“The Cursed” (Luke 6:24-26)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/18/2026 9:43 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  “The Cursed”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 6:24-26

            Message of the verses: “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.  Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry.  Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”

            This section from John MacArthur’s commentary is much shorter than the section that spoke of “ The Blessed.”

            “The use of the strong adversative conjunction plen (but) indicates that the woes pronounced on those who reject Jesus Christ are in direct contrast to the blessings granted to His true believers.  The first woe was not pronounced on the materially rich. Being wealthy in and of itself is not sinful; Abraham, Job, Nicodemus, and Joseph of Arimathea were rich, and according to Deuteronomy 8:18 God grants the power to obtain wealth.  The rich in view here are those who imagine themselves to be rich in the spiritual realm, who think that their righteous deeds are sufficient to obtain salvation.  A prime example is the Pharisee in the Lord’s story, who ‘was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get’’(Luke 18:11-12).  The curse pronounced on them is that they are receiving their comfort in full in this life.  What awaits them in eternity is the comfortless, ceaseless torment of hell (cf. Luke 16:25).”

(cf. Luke 16:25)

25  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.”

            “The second curse is on those who are well-fed now.  These are the people who are totally satiated with their hypocritical self-righteousness.  Unlike those who hunger for a righteousness they know they do not have and cannot earn, they imagine that they have everything they need, and lack nothing.  The curse pronounced on them is that they shall be eternally hungry, experiencing the gnawing, never-ending hunger of a lost soul in hell.

            “The third mark of the cursed is that they laugh now.  Smugly content with their religious achievements and superficial morality, they happily contemplate the eternal bliss that they foolishly imagine awaits them in the eternal kingdom.  The sobering reality, however, is that while ‘many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,’ many who think that they are ‘sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness’ (Matt. 8:11-12).  In sharp contrast to the everlasting joy promised to the true disciple, ‘in that place [hell] there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’ (v. 12; cf. 13:42, 59; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28).

 

            “The final contrasting woe pronounced on the cursed is that of popularity.  Woe to you when all men speak well of you,’ Jesus warned, ‘for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.’  The Lord had earlier linked the unpopular true disciples to the true prophets; here He linked the false disciples to the false prophets. Refusing to acknowledge their spiritual poverty, arrogant self-righteousness, and baseless contentedness, the cursed enjoy the company of others, having their ears tickled by the deceitful lies of the false prophets (2 Tim. 4:3).  ‘An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land,’ God declared.  ‘The prophets prophesy falsely…and My people love it so!’ (Jer. 5:30-31).  Those who embrace their teaching will share the false prophets’ doom (cf. Jer. 14:14-15; 23:14-15, 25-34; Ezek. 13:9).

            “There are only two kinds of people in the world.  Christ’s true followers, the spiritually poor, hungry, sorrowful, and rejected, cry out to God for pardon and mercy through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  They are blessed with eternal riches, satisfaction, joy, acceptance, and reward.  In contrast, those who tell themselves are spiritually full, rich, happy, and accepted will be cursed with eternal poverty, emptiness, sorrow, and judgment.”

7/18/2026 10:16 PM