"a woman 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, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" -Luke 11:27,28
The above exchange was not a statement by Jesus that Mary is not to be regarded as blessed. The angel Gabriel told Mary she had found favor with God, and afterwards Mary noted that "all generations will call me blessed". Rather, Jesus is giving context for Mary's blessedness and at the same time extending an invitation that all can enter into it. Mary heard the word of God, and she kept it; she found favor with God and believed in the message delivered to her by the angel. Her response to the incredible revelation that she, being a virgin, would nonetheless bear a child, and not just any child but the holy Savior, was to reply in a spirit of faith and submission to God's will "behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38). Jesus' words to the woman reflect those of Mary's aunt Martha, who said to her "blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:45). Mary is blessed, not because she gave birth to Jesus, but because she believed in and kept the word of God. In so doing, she was given the most honored position of anyone past, present or future: she was made the earthly mother of God himself. Blessed indeed are those who hear the word of God and keep it, and blessed we will also be if we follow in her footsteps.
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