Who's really "Blessed?"

Scripture verses that caught my attention today: Luke 11:27-28 While he was saying this, 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!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”

Observation: we sometimes misplace our praise.

Application: Praise is good, but often misguided. We praise the person who makes the winning basket, yet every other basket was necessary for the winning basket to be labeled as such. We praise the musician for the marvelous performance, yet the performance was probably only possible after years and years of practice and lessons. On and on it goes.

In Luke, Jesus is often presented as being especially inclusive of those who were often socially marginalized, including women. Yet Jesus won’t let women rest on the laurels (or even praise the laurels) of motherhood. Instead he admonishes one and all to hear the word of God and obey it.

There are at least two particularly interesting points in all this.

First, it should be noted that Jesus’ admonition was not a put down. Quite the opposite, actually. Jesus was saying that a woman’s value (indeed, blessedness) is not limited to that which only women could do (childbearing). Rather, Jesus was saying that all people—whether male or female, mothers, fathers or neither—are blessed when they hear the word of God and obey it. Since in that society only men were considered worthy of discussing spiritual things, Jesus was actually advocating for women and all people to step up a notch in their understanding of their role in God’s world.

Second, the word “obey” when connected with God’s word has a tendency to be interpreted in a legalistic sense. But Jesus is interested in something far more faithful than legalism. Later in this chapter he will denounce legalism when it is not accompanied by justice and love of God. These are the weightier matters of the law.

Blessed be the Lord Jesus who teaches such things, even on his way to Jerusalem and to the cross where justice and the love of God will ultimately meet.

Prayer: Lord, help us to do what you ask and, more importantly, be how you want us to be. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: Genesis 27-28, Psalm 4, and Luke 11)