Q: #622. How may "woes" did Jesus pronounce while on earth, and what lessons can we learn from them?
By: Steve Shirley
A: The word used for “woe” in Greek is “ouai“, and it is defined by Strong’s as: “a primary exclamation of grief, an interjection used in denunciation (or judgment).” This word is used 47 times in the New Testament (41 times as: “woe,” 6 times as “alas” = all in Rev Ch. 18). Uses by Jesus are found in 31 verses.
Below, I am going to list each of these “woes,” followed by what lesson we can learn from them.
(Mt 11:21)(Lk 10:13) (2 woes) “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”
Lesson: There are degrees of punishment in Hell (Lk 12:47-48)(Jer 16:18)(Mk 12:40)(Mt 11:24)(Jer 17:18). For those who fail to repent after “clearly” seeing and hearing about Jesus, the punishment will be worse than for those who would have repented if they had been given the chance. In other words, we will be judged according to the opportunities we have been given.
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(Mt 18:7 [2 woes])(Lk 17:1)(NKJV) “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!”
Lesson: When you sin, it is bad. When you cause someone else to sin, it is worse.
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(Mt 23:13)(Lk 11:52)(NKJV) “”But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”
Lesson: Judgment will come to those who work tirelessly to discredit Jesus, and prevent others from entering into a personal, saving relationship with Him. (Lk 11:52) likens it to using a “key of knowledge” to lock (or shut) the door to the Kingdom of Heaven.
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(Mt 23:14)(Mk 12:40)(Lk 20:47)(NKJV) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”
Lesson: Punishment in Hell will be “greater” for those who take advantage of widows for financial gain, or who pray “long prayers” in order to draw attention to themselves (to make themselves look “holy”).
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(Mt 23:15)(NKJV) “”Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
Lesson: Judgment will come to those who work diligently to win a convert to their “religion,” but the “religion” they are converting them to is not Bible based, but man’s opinion based (think Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses today). (See: Rom 10:2)
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(Mt 23:16)(NKJV) “”Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ “
Lesson: All things in heaven belong to God, and all things on earth belong to God. Therefore, if you swear an oath by anything, you are swearing to God, and God expects you to keep that oath (Mt 5:33-37). (***Note: It is better not to swear an oath. “Let your Yes, be Yes, and your No, be No” – Mt 5:37.)
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(Mt 23:23)(Lk 11:42)(NKJV) “”Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”
Lesson: You are a hypocrite if you diligently focus on obeying God in minor things (i.e. tithing), but you neglect to obey God in the major things (justice, mercy, faithfulness – MacArthur: the moral principles underlying all of the laws). (***Note: Notice Jesus does commend tithing here.)
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(Mt 23:25-26)(NKJV) “”Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. (26) Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.”
Lesson: You may look good to others on the outside, but if inside you are full of greed and self-indulgence, you are a hypocrite. Guzik: “Jesus did not call them to choose between outer righteousness and inner righteousness. He called them to be concerned with both, but to first address the inside. True outward righteousness starts on the inside.”
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(Mt 23:27-28)(NKJV) “”Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. (28) Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Lesson: You may look good and righteous to others (like a whitewashed tomb), but Jesus knows what is inside of you.
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(Mt 23:29-30)(Lk 11:47-48)(NKJV) “”Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, (30) and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ “
Lesson: The scribes and Pharisees said that if they had lived at the time of their forefathers, they never would have killed God’s prophets like they did. However, at the same time, they were plotting to kill Jesus (Mt 12:14)(Jn 5:18)(Jn 11:53), and would kill His disciples after he was gone (Mt 23:34)(i.e. James in Acts 12:2). This made them “hypocrites.” Be cautious of self-righteousness. Guzik: “We express the same thought when we think. “I wouldn’t have denied Jesus like the other disciples did.””
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(Mt 26:24)(Mk 14:21)(Lk 22:22)(NKJV) “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.””
Lesson: It would be better to not have been born than to reject Christ, and end up in Hell.
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(Lk 6:20,24) “And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. (24) But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. (“paraklesis” – “comfort” some versions).”
Lesson: The vast majority of those who are saved are the poor. They seek Jesus, and know they need Him (His “comfort / consolation”). On the other hand, the rich are rarely saved, since most feel they already have everything they need. Their money is their “comfort,” rather than Jesus (see: Mt 19:23-24, Lk 12:16-21). (Lk 16:25) “But Abraham said (to the rich man), “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus (the poor man) evil things; but now he is comforted (“parakaleo“), and you are tormented.”” (1 Tim 6:10) “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” Lay up your treasures in Heaven, rather than on earth (Mt 6:19-21).
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(Lk 6:21,25) (2 woes) “Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. (5) Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.”
*** (Mt 5:6) adds more clarity to (Lk 6:21), saying, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.”
Lesson: Those who “hunger and thirst” for God’s righteousness, will be filled. However, those who are “filled with themselves” (self-righteous) will always be “hungry.” Those who live a self-indulgent life of continual worldly pleasures (“who laugh now”), will one day “mourn and weep.” (Mt 5:4) “Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.” (Mourn now = “comforted” / mourn later = “will weep.”). (see: James 4:7-10)
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(Lk 6:22,26) “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. (26) Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”
Lesson: If you are sharing the Gospel, proclaiming Jesus, and standing upon God’s Word, many people are going to “hate” you. The Bible calls these people “the world.” Jesus said in (Jn 15:19)(NKJV) “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (also see: Jn 17:14-16, Mt 24:9). In other words, “all men (the world) will speak well” of those who teach things contrary to the Bible (false teachers / prophets), because they are a part of the world, and as such, “the world loves its own.” However, those same people will “hate” those who stand for Biblical truth, and lift up the name of Jesus. God proclaims a “woe,” upon them, but a “blessing” upon those who are hated.
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(Lk 11:43)(Mt 23:5-7) “Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.”
Lesson: God “HATES” pride! (Prov 6:16-19). It is sin (Prov 21:4)(Prov 16:5). “Pride goes before destruction” (Prov 16:18). Instead of being prideful, let us “be clothed with humility” (1 Pet 5:5), and remember that if we will humble ourselves, God will exalt us (Mt 23:12)(Lk 14:11), and give grace to us (James 4:6)(1 Pet 5:5).
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(Lk 11:44)(NKJV) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.””
Lesson: Under to the law, any person who came in contact with a grave was made “defiled” (“unclean”) (Num 19:16), even if that person came in contact inadvertently (i.e. because it was “unmarked”). Jesus compared the Pharisees to an “unmarked grave, in that people “without realizing it” were being “defiled” by coming into contact with them (“walking over them”). The lesson for us is to be careful as we are “walking” (in our “walk” with the Lord) to avoid contact with anything that might “defile” us (or make us “unclean”). This would include guarding against “religious people” (like the “Pharisees”) who might look good on the outside, but are corrupt on the inside (like a whitewashed tomb).
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(Lk 11:46)(Mt 23:4)(NKJV) “And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.”
Lesson: We are called to obey the commandments of God (Jn 14:15,21)(1 Jn 5:2-3)(1 Jn 2:3-5), but beware of those who those who try to “burden” you with acts of obedience that go beyond what the Bible calls for (i.e. manmade “traditions”). (Also see: Acts 15:10)
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(Lk 21:23)(Mt 24:19)(Mk 13:17)(NKJV) “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.”
Lesson: Many terrible things will occur during the future Tribulation upon the earth (described most fully in Matthew Ch. 24). The signs of it’s coming are being fulfilled right now (more here). We are told to expect His return at any moment, and to be prepared (Mt 25:1-13)(Mt 24:42-51)(Mk 13:32-37)(Lk 12:35-48)(1 Th 5:1-4)(Rev 16:15).
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In the OT, we also see a few “God woes” given to specific people groups that I think apply to us today:
(Isa 30:1)(NKJV) “”Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin.”
(Isa 45:9)(NASB) “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker…”
(Ezek 13:3) “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!”
(Hab 2:15)(NIV) “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!”
And, in closing, here are the “6 woes” of Isaiah against Israel in (Isaiah Ch. 5). (Again, broader application to us.)
(Isa 5:8)(NIV) “Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land.”
(Isa 5:11)(NKJV) “Woe to those who rise early in the morning, That they may follow intoxicating drink; Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!”
(Isa 5:18)(NASB) “Woe to those who drag wrongdoing with the cords of deceit, And sin as if with cart ropes”
(Isa 5:20) “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
(Isa 5:21) “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”
(Isa 5:22)(NKJV) “Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink”
***Interesting Note: “Woe” is not used in the Book of John.
SUURCE: https://jesusalive.cc/woes-of-jesus-and-their-lessons/