Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 5 Study # 6
November 4, 2007
Lincolnton, NC

• I. The Reason for the "Woe".
  • A. They "have received" their "consolation".
    • 1. The verb is present indicative active: you "are receiving...".
    • 2. The words have been taken by most to mean that what they were seeking, they had found in wealth.
    • 3. The words could be taken in another way: "ye are holding your consolation to a distance "; in other words, "you are using your wealth to keep from sensing your need and seeking a real solution for it."
    • 4. How can we tell which it might be? Interestingly Luke uses this verb four times in his Gospel and not at all in Acts. Three of those four times, his meaning is not much in doubt: he means to indicate a distance between two objects [Note 7:6; 15:20; and 24:13]. In conjunction with this usage of the verb, Luke also used the noun translated "consolation" six times in Luke-Acts (twice in Luke; four times in Acts). In the only other use in Luke, the reference is to "the consolation of Israel" for which Simeon devoutly waited (2:25). In Acts, Barnabas is called "the Son of Consolation" (4:36) by the apostles; the church had "rest" and were "walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort (this is our word) of the Holy Spirit" (9:31); Paul was extended the opportunity to bring a word of "exhortation" for the people (13:15); and the church in Antioch "rejoiced for the consolation" of the epistle that had been written by the church leaders in Jerusalem to confirm the Pauline message (15:31). When we put these "usages" together, we note that Luke never clearly used the verb to mean "receive" and he always linked "consolation" to the Truth and Spirit of God. Thus, it seems to be fairly clear that the translators determined to forsake Luke's typical usage in favor of maintaining a harmony with the parallel passages, written by other men, not Luke.
    • 5. The fact is this: the wealthy use their riches to fulfill their lusts so that they sense no "need" and that does two things; it both satiates their appetites and it keeps true consolation from ever happening. It seems that Luke decided to indicate the latter while Matthew, in his "they have their reward" (6:5 and 6:16) terminology, is indicating the former (though a case could be made that Matthew's words could be taken in the same way as Luke's: "they are holding their reward at a distance..."). Note that in the Matthean record of Jesus' words, there are no pronouncements of "Woe" associated with the proclamations of "Blessedness". Luke is the one who recorded this part of Jesus' sermon.
  • B. In the "blessed are you poor" statement of Luke 6:20, Jesus highlighted the fact that "poverty" had a direct connection to the qualification for the Kingdom of God. In that declaration is the linking of material poverty to the spiritual impact it can make: a sense of need. The "Woe" upon the wealthy is not because of their money but because of their numbing of any sense of need by its use. Self-indulgence is deadly.
• II. The Meaning of the "Woe".
  • A. "Woe" is tied to the presence, or approaching reality, of terrible circumstances.
    • 1. Sometimes those circumstances are "temporal" and eventually go away.
    • 2. Most often the term is used when the person under the "woe" is going to be dealt with justly by an angry God.
  • B. Most often, "woe" is tied to evil choices and actions and the consequences that are built into their down-line impact.
  • C. In this context, the "woe" is in direct contrast with possessing the Kingdom of God. That would automatically make it an eternal disaster.