- Luke 16:1-9 This parable was spoken to the disciples to teach that they should use their wealth for the work of the Kingdom. The parable is an example of Jesus making a good point from a bad example. He was not insinuating that the disciples should be dishonest or deceitful. He was reminding them that a person needs to consider who truly owns all they had been given. And at some point in time the Father will ask them to give an account of how they utilized all He had given them. The rich man marveled that even this dishonest manager had the foresight to plan ahead; to insure a secure future.
- Luke 16:10-13 Following this parable, Jesus points out three things to His disciples.
2 If a person is faithful in their use of money, then they can be trusted with greater things. True Riches seems to imply the Spiritual Riches of God’s Kingdom.
3 One should use their wealth (Mammon), not store it up or be a slave to wealth. No one can serve both God and money (the word Money in verse 13 is actually the Greek word Mamona – Mammon. It is more accurately translated as Wealth – anything in our life which we treasure or worship). Love for money will actually drive someone away from God, both the individual and the people who associate with the individual. A Christian who has made something other than God their Mammon losses an opportunity to be an effective witness to the people of this world.
- Luke 16:14-15 Of course the Pharisees completely misunderstood the blessings mentioned in God’s covenant. Like Job’s friends, they apparently assumed that God blessed a person with wealth because they had lived such a righteous life. But what they failed to realize is that many righteous people mentioned in the Old Testament lacked material wealth, while many of the unrighteous people had plenty. So according to their standard, these Pharisees claimed they were righteousness, even though Jesus had just stated that no one can serve two masters. A person cannot hold on to wealth and hold on to God at the same time.
- Luke 16:16-18 These verses are tied together with the problem of self-justification which plagued the Pharisees. They felt they were righteous according to the standards by which they were willing to measure themselves. And according to their standard they were righteous. But Jesus makes an interesting point about God’s standard of righteousness. Some of these Pharisees took a loose view of divorce. If pressed, they would admit that a man should not commit adultery. But in order to get around that Law, many of the Pharisees said it was okay for a man to divorce his present wife for no good reason and marry the woman he wanted. In other words, to keep someone from committing adultery, the standards of divorce were lowered or ignored. However, as Jesus pointed out, this was a perfect example of justifying themselves in the eyes of men but not being justified before God.
- Luke 6:19-31 The story of the Rich man and Lazarus demonstrates that being rich does not mean a person is automatically righteous. But on a deeper level, we are left to wonder if this is a true story Jesus told to make a point or if it was simply an illustration. There are certain elements of truth found in this story. Indeed, those with closed minds and hearts would not believe, even after a man named Lazarus was raised from the dead (John 11:38-44). Nor did some of them believe when Jesus was raised from the dead. But what of Abraham’s bosom, the fire of torment, and the great gulf between them? Were these told to simply spice up the story, or are these accurate descriptions of something Jesus had seen for Himself? We must be careful that we do not take things out of context. Jesus didn’t preclude this story with “Heaven and Hell are like . . .” But we also need to consider that if this was an accurate description of what awaits us when we die, who else would know this truth better than Jesus. He is not prone to exaggerate or embellish the truth in other areas, so why would He here? I suspect that Jesus used this accurate description of what He had seen in order to drive home the point. As if He said to the Pharisees, “Let me tell you what I have seen and what I know happens once a person dies”. Erwin Lutzer wrote an interesting book surrounding this passage called One Minute After You Die. It’s a fascinating read that speaks of what endures when we die and what passes away. Without giving away too much from the book, let me just say that more endures death than many of us fully realize.
[1] Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1985). The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Lk 16:8). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
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