Martha may have been the eldest, for she directed the household and took special pains to make Jesus comfortable. Active in her ministrations, she asked Jesus to direct her sister, the more contemplative Mary, to help her serve him, and he replied, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her" (Luke 10:38-42). Thus, Jesus reminds us that active works can distract us from God, while contemplation brings one closer.

It was Martha who went out to meet Jesus after the death of Lazarus. She met him when he was still a few miles outside their village. Martha said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." She added that she still believed God would grant whatever Jesus asked.

In response to this act of faith, she was the first to hear one of Jesus' deepest revelations. As Jesus continued to question her, Martha said she believed her brother would rise again on the last day. Then Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Martha replied, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God" (John 11:1-44).

According to medieval legend, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus went to France after the death of Jesus and evangelized Provence (Attwater, Bentley, Delaney, White).

In art, Saint Martha is portrayed as a housewife with a dragon and an aspergillus. At times the image may include a book and aspergillus; keys and an aspergillus; keys and a ladle; a ladle; with Martha veiled and her hands folded in lamentation by the Magdalene; Mary in scenes from the Gospel; or with Lazarus and Mary, crossing the sea to Marseilles (Roeder). White says that she is often bearing a distaff or any symbol of housework, such as a bunch of keys.

Martha is venerated in Provence, especially in Aix and Tarsacon. She is patroness of housewives, innkeepers (Roeder), house servants, waiters, and cooks (White).