Wednesday Words

As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Luke 11:27-28

 

"How great a privilege was it to this young virgin (Mary) to conceive in her womb and hold in her arms and suckle at her breasts, a Child who was the great and eternal and infinitely beloved Son of God, the Creator and mighty Governor of heaven and earth and the great Savior of mankind.  Well might she say upon it, "My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior."

But hearing and keeping the word of God renders a person more blessed than any of those privileges.  By 'hearing the Word of God' is either intended an external or an internal or spiritual hearing.  The woman to whom Christ directed himself in the text had been hearing the word externally.  Christ therefore here informs her that if she not only hears but keeps this word, he will render her more blessed than that privilege that she spoke of."

--Jonathan Edwards

 

 

Luke. English Standard Version. Wheaton: Crossway, 2001. Print.

 

Edwards, Jonathan. "To Be More Blessed Than Mary." Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.
Comp. Nancy Guthrie. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008. 57. Print.
Parenthesis mine.