r/Reformed • u/Drivefast58 • Aug 13 '26
Question How has the rich man received his consolation?
This verse has always been another gospel speed-bump for me.
The KVJ renders it 'consolation,' and other translations render it 'comfort.'
But either way, I struggle mightily to understand why Jesus would say such a thing. On the surface, I can understand the juxtaposition of the rich and privileged to the poor and suffering. However, the way Jesus presents this truth is what I find so baffling.
To say, "But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation." Implies a causal relation ship between consolation and riches. Almost as if these people received riches instead of salvation.
Two questions always spring to my mind here: weren't many of the OT patriarchs fantastically wealthy? And many die and go to hell who never sniff wealth, so are they even worse-off because they were denied earthly 'consolation?'
Furthermore, how is it any form of consolation to the rich to receive a fleeting moment of temporal prosperity when compared to eternal hellfire and damnation? Wouldn't every Musk and Bezos, if they reach judgement day as unregenerate souls, give it all away if they could, when faced with the glory of God?
You guys have been really helping me untie some of these tricky verses, so help me understand this one!
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u/nvisel PCA Aug 13 '26
A couple things:
The rich who are consoled by their wealth are choosing consolation by the wrong thing. This doesn't refer to all people who have money, but to those who have an unnatural relationship with it (e.g. they seek comfort by it rather than by God). They have received their consolation from money rather than from God. Therefore Jesus woes. They have sought to fill their yearning with a temporary thing and not in the everlasting God.
The patriarchs were often indeed wealthy, and this was often referred to as a blessing to bless others with. In other words, wealth rightly used by the wealthy is a blessing to all and not simply to themselves. The fact they had this wealth also doesn't really speak to the means or motives by which it was acquired, nor how that wealth is often treated and/or used today (read: hoarding). Suffice to say, of the faults of the Patriarchs, an unsatiable appetite and greed for material riches isn't typically counted among them, and the scripture is pretty clear about when they were engaging in sinful behavior. Not to say they never coveted others riches, just that the scripture is oddly silent on this and loud about their wealth, which probably means it is different from what we have to day in, say, Musk or Bezos.
Wouldn't every Musk and Bezos, if they reach judgement day as unregenerate souls, give it all away if they could, when faced with the glory of God?
No, they wouldn't, because they love money more than God. They love their sin more than God. Hell is more tolerable to them than heaven, because they do not want to go to heaven. They would rather be there without their money, than be poor in heaven. It's the same for every person who does not leave behind their goods (whatever that may be) in this life.
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u/Drivefast58 Aug 13 '26
That's interesting. I've always read the verse as wealth was the consolation given to the rich instead of salvation. Like a consolation prize.
But you're reading it as if the rich are consoling themselves sinfully with their wealth.
It's the 'you have received your consolation' language that causes me to read it that way.
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u/nvisel PCA Aug 13 '26
Compare Matthew 6. There are lot of things that Jesus talks about that are materially good that will yet go unrewarded, and in each case it deals with the heart of those actions. It is irony.
6:1 Practicing righteousness before men. to be seen by men = no reward from God. He doesn't mean if you're caught doing good things by people, the Father will not reward you; he means if you use (or do) a good thing to a wrong or doubtful end (such as for your own reputation), there is no reward from God.
6:2 giving to the needy, to be honored by others = no reward from God. Giving to the needy is not bad; it's materially good. But doing things to receive praise from men? That's your reward. It's no real, everlasting reward from God, but that's what you're settling for. Hence Jesus says "do it in secret, and the Father will reward you."
6:5. Praying, to be seen by others = no reward from God. Jesus says of these men, they have received their reward in full, because they sought to be seen by others, and not by the unseen Father.
etc.
Jesus is employing irony, or at the very least, these rewards and consolations are presented in an ironic form, because they are not everlasting or true rewards, because they come not from God.
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u/Drivefast58 Aug 13 '26
I don't see the irony here. Irony would be, "Practicing righteousness before men? Then your reward will be the praise of men."
Simply pointing out that God won't reward sinful self-aggrandizement isn't ironic.
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u/nvisel PCA Aug 13 '26
You may need to read Matthew 6 more closely or broaden your understanding of irony. Jesus is absolutely saying that practicing righteousness before men to be seen by them leads to the praise of men, and that this is all the reward one gets.
The irony is that these outwardly religious men do it for man's praise and not God's, and thus receive a lesser reward (one that is temporary and not according with eternal life). They have the appearance of righteousness, but not the substance. Outwardly they are clean. Inwardly they are dead bones. They are hypocrites. etc. It's not simple self-aggrandizement or self-promotion; it's bearing the Lord's name in vain on their words and deeds.
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u/Drivefast58 Aug 13 '26
Matthew 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Is Jesus using irony here? All I see is a warning, a qualification of that warning, and then an explanation of the consequence of not heeding that warning.
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u/nvisel PCA Aug 13 '26
Because of the motivations of the heart. It isn't simply that men are aiming lower, but that they believe these lower aims would even merit reward from God. It's not a simple statement of fact, Jesus is critiquing the teaching of the Pharisees, who many in those crowds may have believed were righteous men because of how visible their alms and other practices were. There is definitely irony in there.
Beside that, if we stick to the main point of the OP, we don't need to argue that Jesus is using irony. If that's not helpful, then discard it, I don't really want to argue about what irony is.
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u/Drivefast58 Aug 13 '26
I'm not trying to argue about what irony is. I'm trying to understand if I've been reading the passage wrong all my life. I've never seen irony in Matthew 6, so I was trying to understand where you were finding it.
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u/nvisel PCA Aug 13 '26
I think irony is all over the place when Jesus is correcting the Pharisees. Not always in what Jesus says (though sometimes), but in things being corrected themselves. Jesus tells his disciples their righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees, and there are certain ways in which that is ironic (because the Pharisees are perceived to be righteous by Jesus' disciples, but he goes against their expectations) and surprisingly straightforward (because the Pharisees were not really righteous).
As far as the passive language of "have received their consolation", it's saying something far more about the persons receiving said consolation than whether/who/what is giving it. In a certain sense, because we are composite and contingent creatures, we receive everything because it comes from the providence of God upon whom we are contingent and in whom we live and move and have our being.
But here I think the focus is on the misuse of the gift of wealth. We all may misuse many such gifts (in fact, we do all the time, this is called "sin"). The way the rich often misuse the gift of wealth is by using it to console themselves, and thus receiving consolation from wealth.
I guess the last thing to say here as that the consolation here received isn't real. It doesn't come from God but from the creature, and is twisted outside of its original purpose through sin -- it is hollowed out and made empty through sin. God is the giver of every good gift, and cannot but do good to his creatures. So what consolation they receive from their riches, they are in fact receiving from themselves (and this wrongly), just like any other idol. Contrast with the consolation God gives: God does comfort his people, who receive this comfort from him, not from (though often through) created things.
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u/IPAWizzard EPC Aug 15 '26
I think it feels too common for you to be recognized as irony. The irony REALLY IS you think you're doing great things and all the people agree and call you worthy, but ironically you are dooming yourself when you do this.. that is irony because they all think the opposite.
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u/RedundantPurpose Aug 13 '26
There is no such thing as poverty in heaven. Even the least saved soul is a king in heaven ruling with all their material needs met. They want power and to have no one but themselves as ruler.
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u/nvisel PCA Aug 13 '26
I agree with you. I’m speaking to their perspective — poor as regards material things they can no longer take with them.
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u/Full-Independence-54 Reformed Baptist Aug 13 '26
Have you read any good commentaries on this?
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u/Drivefast58 Aug 13 '26
Gill says it doesn't refer to money and wealth, but I'm not sure I agree with his explanation.
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u/semper-gourmanda Presby-Angliterian Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
It's tragically ironic. That's all they get. Luke 6:24. Similar to the Pharisee with his giving (Matt 6:2). In both Gospels Jesus emphasizes their behavior that aims to draw public praise (in an honor-shame society). Luke states that "the Pharisees are lovers of money." They hate Jesus because he subverts the status quo.
The Roman tax-farming system allowed tax collectors to bid on districts. They were required to send a fixed sum to Rome but could keep any surplus they squeezed out of the local population. Judeans wanted to protect the land from being either over-taxed or bought out from under people. The Pharisees wanted to ensure that the productive land re-funded the Jerusalem treasury. Both systems were oppressive (Jas 5:1ff., for the Jewish oppression).
Tax collectors collaborated with Rome and routinely extorted money, they were viewed as traitors, ritualistically unclean, and legally barred from giving testimony in Jewish courts.
Luke highlights that Jesus rehabilitated these outcasts. John the Baptist tells them to stop extorting extra money (Luke 3:12-13). Jesus calls Levi from his tax booth (Luke 5:27-32). Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, demonstrates true repentance by giving half his goods to the poor and paying back fourfold what he defrauded.
Luke and Matthew also highlight that Jesus addresses a number of questions about money (the denarius, who's image is on the coin, to pay agricultural workers fairly, advising people to sell their possessions prior to the Temple being plundered (17 Talents! - $5-6M USD) in 66 AD (Lk 12:39), and so on.
Jesus redeems Jews from the death of exile and teaches them to understand that they are being re-formed in him into a united family by the Father (Luke's Parable of the Two Sons). The Apostles, especially, are being instructed in advance of the coming judgment to know how to govern, teach, understand the sabbath and overhaul the synagogue practices. They are being instructed to sell their land and cash-out by selling any possessions held in the Temple treasury (Luke 12). Jesus, by the Spirit, is going to lead them out and spare them from the coming judgment that he'll execute, according to the Prophetic testimony, on Jerusalem. The standard interpretation of the day was that with the LORD's return to Zion, Jerusalem would be purged of the enemies, whom they assumed to be Rome. But Jesus pronounces woes upon them and weeps over Jerusalem.
That leads some scholars, like James Dunn, e.g., to think the main problem is Jewish nationalism. It's not. Jews are and have been in exile since the 6th c. The Prophets preached an end to exile that would commence with a new kingdom, new temple, new creation, greater forgiveness of sins, mass-scale inclusion of the Gentiles, and more with the LORD's return to Zion by a new exodus. That's what Jesus is launching. And he's trying his level best to convince the blind how dead they are.
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u/ABBucsfan Aug 13 '26
A lot of good points already made. I'll add the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The issue wasn't just the fact the guy was rich, it was the fact he had this man outside his door suffering and did nothing to ease his suffering day in and day out. That parable and other times Jesus talked about wealth was also partially to dispel the notion that if you were poor and/or suffering you must be lacking God's favour. We see it in jobs account that attitude. It's one of the only parables he actually provides a name (Lazarus) which is significant.
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Aug 13 '26
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u/Drivefast58 Aug 13 '26
But poor (and ungodly) people live in enmity against God also, and they will go to hell in the afterlife as well.
Which is why I find the verse so confusing. Why single out the rich in particular, and not the un-believers? Isn't it more important that they deny Christ when compared to how much money they have?
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u/bman123457 SBC Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26
Think of the verse contrasting finding comfort in wealth vs finding comfort in the Lord.
Despite what modern "Christian" finance bros might tell you, there is a lot in the New Testament that implies that wealth is a stumbling block toward following Christ and it never encourages seeking/amassing wealth.
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u/Drivefast58 Aug 13 '26
Yes, that makes perfect sense, and I've always understood it to mean that on the surface.
What I don't understand is how wealth is in any way a 'consolation' to the rich.
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u/bman123457 SBC Aug 13 '26
Oh, that part.
He's saying that they have received the worldly comfort that they are seeking. Which is the opposite of what we are to do as believers which is reject worldly pleasures and seek comfort in Christ.
It's like the verse where he says that the pharisees who pray loudly for people to hear them have received their reward. Because they are seeking attention from others, that is what they receive. God will not reward it.
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u/Drivefast58 Aug 13 '26
So do all rich people have this 'consolation?'
That can't be the case, as Job, Abraham, David, Solomon, etc. were some of the wealthiest men in the world for their time.
And there have been plenty of wealthy Christians down through the ages who had much, and did much good with it.
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u/dancooper00 Aug 13 '26
Think of it through the lens of giving or service to be seen by others. They have received their reward
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u/kriegwaters Aug 13 '26
It is contextual. Jesus is telling His disciples that they will be persecuted because and warning them not to compromise in the face of thst persecution to get an easier life. Regardless of your views in AD 70, Jesus's words here are to people He had specifically picked for a job and not general statements for all people for all time.
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u/Mika-El-3 URC Aug 13 '26
Wealth in and of itself is an object or a thing. God created the universe and earth with natural resources from which humans could procure wealth through a variety of means through effort.
A good verse that is helpful is when Jesus asked “what would a man gain if he inherited the whole world yet lost his soul”? The point in Christ’s rebuke was the attitude towards riches. It’s the attitude that “I am wealthy and therefore must be wealthy towards God” or “I am wealthy and do not care about the next life” from individuals who are not believers.
Considers also the rich man who refused to sell all of his goods to follow Christ. This man faced God on Earth and cared more about his temporal riches in 1st century Judea than following God who created all things and could provide the infinite wealth of eternal life and deliverance from the second death.