Jesus had a beef with the many of Jewish religious leaders of His time. In some cases these leaders were doing things or teaching things that were unnecessarily burdensome; in other cases they lacked integrity; in other cases they were violently opposed to everything God was doing in Jesus. In talking to his disciples about these leaders, he often used a unique word: “Woe!” “Woe to you when all speak well of you …!” (Luke 6:26) “Woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds; and neglect justice and the love of God…” (Luke 11:42) “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry….” (Luke 6:25). These “Woes” are teaching words for us today, pointing us to the way that Jesus calls us to love God and love others.
During the season of Lent, we will be taking a step back and trying to hear whatever Jesus might have for us in these “Woes” by imagining them as “Whoas!” We are going to take the time to listen to Jesus, who says in each of these statements, “Whoa! Stop where you are! Remember the things and the people that I value, and come back! Embrace those things that I value!”
Listen as Gabby Gustafson, one of our lay leaders at Midtown, preaches on the great reversal of Jesus' woe to the Pharisees in Luke 6, and how their insatiable desire for more ultimately caused them to miss the Kingdom of God in their midst.
