Luke 11:27, 28 - The Most Blessed Way of Life.

Luke 11:27, 28 - The Most Blessed Way of Life.

Luke 11:27 (KJV)  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. 
Luke 11:28 (KJV)  But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that 
hear the word of God, and keep it. 

Luke 11:27 (NIV)  As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in 
the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and 
nursed you." 
Luke 11:28 (NIV)  He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear 
the word of God and obey it." 

Luke 11:27 (NLT)  As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd 
called out, "God bless your mother--the womb from which you came, and 
the breasts that nursed you!" 
Luke 11:28 (NLT)  He replied, "But even more blessed are all who 
hear the word of God and put it into practice." 

Jesus was speaking to people who put extremely high value on 
family ties. Their genealogies were important guarantees that they were 
part of God's chosen people. A man's value came from his ancestors, 
and a woman's value came from the sons she bore. Jesus' response to 
the woman meant that a person's obedience to God is more important 
than his or her place on the family tree. The patient work of 
consistent obedience is even more important than the honor of bearing a 
respected son. [Life Application SB] 

A charming little incident and profoundly instructive. With true 
feminine feeling, she envied the mother of such a wonderful Teacher. Our 
Lord did not condemn her. Rather, he pointed out that the hearers and 
keepers of God's word are the blessed ones; in other words, the humblest 
believer who keeps his word is more blessed than the one who bore him. 
How alien is this sentiment from the teaching of those who magnify 
the Virgin Mary! [Jamieson, Fausset, And Brown Commentary] 

Notice how Jesus responded to the praise of His mother 
(vv.27-28).  He didn't deny that she was blessed, but focused attention on 
the real source of blessing - hearing and doing the Word of God.  
Mary was an outstanding model of that at the time of His conception, 
since she both heard and responded to God's words to her (Luke 
1:26-56). [Word In Life SB] 

More blessed even than Jesus' mother is the one who hears and 
obeys God's word. [Cambridge Annotated SB] 

Here the lesson is that to hear the word of God and obey it 
gives one a higher standing with God than to be the mother of Jesus. 
[College Press NIV Commentary] 

Hearing and obeying the Word of God is more blessed than 
birthing and nursing the Messiah. [Disciple SB] 

Though it is a great privilege to hear the word of God, yet 
those only are truly blessed, that is, blessed of the Lord, that hear 
it, keep it in memory, and keep to it as their way and rule. 
[Matthew Henry Commentary] 

Humans show they are participating in God's kingdom by obeying 
God's Word..... Jesus calls blessed those who hear and obey the Word of 
God. They demonstrate they have experienced God's salvation. 
[Disciple SB] 

They only were happy who carried Christ in their hearts. True 
happiness is found in hearing the glad tidings of salvation by Christ 
Jesus, and keeping them in a holy heart, and practising them in an 
unblamable life. (Adam Clarke Commentary) 

Some people talk a lot about faith, but that's all it is--talk. 
They may know all the right words to say, but their lives don't 
reflect God's power. Paul says that the kingdom of God is to be 'lived,' 
not just discussed. There is a big difference between knowing the 
right words and living them out. Don't be content to have the right 
answers about Christ. Let your life show that God's power is really 
working in you.  [Life Application SB] 

How do we go about filling our lives with Jesus? Christ 
explained. "Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey it" 
(v. 28). This "doing" is not to be confused with the activist's 
self-effort. Instead it is an opening up of our lives to God, a dependence on 
Christ for enablement which frees us to respond to God's revealed will. 
This doing is a response, made simply because we want to follow 
Jesus, and depend on Him to enable us as we keep His Word. [Victor 
Teacher's Commentary] 

The nature of the Christian life is Christ's life taking hold 
upon all the inner life of a man, changing, dominating, pulsating. It 
is seen therefore, and I do not think we can be too careful in 
emphasizing this, that Christian life is neither human imitation of Christ, 
nor correct intellectual positions concerning Christ. Neither is it 
a cult, or a system of thought. I may attempt to imitate Christ 
sincerely through long years, and yet never be a Christian. I may hold 
absolutely correct intellectual views concerning Christ as a person, and 
His power, and yet never be a Christian. It is possible for me to 
admire Him, and attempt with all the power of my life to imitate Him, 
and yet never realize Him. It is quite possible for a person to 
believe most sincerely in His Deity, and in the fact of His atoning 
work, and moreover, in the necessity for regeneration, and yet never 
be submitted to His Lordship, never to have personal share in the 
work of His atonement, never to be born again. 
Nothing short of the coming into life of the individual of 
Christ Himself constitutes a Christian. If Jesus Christ is external to 
your life there will be times when the world will not see Him and 
hear Him, and will not know you belong to Him. But if Christ be in 
you, living, reigning there absolutely, and you are obeying Him, 
there never will be a moment when the truth will not be evident. You 
cannot hide Christ if once He comes within. If the light is there, it 
simply must shine. G. Campbell Morgan [Time With God SB]