Blessed Are They... Luke 11:27-28

"And it came to pass, as He spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto Him, Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked. But He said, Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."

     There are different levels in which we can look at this passage of scripture. The first, and most obvious, would be to look at it in the physical realm. A woman calls out to Jesus, "Blessed is the womb that bore You and the paps which You have sucked!" She is essentially saying, "Blessed is Your mother (Mary), for she had the honor of birthing You and nursing You!" She is exalting Mary because of her having been chosen by God to bring the Messiah of Israel into the world. But Jesus averts attention from Mary and places it on those who hear and believe the word of God, saying that they, rather, are to be blessed. This passage refutes the tradition that Mary is to be highly honored and held in special recognition, showing that all believers are to be held in the same esteem.
     Another way to look at this verse is to realize that Mary was a person of special standing, in that she alone was chosen by God to carry the Son of God in her womb and birth the Messiah into the world. This, undoubtedly, is a high honor. But why was Mary chosen? Because of her worthiness? Hardly. All have fallen short of the glory of God. But she was a meek and lowly woman, humble in spirit, and thus God in His mercy chose to bless her in this way. She also fulfilled certain obligations, such as she was of the lineage of king David, from which the Messiah was to be descended from. But though Mary had this special calling, this high position, she was not to be blessed above any other person or held in high esteem by men. We are not to honor people just because of their positions or their callings, but all believers are to be honored in the same way, for we all have the same position in Christ: We are all dearly beloved children of God, and none is higher than any other.

     Something else that we can notice from this passage is that Jesus does not hold in high respects those who have come in contact with Him (in a physical way Mary had been in contact with Jesus, birthing Him and nursing Him), but rather He honors and blesses those who listen to Him, who hear Him, and who do what He says. Jesus is alluded to as the Word of God (John 1)-- For Jesus to say, "Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it"-- This is to say, "Blessed are they which hear Me and do as I say".
     And what does Jesus want us to do? What are His commands? He calls us to believe on Him, who God sent into the world to bring salvation to all mankind. Blessed are they which believe in Him, Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father, who came into the world in human flesh, and, being nailed to a cross, bore the sin and shame of all mankind for all of time, bringing forgiveness and reconciliation between God and mankind for all eternity.

     The main point from this passage, however, is this: Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. James said, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." Not only is there blessing promised to those who hear the word of God and keep it, but there is a warning to those who merely here the word but do not keep it-- That warning is that in so doing you will become self-deceived, thinking that you are doing alright and on your way to heaven, when in actuality you are perishing in your sin. It takes an active faith, trusting in Christ for your salvation, not merely stating that you believe in word. If one truly believes, their lives will reflect that belief.
     We should not look at those who seem to have a special calling, be it Mary, pastors, priests, worship leaders, ushers, the pope, etc. and think that those are the people who should do the praying, that those are the people that should speak to God and study the Bible, that those are the people with whom God truly communes, that those are the people to whom God's blessings belong. No, rather, we are all equal in God's eyes, and there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male or female, slave, nor free in His sight. We are all children of God, justified by faith. We all share the same salvation, which we attained by not only hearing the word of God, but by believing it. To all of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, putting our faith and trust in Him, to us belong all the power of God and all the blessings of knowing Him and being called by His name. Hallelujah!