Getting Job-ed
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your comfort.
Woe to you who are now full,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who are now laughing,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you
when all people speak well of you,
for this is the way their ancestors
used to treat the false prophets. Luke 6:24-26 CSB
In the first part, we took a look at the Matthew set of Beatitudes during the Sermon on the Mount. Now we are going to turn and look at the set given in Luke 6. Luke 6:20-23 offers very similar teachings as the Matthew set with some variations (as I stated in the last article, I feel these could be two separate teachings). However, at the end of Luke’s Beatitude set, we see a drastically different tone and emphasis used here. Most teachers avoid the Luke set because they’re negative and the Matthew set can be twisted to make a fluffy, feel-good sermon (Minus the verses in Matthew 5:11-12 on persecution and being joyful- that’s usually left out).
However, I can’t speak for everyone, but before I get into the ocean, I want the lifeguard to tell me when there’s a bunch of sharks spotted in the surf. If I’m driving my car on a back road, I want to know when there’s a sudden sharp curve in the road in the super cliffy areas in Kentucky. Luke 6:24-26 offers warnings to us that we desperately need. Although our culture and society don’t know it, there are sharks and the surf and a cliff edge dead ahead that we aren’t seeing.
How are you satisfied? What do you put your faith in?
The first part (“But woe to you who are rich… Woe to you who are full now…) of this section of verses is addressing what satisfies us, what do we put our faith in. This is not just a distinction between being too rich, in fact, we see many rich people in the Bible that truly were a part of God’s people. Compare the difference between the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-30 and Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10 (click ‘here‘ to view those texts). The rich young ruler is commanded to sell all of his stuff and pick up his cross to follow Jesus and then Zacchaeus, a tax collector (crook, not well looked upon in society, has money by stealing in some cases), joyfully gives half of his possessions to the poor and to pays back the wrongs he has committed. Notice the difference: the rich young ruler is commanded to sell all of his stuff and give it to the poor and to pick up his cross to follow Jesus (fails to do and is sad) versus Zacchaeus who joyfully gives only half to the poor and rights his wrongs. This is a huge difference, it sounds like the standards for one are different than the standards for the other. No, Jesus is showing it’s a heart issue. The rich young ruler loved his stuff, therefore, he didn’t really want Jesus. Zacchaeus was not tied down and enslaved by his riches, he did so out of his joy and was pursuing Jesus. This is a heart issue, even for us. What do we love?
Status
The second half (“woe to you who are now laughing… Woe to you when people speak well of you…” parts) are getting at a core issue within us. The first part of these sections addressed heart, faith, and love issues. The second part addresses our pride. The text is not saying that it’s wrong to laugh or have people speak well of you. What it is saying is similar to the first section: it’s a condition of the heart.
Do you just want to only live in the moment now (avoid pain, maximize comfort), have fun, enjoy life, have the best experience now (or for retirement), enjoy mind-numbing comedies while ignoring the horrors that are happening right now, love superficial Christianity that gives you a few fortune cookie verses that makes you feel good to post on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram, love Christianity that preaches if you give to the church then God will give you whatever you want (more like Genie from Aladdin than a Sovereign Creator– A misuse and incorrect interpretation of Proverbs 16:3)? Where do you fall in your heart? Do you love praise from people more than God? Are you willing to stand up and be the prophet that says the world is dying from it’s sin and that it needs to repent, even if it means death to you and your family? This is what Jesus means by “…take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 16:24).” Christianity is a dying faith, as in, every day you will be dying to yourself and what the world calls worthy and good/right. But also Christianity is a living faith: we are looking for real life that is only found in Jesus, not what the world calls ‘the best life now.’
Conclusion
Jesus is calling us not to receive our comforts here in this life, or at least, seek to only have comforts here in this life. If we have comforts now, they are a taste of the goodness of God and point to how only God is the One that will truly satisfy us. Jesus is calling us not to seek praise and noteworthiness in this life, because then we have received it only for now. He tells us to look ahead at the New World, the Kingdom that He is bringing.
-Austin
