Women will have great sympathy for Martha, for they know well what effort goes into entertaining an important guest. Jesus grew up in a loving family and he seems to have become part of the family of Bethany. It was time out for him, where he could once again experience a home environment, which he no longer had. Martha was probably putting on a show and - like every other busy housewife - she was hot and bothered. All Jesus wanted was for her to be present to him like Mary was. This, however, was by no means the end of the story.
Martha, like Peter, was a born leader. She was head of her household. Like Peter she had a lot to learn. Yet it was her that Jesus spoke some of the most beautiful words in the New Testament: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” And Martha pronounced the great act of faith as Peter did: “Yes Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." (John 11:25-27).
Martha and Mary symbolise the contemplative and the active in the church. They complement one another and both are needed.