#93 Lu. 11:27-28  SALVATION, STILL A BETTER REASON FOR REJOICING

Introduction:

    Back in Luke 10:17-20 the seventy disciples of the Lord
returned from their preaching tour throughout Galilee.  They were
overjoyed that they were able to cast demons out of demon
possessed people.  Jesus told them not to rejoice that they were
able to cast out demons.  He pointed out to them a better reason
for rejoicing.  He said that they should rejoice because their
names were written in heaven.
    In our text today we have a similar situation.  After Jesus
had cast the demon out of the man who was blind and dumb and make
him able to see and hear, there was a woman who cried out with
great admiration for Mary, the mother of Jesus.  She thought that
it must be a very wonderful thing for Mary to be the mother of
Jesus.  Jesus acknowledged that indeed, Mary had been blessed of
God to be chosen for this special privilege.  But Jesus pointed
out to this woman that it was a greater privilege to hear the word
of God and to keep it than it was to bring forth the Christ child
into the world.  In other words, it is better to be saved than it
would be to give birth to the Christ child.

I.  The woman who envied Mary, V. 27

    Let us take a closer look at our text.  V. 27, "And it came to
pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company
lifted up her voice..."  Perhaps you will recall that after
casting the demon out of the man and causing him to be able to see
and hear, the Pharisees had leveled a very slanderous accusation
against Jesus.  They had accused Jesus of casting out demons by
the power of Beelzebub or Satan.  In rebuttal to this Jesus had
said to his accusers that if He were casting out demons by the
power of Satan that Satan's house would be divided against itself.
Satan would be working against his own followers and under those
circumstances Satan's kingdom could not stand.  A kingdom divided
against itself cannot stand any more than a house divided against
itself cannot stand.  Jesus also pointed out that the accusation
which they made against Him of casting out demons by the power of
Satan was equal to accusing their own sons of casting out demons
by the power of Satan.  Their own sons would stand up against them
in this matter.
    Furthermore, Jesus pointed out that He would have to be more
powerful than Satan in order to cast Satanic spirits out of men.
He went on to give the warning that when a demon has left a man
that there was danger that the demon would return unless that man
did more than merely reform his life.  He would need to be born
again and have the Holy Spirit of God to come and take up dwelling
in his spirit.
    While He was still talking to the Pharisees on that matter a
woman in the crowd interrupted Him yelling out in an extremely
loud voice.  I said that she was a woman in the crowd.  She was
more than that.  Luke said that she was a woman in "the company."
She was in the company of disciples.  She was one the believers.
She was one of His followers.
    Just as the seventy disciples had been beside themselves with
joy at being able to cast out demons this woman was beside herself
with joy concerning Mary, the mother of Jesus.  She was very
generous in her praise for Mary.  (V. 27), "...and said unto him,
Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast
sucked." There is no doubt that there is a great deal of praise in
this statement for Jesus.  The ground on which she praised Mary
was the fact that Mary had given birth to Jesus and had given suck
to Jesus.  So there is a great deal of praise for Jesus.  But
somehow there seems to be an undue amount of praise for Mary.  Why
bring Mary into the picture at all?  Why mention Mary at all?  Why
not just praise Jesus and say nothing whatsoever about Mary?
    It seems that this woman was revealing something about her own
desires.  She was envious of Mary.  She was saying, "I wish I
could have had the privilege of giving birth to Jesus instead of
Mary."
    Never-the-less, since she not have that privilege, she
expressed a great deal of admiration for Mary.  She expressed her
admiration for Mary in two specific areas.  She said, "Blessed is
the womb that bare thee..."  In this she expressed admiration of
Mary for giving birth to Jesus.  He was carried in the womb about
the same length of time that any other child would be carried.
She admired Mary for nourishing baby Jesus in her womb and
bringing Him to the time of birth.
    She also expressed her admiration of Mary for nourishing Jesus
after He was born.  She said that Mary was blessed in that it was
her paps or breasts which provided nourishment for baby Jesus
until He was able to eat solid food.  The womb nourished Him until
He was born.  The breasts nourished Him after He was born.  Oh,
how she wished that she had been given that privilege.
    I am not certain who this woman was.  The Bible does not give
her name.  Neither am I certain whether or not she had any
children at all.  If she did, it appears that she was somewhat
disappointed in her own son and she wished that she could have a
son like Jesus and she was somewhat envious of Mary.
    Regardless of the woman's motives, any woman would be proud to
have a son like Jesus.  No son ever born was as well behaved and
as well mannered as He.  Any mother would be proud to have a son
that well behaved.
    No son ever born achieved greater fame than Jesus.  Even at
the time of our text, there was no man in the whole land of Israel
who was more famous than Jesus.  In our day, He is more famous
than ever.  His name is known in every nation in the world and the
Book that records His life is the all time best seller.  More
speeches have been made about Him, more books have been written
about Him, more movies have been made about Him, more people have
proclaimed their loyalty to Him than any other person who has ever
lived.  Any mother would be proud to have a son like Jesus.
    No son ever displayed greater knowledge nor wisdom nor power
than Jesus.  His sermons always amazed His listeners.  His
miracles always astounded those who saw.  People came from far and
near to be healed and there was never one single time that Jesus
failed to heal one who came.  Any mother would be proud to have a
son like Jesus.

II.  A greater reason for rejoicing, V. 28

    Never-the-less, Jesus pointed out that there is a greater
reason for rejoicing.  V. 28, "But he said, Yea rather, blessed
are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."  What is Jesus
talking about?  He is talking about the very same thing He was
talking about when He told the seventy not to rejoice that they
could cast out demon spirits.  He told them to rejoice that their
names were written in heaven.  In other words, they were to
rejoice that they were saved.  That is exactly what He is talking
about to this woman.  He uses a little different terminology, but
the meaning is the same.  He is talking about hearing the word of
God and believing the gospel message and being saved.
    It was more blessed to hear the word of God and be saved that
it was to carry Jesus Christ in the womb and bring Him into the
world.  It is more blessed to hear the gospel message and be saved
than to give suck to the very Christ of God.  It is far better to
have the Christ to give you eternal life than it would be for you
to give Him physical life.  It is far better to have Christ in the
heart than to have Him in the womb.  It is far better to have the
Christ as your Savior than to have Him as your son.  Having Jesus
Christ as your Savior is the only way that you can stay out of the
fires of hell.  Having Jesus Christ as your Savior is the only way
that you can enter into the portals of glory.
    It is more blessed to hear the word of God and be saved than
any other experience that a human being can have.  It was more
blessed to hear the word of the Lord and be saved than it was to
be able to cast out demons.  It is more blessed to have the Lord
as your Savior than to be rich or famous or powerful.  The
salvation of the soul is far more valuable than all the wealth or
all the fame or all the power in the world.
    There was no way that this woman could ever carry Jesus in her
womb and give Him nourishment from her breasts.  Mary had been
chosen for that privilege and Mary had already brought Him into
the world.  Jesus was already a grown man.  There is no way that
any other woman in the world can have that privilege.  Only one
woman could have that privilege.  Only one woman could give birth
to Jesus.
    But every woman in the world has the privilege of hearing the
word of God and trusting in Jesus Christ as her Savior.  Every
woman, every girl, every man and every boy can hear the word of
God and be saved.
    Yet I would point out to you that the mere hearing of the
word of God is not enough.  You can hear the word of God and go to
hell.  You can hear the word of God and still miss heaven.  You
must not only hear the word of God, but you must believe it.  You
must believe the gospel message about God sending His Son to the
world to be the Savior of the world.  You must believe the message
about His sinless life, about His death on the cross and about His
resurrection from the dead.  You must believe God's promise that
He would save your soul when you call on Jesus and trust in Him.
You must call on Him and trust in Him and when you do Jesus will
save your soul.
    If you have heard the gospel message you can rejoice, because
there are some people in the world who have never yet heard.  But
you must not stop with the mere hearing of the word of God.  You
must believe it and call on Jesus for the salvation of your soul.

Conclusion:

    I cannot believe that there is anyone in this congregation
this morning who has never before heard the word of God nor heard
the gospel message.  Yet there could very well be someone here
this morning who has never yet called on Jesus and asked Him to
save your soul.
    But if you have never called on Jesus and trusted Him as your
Savior then I am asking you to do so right now.  I am asking you
to put your very personal trusting faith in Jesus and place your
destiny in His hands.  I can assure you that you are really in
good hands when you trust in Jesus Christ.  Do so without delay.
Do so today.  Right now right where you are, lift your heart to
Jesus in prayer and ask Jesus to save your soul.
    I am also going to ask that you come forward and profess Jesus
publicly as your Savior.  Come forward and commit your life to
following Him as serving Him.