Orderly worship
I guess this is my "Part III" to "Why are there still attacks on the Theotokos"?
As I was writing one of my books (more on the way, maybe I'll learn to spell in the meantime! Microsoft Word's hypercorrection, not withstanding). I was thinking about a prooftext that some Protestants will try to use to undermine the Virgin Mary's role in Jesus's life, and, more importantly, our salvation.
"See," they'll say, "Jesus dissed his Mama, look at Luke 11:28".
Apparently, forgetting that I own a Bible, I am the wrong person to say this to.
Let's start at Luke 11:27, and read Luke 11:27-28
"And it came to pass, as he spake these, 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. But he said, Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keeps it".
I want to focus on the phrase, "Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it".
Let's go back a bit in the Gospel of Luke.
"And the angel, came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, fear not, Mary; for thou has found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed for her." (Luke 1:28-38).
So, what have we learned? That Mary WAS the one who did God's will! "Let it be done unto me according to thy word"! She heard the word and DID it.
This is the problem I have with taking verses in isolation. One CANNOT get a proper theology just by isolating a verse out of context. Also note, that these verses are in the same Book of the New Testament. Not being a liberal scholar, I'm not part of the crowd that believes "Oh, those were added later", or something like that. No, Luke saw fit to write both things. For the very reason they DON'T contradict. Jesus's mother KEPT the Word of God!
So, far from insulting Jesus's mother, it's Jesus commending those that did what his mother did.
*All verses are from the King James Version.