{"id":283,"date":"2012-01-02T13:58:37","date_gmt":"2012-01-02T13:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/?p=283"},"modified":"2012-01-12T23:57:36","modified_gmt":"2012-01-12T23:57:36","slug":"truth-prompted-by-an-outspoken-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/?p=283","title":{"rendered":"Truth Prompted by an Outspoken Woman"},"content":{"rendered":"

As [Jesus] said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, \u201cBlessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!\u201d But he said, \u201cBlessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!\u201d (Luke 11:27-28 ESV)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is another of those obscure interactions between Jesus and a woman that is easily overlooked but valuable nonetheless. Earlier in Luke 11, Jesus had freed a man from his demon, which amazed the gathered crowd. Then he had faced down the skeptics who said his power came from Beelzebul (the \u201cprince of demons\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Obviously impressed by Jesus\u2019 discourse, a woman in the crowd yells out her opinion, \u201cWow, I bet your mom is really happy to have you for a son! Even her body parts that nurtured your life are blessed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, this compliment may not go over well in 21st-centuryAmerica, but it was appropriate and well meant for its time. Her culture highly valued women for their reproductive capabilities. Women who didn\u2019t bear children were labeled \u201cbarren,\u201d and they often felt cursed. When wombs and breasts functioned well, it was normal to bless them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more surprising is that this woman spoke up at all. She must have been so tickled with what Jesus was saying (or to whom he was saying it) that she was bursting at the seams and forgot herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jesus didn\u2019t comment on the fact that she spoke, but we can tell from his response that her statement reflected an incomplete understanding of some important truth. Did he then rebuke her for it? A few Bible commentators have thought so, but reviewing multiple translations of Jesus\u2019 statement helps us with a clearer picture of his tone:\u00a0<\/p>\n

– \u201cBlessed rather are those\u2026\u201d (New International Version)
\n– \u201cOn the contrary, blessed are\u2026\u201d (New American Standard Bible)
\n– \u201cMore than that, blessed are\u2026\u201d (New King James Version)
\n– \u201cBut even more blessed\u2026\u201d (New Living Translation)
\n– \u201cYea rather, blessed are\u2026\u201d (King James Version, original)<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t read rebuke into this response at all. I am surely biased by my knowledge of Jesus\u2019 other interactions with women, but I imagine him glancing down quickly, maybe a bit embarrassed at the passion of her outburst, then looking up with a smile and responding, \u201cYes, but even more happy are those who hear the word of God and obey it.\u201d In other words, practicing what Jesus said brings a greater blessing even than giving birth to the Messiah. Blessing\u00a0is not limited to his natural mother. Everyone<\/em> has access to the blessing\u2014reproductive capability\u00a0is irrelevant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One more thing before we leave this interaction. A bit earlier in Luke, while Jesus was again teaching, his mother and brothers showed up but couldn\u2019t get to him because of the crowd. When Jesus was given this message, he replied, \u201cMy mother and brothers are those who hear God\u2019s word and put it into practice\u201d (Luke 8:20-22).<\/p>\n

Sound familiar? I suspect Luke included both of these interactions in his Gospel for a specific purpose. Scholars believe Luke to have been a Gentile, writing about Jesus for a primarily Gentile audience. This audience probably knew, though, that the Jews at the time were clannish and all about family. It was important for Luke\u2019s readers to know that Jesus was very clear on this point: The bonds of spirit are greater than the bonds of blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although in their time and place, it seemed the best a woman could do was to bear good children, Jesus pointed them beyond the purely physical realm. In the kingdom of God anyone who practices the teachings of Jesus is family. No one is more blessed than those who obey, not even a woman with a good womb.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As [Jesus] said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, \u201cBlessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!\u201d But he said, \u201cBlessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!\u201d (Luke 11:27-28 ESV) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=283"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286,"href":"https:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions\/286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegentlesavior.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}