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. 28 But he
said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep
it.
Here is an interesting
exchange. A woman suggests that Mary, Jesus’ mother, is blessed for being His
mother, for giving birth to Him and sustaining Him in His infancy. This would
sit well with those who worship Mary. The Roman Catholic Church has a strong
veneration for Mary and the Islamic Koran even has a chapter, called a sura, devoted to her. But, Jesus says
that even more importantly those who hear God’s word, obviously believing it,
and keep it, clearly obeying it, are the ones who are blessed of God. This
reminds me of the passage starting in Luke 8:19 that ends with;
Luke 8:21 And he answered
and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of
God, and do it.
11:29 ¶ And when the people were gathered thick
together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and
there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. 30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites,
so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the
judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from
the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a
greater than Solomon is here. 32 The
men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall
condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater
than Jonas is here. 33 No man,
when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither
under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the
light. 34 The light of the body is the
eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light;
but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
35 Take heed therefore that the light
which is in thee be not darkness. 36 If
thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the
whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give
thee light.
Remember things I’ve
said earlier about the word evil in
context. Evil can be malicious, intent on doing no good, and just basically the
general disposition of mankind. See in the following evil as malicious, intent
on doing violence or causing mischief.
Genesis 37:33 And he knew
it, and said, It is my son’s
coat; an evil beast hath
devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
See
here evil as the opposite of peace, a consequence of God’s judgment.
Isaiah 45:7 I
form the light, and create
darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do
all these things.
Jesus
had just said to His disciples in verse 13;
Luke 11:13
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children: how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
This evil generation, opposed to God and His
plan of redeeming mankind, or at least those who will accept His forgiveness,
acknowledging their great need and trusting in His righteousness alone and not
their own, want a sign. But the only sign they will receive is the death,
burial, and resurrection of Christ as Jonah was in the whale’s belly for three
days and three nights (Jonah 1:17) which is a type of Christ’s time in the tomb
and preaching to the the spirits of the pre-Flood dead.
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so
shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
1Peter 3:18 ¶ For Christ
also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring
us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19 By which also he went and preached unto the
spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime
were disobedient, when once
the longsuffering of God waited in the
days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls
were saved by water.
See
single as contrasted with evil in verse 34. It is clear in this passage that
Jesus states that only those who are spiritually healthy, able to see, will
believe and follow Him. He is out in the open, not hidden, and if they are able
to see they will be enlightened. I remember how I used to mock Christians and
made blasphemous statements against God and Christ, belittling those who tried
to tell me about salvation. But, as I saw regular Christians full of faith,
imperfect but trusting Christ, and I saw how consistent they could be and kind
to me it began to dawn on me that I was missing out on something. Finally, it
became very clear to me that the gospel message was true. When my future wife asked
me if I could think of any reason why I should not pray to ask Christ to take
over my life I had no more arguments against Him. My mind, my spirit, was
opened and my sight became clear.
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