right off that bat, it must be stated that the bible never says ‘cursed are the rich.’ it often says woe to them, but never are they cursed.

anyways, grant has been doing a lot of questioning of things that we accept without question and this has pushed me in the same direction. the question for today is… why is there woe to the rich? i know that Jesus says that it is very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, but difficult and impossible are not the same thing. and i know that when asking a question of God, it’s rare that the answer is as simple or easy as we think. i think i found another piece to this particular inquiry while i was reading the pilgrim’s progress by john bunyan.

[for, as i have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. their destiny is destrction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. but our citizenship is in heaven. and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Chrsit, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.]
- philippians 3.18-21

woe is to the rich because they want for nothing. they see no need for a Savior because in their minds they can save themselves (if they even realize that they need to be saved). if their God is their appetite and then it’s probably pretty easy to appease him because they have the means to do so.

but blessed are the poor because they have nothing earthly to satisfy themselves. they have no means of meeting their needs other than Christ himself. they genuinely want God’s kingdom to be brought to earth because it will be better than anything that is here now. they consider themselves true citizens of heaven because that citizenship is much more valuable than being a citizen of any earthly kingdom.