Blessings & Woes

Interesting how our societies use Scripture without context. The Beatitudes of Matthew 5 ¹ and Luke 6 ² are an example of applying text without context. ‘His disciples came to Him and He opened His mouth and taught them saying’ ¹ specifies this is taught to those committed to applying what He taught as part of the whole of His teachings and not as a stand-alone to suit their purposes.

Both Beatitudes, Matthew and Luke, include the contrast of blessings but then also woes. The blessings are all about the disciples who do not have it all in this world because of their priority in putting the Kingdom of God first while the woes address those who seek to have it all now. The ultimate comparison is what remains, is received, for eternity.

“You who are poor, yours is the kingdom of God” but “you who are rich have received your consolation” is blessing versus woe, perspective of valuing ‘now’ gratification against eternal fulfillment. ‘Rich’ appears blessed but only in the present.

Each couplet is a similar contrast between the temporal versus the eternal and while each woe begins with contentment—rich, full, happiness, prestige—the eternal state is vastly woeful. The ‘what you had is all you had’ remembers the past fulfillment while not being eternally full. Each group has that paradox. The Matthew teaching wraps up with the value judgment:

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” ³

Yes, Jesus did preach blessings but He also included the woes which are the eternal consequences of ‘grabbing all the gusto now’ as one’s priority. You can’t take it with you into eternity.