Luke 11:27 - Meaning and Application

We do not find this event in the other Gospel writers. Nor can we simply join it to the story of Christ’s mother and brothers wanting to speak with him, as Dr. Hammond does, because Luke has already told that story in Luke 8:19. Still, this is a similar interruption, and, like the other one, Christ uses it to teach an important lesson.

First, we see the warm praise an honest, well-meaning woman gave to the Lord Jesus after hearing his excellent teaching. While the scribes and Pharisees hated and slandered his words, this good woman, and likely a woman of some standing, admired both his teaching and the wisdom and power with which he spoke. As he spoke these things with strong and convincing force, she was so pleased to see how he had silenced the Pharisees, defeated them, put them to shame, and cleared himself from their false accusations, that she could not help crying out, “Blessed is the womb that bore you.” In other words, “What an amazing man this is. Surely no one greater or better has ever been born of a woman. Happy is the woman who had him for her son. I would think myself very blessed to be the mother of someone who speaks as no one ever has, who shows so much of heaven’s grace, and who is such a blessing to the world.”

She spoke well in one sense, because she showed great respect for Christ, especially for his teaching. And her words also honored the virgin Mary, his mother, which agrees with what Mary herself had said in Luke 1:48, “All generations will call me blessed.” Even some in that sinful generation could say that. Note that for all who believe Christ’s word, Christ himself is precious, and he is an honor (1 Peter 2:7). Still, we must be careful not to focus too much on his earthly family, as though we knew him only in a human way. We must now know him in a higher way than that.

Second, Christ used this moment to say that those who hear God’s word and obey it are even more blessed than the woman who carried and nursed him. He does not deny what she said, and he does not reject her respect for him or for his mother. Instead, he turns her attention to something greater and more important for her. “Yes,” he says, “rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28). He counts them blessed, and by saying so, he shows what true blessedness is and teaches us to agree with him.

This was partly a gentle correction, to keep her from admiring his physical presence and human nature too much. It was also an encouragement, because she could be as blessed as his own mother if she would hear God’s word and keep it. Note that hearing God’s word is a great privilege, but only those who both hear it and keep it are truly blessed, that is, blessed by the Lord. They keep it in mind, and they keep to it as their guide and rule.