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Episode 5: Why Did Jesus Call Her “Woman”? · See the full series playlist

In Luke 11:27, a woman in a crowd gets so caught up in Jesus that she shouts something out. “Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.”

Who is she praising? His mother. Out loud. In public. In front of Him. And she means it well.

"But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." — Luke 11:28 (KJV)

So somebody tried to exalt Mary in front of Jesus, and what did He do? He moved the blessing. Gently. Without one unkind word about His mother. But He moved it. So what happens when a show spends season after season moving it back?

Say Every Good Thing First

Now, some people overcorrect on this, and we don’t want to be those people. So let’s start with every good thing Scripture says about Mary.

"Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." — Luke 1:28 (KJV)

Highly favoured. Blessed among women. That’s an angel speaking, and it’s in your Bible.

Luke 1:38, when she’s told what’s going to happen to her life: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” Think about that. She’s a young woman in a small town, being told something that will cost her her reputation. And what’s her answer? Be it unto me according to thy word.

Luke 1:48, in her own song: “For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” All generations. Does that include us? It does.

Luke 2:19: “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” And she stands at the cross when almost every man has run.

So this isn’t about tearing Mary down. If anything, most of us don’t remember her the way her own song says we will.

But now read the verses right before “all generations.”

"My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." — Luke 1:46–47 (KJV)

What did she call God? Her Saviour. So did Mary need saving? Yes. And she’s the first person in the New Testament to say so out loud. Was she left without one? No.

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." — Acts 4:12 (KJV)

The baby she carried is the Saviour she sang about. That’s not bad news for Mary. That’s the best news she ever got. Hold on to that, because it’s the whole post.

His First Recorded Words

Now here’s where the show and the Bible part ways, and it happens at the earliest possible moment.

In Luke 2, Jesus is twelve. The family goes to Jerusalem for the passover, and on the way home they realize He isn’t with them. They go back and find Him in the temple with the doctors.

And Mary says to Him, verse 48: “Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.”

Now verse 49. These are the first recorded words of Jesus Christ in all of Scripture. He could have said anything, and the Holy Ghost picked this to preserve:

"How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?" — Luke 2:49 (KJV)

Look at what He just did. His mother said “thy father and I.” Who did she mean? Joseph. And He answered by talking about a different Father entirely. So His very first recorded words are a boy respectfully correcting his mother about who his Father is.

Now, verse 51 says He went home with them and “was subject unto them.” He obeyed His parents, and we’re not going to skip that. But the record opens with Him drawing a line about where His identity comes from. So any version of the story where He needs His mother to tell Him who He is has to get past His own first sentence.

And what was His Father’s business? He tells us. Luke 19:10: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” And at the end, John 17:4: “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” That twelve-year-old knew exactly whose business He was on. And that business was you.

Woman

Then look at what He calls her once His ministry begins. The wedding at Cana:

"Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." — John 2:4 (KJV)

Woman. Not mother. Does He do the miracle? Yes. Is He being cruel? No. But He will not take His cue from her, and He says so before He acts.

And at the very end, hanging on the cross, John 19:26: “Woman, behold thy son!” He provides for her. He makes sure she’s cared for. That’s a good son, and it should move you. But even there, in the last minutes of His life, what doesn’t He say? Mother.

Who Is My Mother?

There’s one more, and this one He says in front of a crowd. In Matthew 12:46, His mother and His brethren are standing outside wanting to speak with Him. Verse 48: “Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?”

Then He stretches out His hand toward His disciples:

"Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." — Matthew 12:49–50 (KJV)

And this isn’t one isolated moment, is it? It’s a pattern across His whole life:

Four times. Four different settings. Same direction every time. Scripture isn’t harsh about this. It’s careful. God was making sure we wouldn’t get confused.

But don’t hear that as Jesus pushing people away. Listen to who He pulled in: “whosoever shall do the will of my Father.” Whosoever. He opened His family to anyone.

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" — John 1:12 (KJV)

Hebrews 2:11: “he is not ashamed to call them brethren.”

And remember the woman in the crowd? He didn’t just move the blessing off Mary. He moved it onto everyone who hears the word of God and keeps it. That’s you, if you hear it and keep it.

The Silence of Joseph

Now Joseph, and this one’s different. With Joseph, the issue isn’t what Scripture says. It’s what Scripture doesn’t say.

How many recorded words does Joseph have in the entire Bible? Not one. He’s called “a just man” in Matthew 1:19. He obeys every time an angel speaks to him. He takes the family to Egypt in the night. And then he disappears from the record. No death scene. No farewell.

So when a show gives Joseph wisdom to hand down and counsel that shapes Jesus as a boy, is that filling a gap? No. Scripture left that canvas blank on purpose. Think about it. This is a book that records the words of Balaam’s donkey, and not one syllable from the man who raised Jesus.

As we saw in Part 4, Jesus knew who His Father was and where His words came from. And that’s good news.

"...no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." — Matthew 11:27 (KJV)

So could a Jesus who learned about His true Father from Joseph show you the Father? No. But the real Jesus can. John 14:9: “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”

Where the Line Is

So let’s be precise, because this line is easy to miss and easy to overshoot.

Is loving His mother the error? No. He provided for her with almost His last breath. Is remembering her the error? No. All generations shall call her blessed.

Here’s the error. It’s when He starts drawing from her the things Scripture says He drew only from the Father. Direction. Comfort. Knowing who He is. Being understood when nobody else understands.

Those things have an address in Scripture, and it isn’t Nazareth. Where did He go? Luke 6:12 says He “continued all night in prayer to God.”

"And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone;" — John 8:29 (KJV)

So when the show’s Jesus turns to Mary for what the real Jesus took to the Father, who loses? Not Mary. She comes out looking wonderful. The loss is to God the Father. His place got handed out one quiet scene at a time.

And it’s a loss to you, too. A Jesus who needs His mother to comfort Him can only offer you what she offered Him: human comfort, from someone who needed a Saviour herself.

But the real Jesus turns to the crowd and says, Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Does He go looking for rest? No. He gives it. Isaiah 53:4: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.”

"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." — Hebrews 4:15–16 (KJV)

What She Would Say

And here’s the fairest thing we can say about all of it. Mary wouldn’t want this.

The only instruction Mary gives anybody in the entire New Testament is at that wedding.

"Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." — John 2:5 (KJV)

That’s it. That’s her whole ministry in one line. Look at Him. Do what He says. So a version of the story where Jesus leans on Mary isn’t honoring her, is it? It ignores the one instruction she left.

And Peter tells you why her instruction is worth following. John 6:68: “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”

The Right Address First

Most of us have somebody we run to first when life falls apart. A mom. A grandma. A best friend. A pastor. And thank God for them. But notice the order Jesus kept. People can listen. They can bring you supper. They can pray with you. But who can carry your sorrows? Who can forgive your sins? Who can tell you who you are? Only God.

So try this the next time you reach for your phone to vent. Open your Bible first. Pray first. Then call your friend. Will you still need people? Yes, and God gives them. But you’ll have gone to the right address first.

The show offers a Jesus who needs what you need. Somebody to lean on. Somebody to tell him who he is. That Jesus can sympathize with you, but can he save you? No.

The Bible’s Jesus drew everything from the Father. He finished His Father’s business. And then He walked out of the grave.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you," — 1 Peter 1:3–4 (KJV)

A lively hope. It’s living because He’s living. Hebrews 6:19: “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast.” And the same God who never left Him alone says this to you in Hebrews 13:5: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

That isn’t a Jesus who needs your support.

That’s a Saviour who holds you up.

Keep Reading the Series

The Chosen · Part 5 of 9

Put the Real Words in Your Memory

Join the Bible Memory Bros group on BibleMemory.com and memorize Luke 11:28 with us. Then watch the full Chosen series on the Bible Memory Bros YouTube channel.

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