Luke 6:24-26 - Woes

Luke 6:24-26 (NRSV)

“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.

Different also from the Sermon on the Mount, is that here in Luke (at the Sermon on the Plain), in addition to blessings, Jesus includes "woes."

The question always for me when I read these is this: are these woes like curses, where Jesus is saying "IF you are rich or full or happy, THEN you will be cursed with sadness."

OR...

If Jesus saying not to hold onto those blessings as THE blessings.

Don't imagine being rich or full or happy is what you deserve.

Because sadness ultimately comes to everyone.

We have a tendency perhaps to think blessings are our reward. Or what we deserve.

Or the culmination of effort and hard work.

But maybe Jesus is saying that the blessings from God are much more and much richer and much deeper than anything we can conceive of.

Certainly more than wealth or feasting or happiness.

And we lose out on the fullness of God's blessing when we think otherwise.

Lord, show me how your blessings exceed anything I can imagine. Amen.