5 Stories in the Gospels You Might Be Interpreting the Wrong Way

Mary and Martha, two sisters, hear that Jesus is coming for dinner. Things are not how Martha would like them to be when he shows up. She attempts to recruit her sister, Mary, to help show proper hospitality, but Mary is busy sitting at Jesus’ feet. She, a woman, chooses theological instruction over serving Jesus. For first-century hearers, Jesus would have sided with the wrong person here.

Jesus subtly rebukes Martha and affirms Mary’s decision to sit at his feet to hear the gospel. Many who read this passage attempt to make the point that if given a choice between work and worship, one should always choose worship. Perhaps we should say that Jesus values contemplative life over active life.

That is missing the point. This is not about work or worship. Jesus is not telling Martha to put down her ladle and sit beside Mary. This is not about what the two sisters are doing but why they are doing it. Martha, we learn from the text, was “pulled away.” We are led to believe Mary is tied to Jesus; she is hearing him. But not Martha. Martha gets lost in the what of serving and misses the who. 

‌Martha is focused on what she is doing for Jesus. Jesus never asked her to do everything she attempted, but she was dedicated to that. She wants to give this service to Jesus whether He is asking for it or not. That isn’t worship—that is self-serving. It causes Martha to lose focus further and come down hard on Mary.

Jesus doesn’t play Martha’s frantic little game. He reminds her that one thing is necessary. Her heart was deeply troubled. Her “ministry” made her anxious, as if the one who said, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden” was pushing her into exhausted service. The story isn’t about work or worship but the kind of work and worship. One could just as easily have a Martha heart while sitting at the feet of Jesus.

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While we can certainly commend the faith of the poor widow who puts everything she has into the offering plate, this is not Jesus’ main point when mentioning this story. In Matthew 23, Jesus spoke of the scribes and Pharisees and said, “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.”

Do you want to see what that looks like in practice? Consider this poor widow with only two coins. I ask you, why does a poor widow only have two coins? Isn’t she supposed to be provided for? Isn’t she supposed to be cared for by these religious leaders? Aren’t they supposed to be making sure that a chunk of this giving will help her? But no, she has two coins and feels obligated to give them. Let’s commend her faith and her obedience, but what type of religion would put these impossible burdens upon you?

This was Jesus’ point about how corrupt the system had become. Rather than working to help those like this poor widow, they were breaking her back with an impossible burden. Religion tells a widow, "You’ve got to pay these two coins if. you want to see God’s blessings." The gospel says in Christ, you already possess blessing in the heavenly places; give accordingly.

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Whole books have been written about Jesus walking on water and getting Peter to join him—quality books, too. Peter’s ability to walk on water for a moment is miraculous. And the fact that he looked away from Jesus and then fell will most certainly “preach.” While it is certainly a significant part of the narrative, the main point is Jesus’ power.

The same story is told in Mark 6:45-52, and this account focuses on Jesus walking on water to meet them in the boat during a storm. Mark also leaves out details about Peter. Mark would have included that if Peter’s faith were the main point. However, this detail has become the main point for many, which is unfortunate. The story is really about Jesus’ power over nature. But it is also about the incarnation. He “passes them by” (which points to His Deity) and then gets in the boat (which highlights the incarnation).

Jesus’ power is the context for Peter’s faith.

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The story of the Prodigal Son is an amazing story of grace. We love how it paints the picture of someone making a horrible decision, hitting rock bottom, turning away from pig slop, running home, and then being embraced and not rejected. The picture of the father running to his wayward son is powerful. The gospel soaks this entire story. But its main point isn’t about the prodigal—the beauty of grace is here to highlight the major point, the rejection of grace.

We must see this story connected to all the other stories in Luke 15. It is also connected to the Pharisees and scribes grumbling about Jesus's receiving of sinners. Those other stories are about someone searching for something, finding it, and celebrating when it is found. But the story of the prodigal doesn’t have searching, though it still has the party. Jesus’ point there is that “Israel” was supposed to be that older brother who was out searching for the wayward sinners. But instead, they “stayed home”. And when Jesus, the Greater Older Brother—the true Israel- searched and found tax collectors and sinners, they did not celebrate. Instead, like the older brother, they were grumpy at grace.

This parable, then, is an invitation to party. It’s an invitation to older brothers to stop folding their arms out in the field, thinking they are pleasing God, but to get with the program and celebrate sinners coming home.

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You are not wrong to suggest that the priest and the Levite should have stopped and helped the guy in a ditch. And it is not wrong to suggest that the Samaritan's being the hero was unexpected. We read this wrongly because we miss the lawyer who asked the question and what Jesus is doing.

The lawyer was asking a bare minimum type of question. When he says, “Who is my neighbor?” he wants to lower his circle of responsibility as small as possible. He wanted to narrow “love God and love people” to a comfortable, manageable circle. But Jesus turns the story by placing him in the ditch and needing help. When you have been abused and are bleeding out on the side of the road, you do not ask silly questions like, “Who is my neighbor?” You do not care if it is a priest, a Levite, or even a Samaritan who provides healing. If this lawyer can see himself in the ditch, it will flip his entire worldview. He will stop asking how he can get out of helping others or loving others and instead, “go and do likewise.”

Now, you and I know that we blow this. Thankfully, our hope is not in being a Good Samaritan. It is in being rescued by Jesus. We are in the ditch whether we like it or not. And Jesus has provided rescue for us.

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