Jesus’ Ministry
February 17, 2019
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:17-26
‘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
I have read the entire Bible through a couple of times. Now, I am not suggesting that is the best way to study the Bible but when we first get started as young adults, we search for ways to understand our faith. It certainly was not a waste of time. I have continued to be a Bible student all my life using various means of study. That said, it never stops to amaze me how many times I read a scripture, a very familiar scripture like the one above, and see something I have never processed before. The last verse above was startling to me as I read it today. Perhaps it stood out because my software set it apart from the other section of the scripture.
We live in a world that speaks well of people because they are saying what we want to hear as the false prophets of old did. These people are very good at manipulating us as were the false prophets of old. They are the false prophets of our day. We ignore or rebuke people who speak the truth we do not want to hear.
Perhaps one of the greatest lies is the statement that, if the rich get richer the poor will eventually get rich too. It has never happened as far as I know in the history of the world, but it is one of the most common messages preached by false prophets. The very existence of wealth differences demands winners and losers. The other popular message is that cutting taxes puts more money back into the economy. When the truth is that all money spent goes back into the economy including our tax dollars. Most tax dollars are spent relatively quickly while many private dollars are invested and saved for later use.
In the scripture above, Jesus is encouraging us to recognize greed when it creeps into our hearts and minds and to fight against it before it destroys us.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we fall prey to the false prophets. Help us to see the better way of finding common ground for the Common Good. Amen.