““But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭24‬-‭26‬ ‭NRSV‬‬

Life at times seems unfair. It is. God did not promise an easy life. Jesus warned that there would be hardships, even those who followed Him would face hardships and struggles.

Why do we want a life that is fair?

When Jesus talked about the blessings given to those who in this life seem far from being blessed, He was pointing out a kingdom truth that many people did not want to realize because it directly affected them and for some it condemned them. Not just their understanding of God’s love but also what God’s blessing really looks like.

The warnings that Jesus gave in Luke 6:24-26 are to people who were lusting after wealth, hoarding power, and trying to make a good social impression. The irony is that many people who did this saw themselves as being blessed by God. God had given them this wealth, this power, this social standing, and you know what they were right. Unfortunately they stopped with themselves. in Genesis 2:15, Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden to care for it. In Genesis 4:9 the question Cain asks God is, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We are to care for creation, we are also suppose to care for our fellow image bearers of God. Too often we want to say that was for Adam and Cain respectively and not for me. Yet the message of God continues through the old and the new Testaments, “Care for the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner.” Who does Jesus help, those who struggle to help themselves.

Jesus’ warning is to those who have held onto the blessing of God for themselves and not shared it with those around them that are hungry, are poor, are spoken poorly of because of Jesus. Jesus is saying that those who others have looked down upon, condemned forgotten about, also have a blessing from God. If we think about it a little more, it is when the two sides of this blessing meet that we see a fuller, deeper blessing that is truly life changing.

Unfortunately not everyone wants the deeper blessing of God. As much as this is a warning from Jesus for them, the blessings of this life is all they want. They condemn themselves because they deny Jesus, they deny God, they leave the grace and love of God on the table and say that they have all that they need, that this is all that there is. It is a sincere tragedy of their own making. Jesus warns us of what is to come and invites us not just into life here and now but life for eternity.