John Calvin Commentary Luke 6:24

"But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation." — Luke 6:24 (ASV)

Woe to you that are rich. As Luke has related not more than four kinds of blessings, so he now contrasts with them four curses, so that the clauses mutually correspond. This contrast not only tends to strike terror into the ungodly, but to arouse believers, that they may not be lulled to sleep by the vain and deceitful allurements of the world. We know how prone men are to be intoxicated by prosperity or ensnared by flattery; and for this reason, the children of God often envy the reprobate when they see everything go prosperously and smoothly for them.

He pronounces a curse on the rich — not on all the rich, but on those who receive their consolation in the world; that is, who are so completely occupied with their worldly possessions, that they forget the life to come. The meaning is: riches are so far from making a man happy, that they often become the means of his destruction. Otherwise, the rich are not excluded from the kingdom of heaven, provided they do not become snares for themselves or fix their hope on the earth, so as to shut the kingdom of heaven against them. This is finely illustrated by Augustine, who, in order to show that riches are not in themselves a hindrance to the children of God, reminds his readers that poor Lazarus was received into the bosom of rich Abraham.