Daily Bible Nugget #284, Luke 11:28

The Nugget:

Luke 11:28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

My Comment:

Jesus expressed the blessedness of hearing and obeying the Scriptures (The New Topical Textbook, subheading under the major topic “The Scriptures,” page 240).

Taking the immediately preceding verse into account will upset some readers who cannot stomach controversy in spiritual things. That is just too bad. In Luke 11:28 notice the word “rather.” That word points back to something that was just said, upon which Jesus was commenting. Here is the previous verse:

Luke 11:27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.

Apparently there was already a movement afoot to give undue honor and prominence to the earthly mother of Jesus.

Jesus reacted to this comment by directing attention to the importance of hearing the Word of God, and obeying it, rather than to expressing any religious honor to his mother Mary. Yes, she is blessed according to the written Word of God as expressed in Luke 1:28 (and Luke 1:42), blessed in the sense she was highly favored. She was no doubt highly favored because (1) she was herself faithful to the Word of God, and (2) she was in the direct line of descent of the Davidic line through which the Scriptures had promised the Messiah would come; and (3) therefore became the mother of our Lord. But Jesus called attention to what He said was more important than all this conveyed by the woman who spoke up to publicly give special honor to the mother of Jesus. Jesus said, Yes, rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.

It is very important to really hear the word of God as it is recorded for us in the Bible, and nowhere else. Jesus cautioned us to take heed how we hear (Luke 8:18) as well as what we hear (Mark 4:24).

We need to be very careful that we are not fooling ourselves into hearing selectively only what we want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3). Jesus made frequent reference to Isaiah 6:9, 10, which warns not to be among those who hear but do not understand. This verse in Isaiah 6:9, 10 is quoted in the New Testament at Matthew 13:14, 15. Mark 4:12. Luke 8:10. Acts 28:26, 27. Romans 11:8. It is also quoted at John 12:40. In terms of taking care how we hear (Luke 8:18), we must hear with understanding. We need to focus on the truth God presents us in His written Word, the Bible, and make it our sole standard and rule of faith.

We need to take special care in terms of what we hear (Mark 4:24). Are we listening to the wrong voices? There are many voices clamoring to be heard, and in spiritual matters often claiming to be the only true voice. The only true voice is found in Scripture. Some people are listening to false doctrine because it suits their preference. People often are lured into following false cults. False cults are very effective in attracting new adherents. False cults often prey upon genuine Christians who already have an established faith, and attempt to lure a person from the truth to follow the lies of the false cult. Some false cults are attractive to some individuals because they teach against eternal punishment. Some false cults appeal to the unwary by asserting claims of being the original Christian church with a line of leadership which extends unbroken back to the original Apostles of Christ, claiming Peter as their first Pope, or else trace themselves back to John the Baptist through an unbroken line of authorized baptizers. But if you would read a plain-text Bible without any denominational notes in it, you would surely never be led in any of these mistaken directions by what the Bible itself teaches. That is why these false religions make a special effort to (1) declare that you cannot understand the Bible correctly apart from their direction; (2) declare that you cannot go by the Bible alone.

Jesus said it is most important to both hear the word of God, and keep it. To keep the word of God means to obey the word of God. The word of God contains God’s directions for our life. The Bible includes commands from Jesus and commands from God that should guide our morality, our spiritual and religious affiliations, and our lifestyle. Jesus spoke of there being two roads–the broad road traveled by the majority that leads to destruction, and the narrow road that leads to eternal life traveled by the very few who find it (Matthew 7:13, 14). Make sure you are on the right road!

For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:

(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1130 for Luke 11:28.

(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1152 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Luke 11:28.

(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:

Luke 11:28. Yea rather. Lk 6:47, 48. +*Lk 8:21. +*Ps 1:1-3. 112:1. *Ps 119:1-6. 128:1. Is 48:17, 18. *Mt 7:21-25. *Mt 12:48-50. +*Jn 13:17. +*James 1:21-25. *1 J 3:21-24. Re 1:3. 22:7, 14. blessed. Gr. makarios (S#3107g, Mt 5:3). T#1100. Ps 32:1. 106:3. +*Mt 5:3. 11:6. 25:34. James 1:25. *Re 1:3. 22:7. are they. *Lk 8:21. Pr 7:4. Mt 11:6. +*Mt 12:50. Mk 3:34. that hear. +**Lk 8:18, 21. Dt 11:27. 28:1. 1 K 10:8. 2 Ch 9:7. Jb 29:11. +*Jb 37:2. Mt 7:24. +**Mk 4:24. **Ro 10:17. +James 1:22. the word of God. +Lk 5:1. Is 2:3. +**Ac 17:11. **1 Th 2:13. and keep. **Lk 6:46. *Lk 8:15. Le 18:26. 19:37. 22:31. Nu 15:40. +*Dt 4:40. 5:29. +*Dt 26:16. 27:1. 29:9. +*Jsh 1:8. Ps 119:105. Pr 7:1, 4. 8:32, 34. 10:17. 19:16. 29:18. Is 56:2. %Ezk 18:11. %*Ezk 33:31. **Mt 7:21. 12:50. +*Jn 13:17. 14:21. Ro 2:13. +**2 Tim 3:15-17. 4:7. **James 1:22. 1 J 2:5.