Knowing The Word in Luke 6:24-26

Jesus Pronounces Woes

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Comments

The woes that Jesus pronounced were natural correlations to the beatitudes. When Jesus said, “woe,” we should hear in our day “how terrible!” The woe to the rich was not addressed to the disciples because they were poor. The rich were predisposed to think they had need of nothing. They relied on wealth rather than God. When all that someone has is wealth, that person is poor indeed. Jesus said they have been paid in full and should not expect anything more. The woe to those who are full was much like the woe to the rich. The full were satisfied in life and were self-reliant, but they will not be in the future.

Jesus was not against laughter. He criticized those whose laughter was superficial, who laughed at the easiness of life and who were not moved by injustice and poverty in their society. He cautioned people that when others only spoke well of them, there must be some principle that was sacrificed, some unholy behavior that was overlooked. It was the false prophets who won wide acclaim in the Old Testament, not the genuine prophets. We are to remember that Jesus died for our sins, that all of us have gone astray, even every saint.

Application

Consider the four woes above. Do any of them apply to you in some way? Use the prayer below to dig into these issues.

Prayer

Father, open my eyes to areas in my life where I am self-reliant and not reliant upon you. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear when I can grow in Christlikeness and learn to love you and my neighbor more and more. Thank you for your patience and loving kindness with me.