I Pity You, Says Jesus

From Tim's sermon on 6/6/2010: 'Money and the Woes of Jesus'

Luke 6: 24-26: "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.”

Tim's Explanation:

Verses 24-26 pronounce woes on a certain way of life. When you see the word “woe”, you might think he's talking about (the word woe means) condemned: you're condemned or you're cursed. But that's not true. Because, when someone in olden days used to say “woe is me” the person was not condemning himself, but was pitying himself. And the word “woe” means “alas”. Jesus is expressing pity for people who are living in this way. He's saying 'Oh you have no idea what's going to happen to you'.

Now, what is this way? What are these priorities? What are the values of the world's kingdom? What Jesus is pronouncing a woe on are four things. He's saying 'woe are you if you prize and if you make a priority four things: power, comfort, success, and recognition'.

See, first of all power. Woe to you who are rich. Riches isn't the only form of power, but it's one of the main ones: getting power over people, power over your life, power over the world. Secondy, it says 'woe to you who are well-fed.' It's a word that literally means to have your physical desire satiated, full. Thirdly, woe to you who laugh. Now, wait. That looks like he's saying woe to you who are happy. But that's not what he's saying, because the word “laugh” is a Greek word that means to gloat and it means to gloat because you've won. So he's actually saying, 'woe to those who make a priority of, set their hearts on: power, comfort, success, and recognition.' Woe to you when all men speak well of you: celebrity, recognition, acclaim.

Now, you say: wait a minute! Is he saying woe to anybody who has those things? No, you heard me say the kingdom of this world is seen in that these are bottom line identities. The way we know that is verse 24. It says 'woe to you who are rich for you have already received your comfort.' That's the word paraklesis, and it's a very important Greek word in the New Testament. It means deep consolation, deep solace and comfort, but it's a word that Jesus uses to describe the Holy Spirit. So you're a member of this world, not necessarily if you're successful. He's not putting a woe on anybody who happens to be successful or who happens to be acclaimed. What he's actually saying is when these things are your comfort, when these things are your bottom line identity, if these are the things that you live for.

You may believe in God, you may believe in Christianity, you may come to Redeemer and take notes in the sermons, but if you're actually living for power and comfort and success and recognition, you're a member of the kingdom of this world. And, he says, if you set your heart on these things this way, they will disappoint you, because though you are well-fed now, you will go hungry. Though you laugh now, you will mourn and weep. He doesn't explain that. He doesn't say when that's gonna happen: this life, next life, whatever. What he's actually saying is that if you set your heart on these things, if they're your comfort, they're your pereklesis, they're the deepest consolation you have, you will be disappointed. I pity you, says Jesus.