Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year C

And the Judge of All Flesh spoke to Moses, saying: Since the daughters of Zelophehad are correct in their word, you shall indeed give them a hereditary possession among their father’s brothers and pass the possession of their father to them.
~Numbers 27:6-7
 
But Martha was distracted by a great deal of serving; so she came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving by myself? Speak to her so that she might help me.”
~Luke 10:40
 
We encounter a reading from Numbers that may be unfamiliar to many of us. Yet the story of Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, the daughters of Zelophehad, is one of the most significant legal cases in the Torah, the so-called Law of Moses. With no men remaining in their family line, they are at risk of losing their inheritance until God, through Moses, renders judgment. Still, justice is delayed until Joshua restores them to their rightful land after Moses’ death. By one measure, this saga and these women are mentioned in the scriptures more times than the resurrection account of Jesus.
 
With Mary and Martha another “case” is being prosecuted, as Martha scurries about in her traditional female role as host while Mary situates herself as a learner “at the feet of Jesus,” a location traditionally reserved for men. Likewise in Acts we find Priscilla, a leading “pastor” of the early church doing the good work that all pastors are called to do—teaching, correcting, forming—perhaps surprisingly without without incident or signs of resistance.
 
What lessons and judgments do these stories offer to us in our own time? What do they teach us of the of the heart of the Gospel—the good news for today and our faithful worship and work within it?
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Numbers 26:33; 27:1-11 † Psalm 56:1-13 † Acts 18:1-3, 18-20, 24-28 † Luke 10:38-42
 
About the Art: Mary and Martha House, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56211 [retrieved March 11, 2025]. Original source: https://tour.vht.com/1227490/100-e-shellpoint-rd-ruskin-fl-33570/photos. 

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