Blessed

Scripture Reading: Luke 11:27-28

The unnamed woman in the crowd was not wrong. She is possibly the first fulfillment of the prophetic Magnificat in which Mary, the mother of Jesus, proclaimed that “All generations shall call me blessed.” What this woman declared was a maternal instinct. There was a tinge of envy for the mother of One who taught like Jesus. So, I don’t think Jesus’ reply was meant as a harsh rebuke. It was, instead, a soft correction.

Mary was blessed to be chosen to be the mother of Jesus. There is no question about that. Her blessedness in this regard was a sovereignly bestowed gift from heaven. She didn’t seek it out or do something to merit it. There wasn’t an essay contest where Jewish girls wrote three pages on “Why I should be the Messiah’s Mother,” and God picked the best one.

This was not only a sovereignly bestowed blessing, but it was also a singularly bestowed blessing. There is only one woman in history who received this gift. No one else can join in this blessedness with her. There is only one Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Considering those two factors, it is easy to understand how we can look at a blessed life and feel left out. Some forms of blessedness are sovereignly bestowed, some are limited in number, and some are both. And these are things over which we have no control. Therefore, we might think receiving life’s blessings are a little like winning a heavenly lottery. It happens. Someone wins. But the odds are against it being us.

This is where Jesus brings much-needed correction. While there are some special blessings given to some people by God’s sovereign choice; there is a storehouse of blessedness to which God has opened the door and invited any of us to enter. No matter who you are you can be blessed. The only requirements are that you hear the word of God and keep it.

Listen and obey.

Be blessed.