Luke 11:27-28 NRSVue
27While 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!” 28But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”
“Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.”
Some thoughts on this scripture
Reflection
What do I make of Jesus' reaction here? He risks being blunt with the woman
in the crowd and dismissive of his mother.
Reflection
What is he getting at? What does he really want to say?
Reflection
What does it say to me?
Reflection
Here is an encounter with a woman who is attracted, adoring, and envious of
Jesus' mother. He responds unexpectedly, not downgrading Mary, but pointing
to the source of her blessedness, as her cousin Elizabeth did at the
Visitation: Blessed is she who believed in the Lord's promise.
Reflection
There is an echo here of Mary's Magnificat: Henceforth all generations shall
call me blessed. Luke points to Mary as the one who pondered God's words
(hesitating at the Annunciation), kept them in her heart and reflected back
on them when she went down to Nazareth.
Reflection
To receive the word of God is a greater gift in the eyes of Jesus than to
receive the body of Jesus in the womb. Mary is richly blessed - more for her
receiving the word of God in her life and living by it, than being the
physical mother of God. Prayer is the time we give in our lives, even daily,
to receiving the word of God.