Devotions

Rev Gav

Blessing

Luke 11.27–28

While Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!’ But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!’

Reflect

Okay folks, let’s see how much we can squeeze out of two Bible verses! Ready?

First, let’s dig a little deeper into the underlying text. Was Jesus diminishing the blessing of his mother and effectively saying, ‘on the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it’? I don’t think so! The word translated in our Bible’s as rather is the Greek word menoun. It appears only once in the whole Bible and it can have multiple meanings: (a) ‘on the contrary’, (b) ‘yes, and’, or (c) ‘yes, but’. It seems unlikely, given the context, that Jesus meant ‘on the contrary’ and much more likely that he said, ‘yes, and’.  We also know that Mary, Jesus’ mother was indeed blessed, and this was echoed earlier in Luke’s gospel when Elizabeth, her cousin exclaimed, “Blessed are you Mary!”

Now we know what Jesus said, we can understand what Jesus meant. Jesus was explaining that yes, it was a happy honour for Jesus’ mother but that the chief happiness and greatest honour comes from obeying the word of God. This means listening to, comprehending, and being obedient to God’s wisdom as it is communicated through scripture and the Holy Spirit. And, of course, Jesus himself was described as the living word, so we need to be obedient to Christ.

But thirdly, there’s a sub-text in today’s Bible reading. Jesus consistently turned societal norms on their head. The societal norm was that women were seen as only home-makers and child-bearers, and there is nothing wrong with those roles, but Jesus never treated women as ‘just’ anything, he was effectively saying, “Yes, my mother is blessed for her child-bearing and child-raising, but she, like all women, is a whole lot more!” and I rather like that.

If you’ve ever felt like you’ve been put in a box or labelled because of your ability, race, gender, sexuality, education, wealth, or social status, then this Bible passage is for you. You can receive the highest blessing and the highest honour available to humanity, and his name is Jesus.

Pray

Holy God
Thank you that
I am honoured
and blessed by you!
May I be obedient
to your living Word,
your Son, my Sovereign
and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
This day and forever.