“No, if you looked at the philology, you see that the conjunction can be a “no not that but this” contrast or a “yest that but even more this”
It doesn’t actually matter, since I wasn’t disputing the usage.
If a Christian hears the word of God, he is blessed.
It says nothing about Mary being specially blessed. In fact, the moment that is suggested by the woman, Jesus connects the blessedness to every believer, “BUT Jesus said, yea, RATHER, blessed are they...”
I don’t care how you philopapacize it, please demonstrate how any of that turns into: “being the one who more than anyone else, hears the word of God and keeps it, should be honored as a way of honoring him.”
So, where does it say that she is blessed “more than anyone else” who hears the word of God and obeys it? Where does it say that you must honor Mary to honor Him? He doesn’t say anything of the sort. It simply says, “Yea, rather, blessed are THEY who hear the word of God and obey it.”
You wrote: “”Jesus connects the blessedness to every believer, “BUT Jesus said, yea, RATHER, blessed are they...
No
he
does
not.
You are reading that into the words. You are free to read that in. But the words themselves do not state that unambiguously. If you were to actually pore over the Scriptures and read Luke 1-2, you would read into those words in Luke 11:28: Hey, folks. My Mother is the prime example of all those who hear the word of God and keep it. She’s blessed, all of those who do what she does are blessed and so yes, venerate my mother as the Biggest Old Hearer and Keeper of the Word ever.”
Which is eggzackly what what Catholics and Orthodox and Martin Luther and John Calvin and John Wesley did.
Your quarrel is with John Wesley’s exegesis, Martin Luther’s, not with mine.