Why do young people take drugs? Because it makes them feel good—the same reason adults drink alcohol and take exotic vacations. Then, when one experience runs it course, we look for something that packs more of a punch. And yet all our efforts seem to come up short when it comes to deep satisfaction.
Adam and Eve had the ultimate experience when they were living in the Garden of Eden. They were in communion with God and drank of his love every day. Then they lost what they had. The history of salvation is the story of how God reached down and helped humans find Eden again.
It began when he chose a people for himself, Israel. to have a “taste of Eden.” He entered into a covenant relationship with him, so they could have a “taste of Eden.” Later he established his abiding presence in the temple at Jerusalem. People longed for the great feast days when they could pilgrimage to the holy city and bask in God’s love once more. Psalm eighty-four gives us a sense of what being in the temple was like.
“My soul is longing and yearning for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my soul ring out their joy to God, the living God.”
“One day within your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.”
Can you imagine someone who would choose one day in the temple over three years at a most exciting vacation resort?
And yet the people got bored with God and tried tasting the sinful delights associated with pagan gods. They even turned the Temple courts into a marketplace for making money. In time God let the Temple be destroyed by a foreign power. Though God abandoned the Jerusalem temple, he sent an even greater temple—his only Son, Jesus Christ, the new Temple. Those who encountered Jesus in a personal way had an experience of God’s love that surpassed what the Psalmist expressed. With Jesus came a “new Eden.”
Today we meet the disciple who valued being in the new temple more than anything else (Luke 10:38-42).
“Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.”
Mary of Bethany had found the “new Eden” as she sat at the feet of Jesus. She felt the love of God pouring out from the heart of Jesus into her own heart.
As we know, Martha, complained to Jesus that Mary was not helping her prepare dinner. For Martha, getting things done was her priority, and sitting at the feet of Jesus was of less importance. She had the mind that it was okay to spend time with Jesus, but first get your work done.
Jesus set Martha straight.
“Martha, Martha, you are busy about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her.”
Jesus came into the world to restore Eden. In Mary he found someone who was totally receptive to what he had to give. This was the “better part.” This is the purpose of life.
Do we value spending long hours with Jesus, listening to him and absorbing his love? Or do we settle for less?
