mary.
Now there seems to be a special status allotted to Mary. Why? Perhaps the words of Jesus immortalized in the Gospel of Matthew 26:13 may shed some light on this anomaly in order. All are loved, but only one of the three has her story told in one way or another in all the Gospels. She loves much, thus she is forgiven much. She is also loved much. She must have won a special place in the heart of Jesus.
Oh that I would also occupy a special place in His heart. Well, He’s gone through a lot of trouble to save me—maybe that alone gets me a special place. I’ll go with that.
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