Today we are going to look at the passage in Luke 11:27-32.
Have you ever noticed that it is easy to see the blessings that others have and overlook our own? Whether it is self-pity, or the ignorance we have of the lives of others, we get stuck in blindness towards what true blessing is. In fact, that is the case even when we have the best of motivations. However, we often are envious of what others have and too greedy to be content with what we have. This only makes the situation worse. May God help us to be thankful for the portion we have received from Him and to put it to good use.
The context of this passage involves Jesus ministering in miracles and in teaching the Word of God. His powerful command over an evil spirit and knowledgeable teach about how evil spirits operate amazed the crowd. This leads to a woman in the crowd crying out how blessed Mary, the mother of Jesus, must be. She is so smiled on by God. She is so lucky. I wish this was my son! Of course, I don’t know what all is in this woman’s heart. But the greatness of Jesus caused her to think about how nice it would be to be his mother. Jesus takes advantage of this interruption to teach them and us something about what really makes us blessed by God.
This woman and her outburst is a good illustration of the natural condition of our human hearts. We so easily overlook the blessings that God has given us. Yet we have “hyper-sight” of the blessings of others. This spontaneous exclamation gives us insight into what is happening in our hearts as humans all the time. Although we may have learned to control our words and outbursts, we all have the same visceral reactions to life. “How lucky that person is! I wish I was even half as blessed as them! God sure blessed them. Why doesn’t He bless me?” When we think this way we are truly thinking foolishly.
This woman ends up comparing and contrasting her situation with that of Mary, the mother of Jesus. When she sees Jesus she sees what she doesn’t have- a son who is amazing the people of Israel. Even if her sons had turned out great and had good reputations, they couldn’t compare to Jesus. “What must it be like to have such a great son? That Mary is so blessed!” Yet, the truth of Mary’s blessing is far more complicated than that. In Luke 2:35-36, when Joseph and Mary brought the eight day old Jesus to the Temple, the prophet Simeon said to her, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Mary had good times. But she would also have extreme soul-piercing times as well and most likely far more than this woman would ever have. In 2 Corinthians 10:12 we are told that we are not wise to compare ourselves to others. We can’t know the half of what it is like to walk in their shoes. We need to learn to focus upon our self and not by contrast with others.
James 1:17 tells us that every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of Lights. He is the source of our blessings. The “woe is me” attitude causes us to look down upon the blessings that God has given us, which is looking down upon Him. This woman misses the reality of her own blessing. In fact, we today can be envious of the fact that she got to physically see and hear Jesus. Yet, later Jesus would say, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Please catch the fact that we do not understand what a blessing is. We look to all the wrong things and say that is a blessing. Yet, Jesus corrects us and points us back to what our true blessing is. This woman misses the reality of her own blessing because she is looking at Mary’s lesser one. We focus on what we think are big blessings, when all along we are overlooking those that really are big. Mary was blessed, but not any more than her. Even to this day groups within Christianity will look to Mary in awe because she was the “Mother of God.” Of course that statement misrepresents the reality that Mary only mothered the physical flesh that God took upon Himself in Christ. Mary was not near to God because she birthed the Messiah. In fact, we can end up with a heart that has to have a son who is Jesus in order to be content. Does God have to do such and such in order for you to believe that He has blessed you? Does God have to bless you with a certain something in order for you to be happy? Be careful, because that thing has become an idol in your life.
Jesus answers the woman with the truth about who was blessed. The Word of God is the greatest blessing that we can receive. In that sense they were all just as blessed as Mary. Many who have had material blessing in this life will go into eternity lost and ill prepared for judgment. Don’t envy the material blessings at all. They cannot save you and are not proof that God loves those people.
Yet, the Word of God must always be mixed with faith; belief. Think of it this way. Was Judas blessed? Yes, in that God gave him a great position in His band of followers. Yet, in the end Judas wasn’t blessed because he failed to trust Jesus. Thus Jesus emphasizes hearing and keeping the Word of God. The word “keep” means to guard, watch over, and nurture. It is also in the present tense. Blessed are those who are hearing the Word of God and keeping it. Are you guarding God’s Word to you this morning, or are you allowing the evil one to use every manner of tricks to plunder it? Get this deep into your heart. When you truly understand blessing, you will understand that the greatest blessing is simply receiving the Word of God and then doing it. This is what brings us near to the heart of God.
Jesus then turns to speak about the generation of Israel in His day. It was an evil or bad generation. Of course, not every single individual was bad. But overall they did not trust the Word of God. Rather they trusted the word of men. They lack faith in God and obedience to Him. Are we part of an evil generation here in America? Forget about Iran or ISIS. What about us? I think it is clear that we too have crossed a threshold where we as a people have decided that God has nothing to say to us. We can figure it out for ourselves.
Jesus says that an evil generation looks for signs and wonders. They demand spectacular proof from God. Now Jesus did many miracles, but they weren’t enough. They always wanted Him to do something greater. In that sense our desire for God’s miracles can come from a place of hypocrisy. We want God to jump through our hoops in a very specific way and then we will believe. However, we never get to belief because our unbelief keeps asking for something greater. You can never please or convince a person who doesn’t want to believe. Even if it takes a ridiculous argument, they will come up with reasons why your argument isn’t enough, or why God hasn’t done enough.
Yet, it is God who chooses the signs we will receive. God will not put himself in a position of scrambling to please every whim and desire of those who refuse to believe Him. He chooses the signs and gives enough to those who want to believe. We are not in control He is. If you want to be blessed then be quick to trust Him rather than continually challenging His love and care for you. If His commands lead you to a cross then say, “Your will be done.”
Jesus tells them that the sign they are going to get from God is the sign of Jonah. Although in Luke this phrase is not explained, in Matthew 12:40 we are told, “as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Now the story of Jonah being swallowed by a large fish or sea creature is an amazing one. When you read Jonah chapter 2 and the prayer that Jonah prays when he has been swallowed, you get the impression that Jonah may have actually died. Whether he did or not, God miraculously causes him to be transported and regurgitated onto the beach. Having spent 3 days in stomach acids he must have been a sight to behold. He was probably pale and lacked any hair on his body. Whether or not there were any witnesses to his projection onto the beach, he would have looked like he had been in the belly of a fish. Thus he is a picture of a prophet of God coming back from the dead to proclaim the Word of God. This picture corresponds to the Resurrection of Jesus. That is the main sign that God would give to their generation and to ours.
Now Jesus then points to other generations that the people of Israel would have thought of as evil. In the time of Solomon, the Queen of Sheba traveled a great distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon and believed in him. But Jesus had brought greater wisdom to that generation and most did not believe in him. Yes, they were amazed, but most did not mix it with faith. Are we guilty of this today? Do we scour the internet and the whole world for wisdom and yet look down upon the Word of God, or never even give it a hearing? Jesus wasn’t in some far off country. He had brought the Wisdom of God right to them and yet they were rejecting it. Jesus said that the Queen of Sheba would be Exhibit A in the case against them. Even if we try to say, “but God you can’t expect me to believe that,” He need only point to those who responded to far less.
Another example of this is the Ninevites. The Ninevites repented when Jonah warned them of the coming Judgment. Yet, Jesus was greater than Jonah and preached a greater message, yet few repented.
We are swimming in the blessing of God in this world. The gospel has gone out to the world. Especially here in the West, we have God’s Word everywhere. God’s Word has never been more prevalent and more accessible to mankind, and yet we persist in demanding greater proof and refuse to seek it out; refuse to repent. Even though we think our reasoning is air-tight, God need only point to those many people through each generation who believed with far less than us. No, we truly are an evil generation. Judgment hangs over us. But you can be spared. Jesus calls you to come, pick up your cross, and follow Him. Join the band of people who not only heard God’s Word but also mixed it with faith.