Luke 6:24

Luke 6:24, in plain English

But then came the warnings: 'Woe to you who are rich — you've already received all the comfort you're going to get.'

Why it's here

Jesus wasn't saying wealth is automatically evil. He was warning that when comfort becomes your god, you miss the real treasure.

Who's speaking

Jesus pivots from blessings to warnings, addressing the spiritually self-sufficient.

Where it sits in the story

It's a sobering word: if your comfort is only found in what you have now, what happens when it's gone? Jesus invites you to find security in something that lasts.

The scholarly reading

The first woe (ouai) targets the plousioi ("rich"), declaring they have already apechete tēn paraklēsin ("received their consolation in full"). The verb apechō was used in commercial receipts meaning 'paid in full.'

Language and setting

Luke's woes have no Matthean parallel, reflecting Luke's distinctive concern for wealth ethics. The 'consolation' language echoes Israel's messianic hope (Luke 2:25), implying the rich have settled for a counterfeit comfort.

Voice

Jesus pronounces the first of four woes, targeting the wealthy.

Significance

The woes mirror the beatitudes in reverse: wealth, satisfaction, laughter, and popularity — the world's blessings — become spiritual liabilities when they substitute for dependence on God.

22Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.

23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.

24But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

25Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

26Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.

Read all of Luke 6 — Blessed are the poor; woe to the rich. Jesus delivers his version of the great sermon and demands a love so radical it includes your enemies.