With a title like "A Tale of Two Sisters," I guess this should open with something like "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." But it was neither. Unusual, to be sure. Even a little exciting. After all, these were the days of an itinerant rabbi called Jesus of Nazareth who was attracting quite a bit of attention.

At some point previous - we are never told when, where or how - these two sisters, Mary and Martha, along with their brother Lazarus, had been introduced to Jesus. They must have become fast friends because Jesus and his entourage were welcomed into their Bethany home for a meal in this passage; later, following the illness and eventual death of brother Lazarus, Jesus calls on the family, hears Martha complain that Lazarus would not have succumbed had Jesus been m…