WWJD and Mother's Day

S - Luke 11:27-28 (NAS): "While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women 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, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.""

O - Apparently Jesus wasn't trying to start "Mothers' Day" in the culture of his day.  Wouldn't this have been a great opportunity to affirm his Mother and give her a public "shout out"? While I don't think we may infer any resistance or hostility toward our cultural celebration of our moms, I do think the absence of it is an intentional backdrop to intensify his response.  The lady who raised her voice could never have the blessing she was identifying.  Yet, all people, female and male, can have the blessing (μακάριος: supremely blessed, a poetic form of μάκαρ) directly connect with the word of God. This extreme good fortune is available to all who hear the word AND "observe it".  The term Jesus chose to connect with hearing is the verb φυλάσσω. It strongly connotes the idea of an isolation which will prevent something or someone from escaping. Anyone who hears the word of God (Jesus is the Living Word of God) and observes it will be the one who exceeds the blessing the woman called out; a blessing which Jesus affirms as supreme. 

A - Since I can qualify for this supreme blessing, what is it which might prevent it?  What allows the word of God to escape or dissipate from a life … my life? It's not that the word "wants out" or to run away from me but rather that it requires my willing and ongoing cooperation … a cooperation rooted in the same reality in which God's word (written, spoken and Living) is offered.  This reality is not theological acumen, intellectual brilliance or mere informational acquiescence. The word of God in all its expressions is offered in the reality of love.  Love is the reason and the response.  Love will present the word and love will engage; not a mere exercise in passive acknowledgement but a focused embrace which won't let it evaporate … unto the extreme blessing intended all along.

P - Lord who loved his Mom,

Thank you for presenting all human beings the opportunity to have a relational connection with you which is identical to the one you have with your earthly Mother and the one you have with God your Father . Thank you for wanting us near and blessed and forever in your family.  I welcome you and your word unto new wineskins, mulberry trees in the ocean and that which is too wonderful for me.  Jesus, I am asking for help, not self-help.

I love you back,

Steve