NOTES for Luk 11:27-28

Like Peter's words near Caesarea, this phrase is a form of confession of Jesus as the Christ, the promised Messiah from the line of David.

Later, when the Pharisees demand that the Lord stop those crying out "Hosanna to the Son of David," He will say: "If they keep silent, the stones will cry out." In the same way, if this woman had kept silent, the stones would have cried out, because if we believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the incarnate Son of God, then we cannot fail to glorify the One through whom this incarnation took place.

Her blessedness as the Mother of Her Creator is the pledge and condition of our salvation; without the Son of Mary we would still remain in hell. Eastern hymnographers of the first millennium often speak of the All-Pure One as the new Eve, whose obedience corrected Eve's sin, just as the obedience of Her Son healed Adam's sin. And for us it is important to remember two more things with reverence and love. First, standing at the foot of the Cross, the Most Holy Virgin gives Her Son to God and to us, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. And second, in making the New Covenant with us, the Lord Jesus gives us His Flesh and Blood as food and drink, which He received from the Most Holy Virgin.

Jesus' answer to the woman's exclamation is astonishing. In the Synodal translation ("But He said: blessed...") this is not visible at all, and in Slavonic ("And He said: therefore indeed blessed...") only partly. The point is that He says: "menoun makarioi..." The Greek menoun is an expression of agreement, used in the sense of "of course," "without doubt," "truly." That is, He says: "Of course those who hear the Word of God and keep it are blessed." In this form, these are words precisely about the Most Holy Virgin: "Undoubtedly, She is blessed, for She heard the word of God and fulfilled it." And this is not only a statement of fact, but also a signpost for us.