THE PARABLE OF THE ASTUTE STEWARD (16:1-13). Jesus now tells a parable about an astute but careless estate manager who is failing to do his job properly. It is reported that he is ‘wasting' his lord's goods by his carelessness, not misappropriating them. When he is told that he is to be replaced, a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said also to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man, who had a steward, and the same was accused to him that he was wasting his goods.” ' Note that the direct recipients of the parable are the disciples. The message it contains is therefore primarily for them. The story opens with the... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Render the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' ” The landlord thus calls for him to come to see him and explains what he has heard about him. Then he tells him that he is intending to replace him a... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the steward said within himself, What shall I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the stewardship from me? I do not have the strength to dig, to beg I am ashamed.” This makes the estate manager consider his position. He realises that he is not capable of manual work, and he certainly does n... [ Continue Reading ]
“I am resolved what to do, so that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.” And then the brainwave hits him. He feels that he has discovered a way out of his dilemma. We should note that the circumstances are very much against what follows being seen as actuall... [ Continue Reading ]
“And calling to him each one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe to my lord?' And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, ‘Take your bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty'.” The first debtor he approaches admits to owing a hundred measures of oil... [ Continue Reading ]
“Then said he to another, And how much do you owe? And he said, A hundred baths of wheat. He says to him, Take your bond, and write fourscore.” The next debtor admits to owing a hundred kors of wheat, another large quantity, so the estate manager takes the same tack and on this occasion only offers... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the lord commended the unrighteous steward because he had done wisely, for the sons of this world are for their own generation wiser than the sons of the light.” It is impossible to be certain whether ‘the lord' refers to his master (as it does in Luke 16:3), or to Jesus (see Luke 18:6 for supp... [ Continue Reading ]
“And I say to you, Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness, that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” Jesus then presses home the point that like the estate manager they should use wealth at their disposal to make friends, but in their... [ Continue Reading ]
a “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, b And he who is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much. b If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, c Who will commit to your trust the true riches?” b And if you have not been faithful in... [ Continue Reading ]
“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Jesus then caps His arguments with a final statement. All this is true because no one can serve two masters. Anyone who has t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things; and they scoffed at him.' The Pharisees scoffed at His ideas (literally ‘turned up their noses at Him'). When Luke says that it was because they were ‘lovers of money' he does not necessarily mean that they were greedy, although n... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS REPLIES TO THE MOCKERY OF THE PHARISEES DIRECTED AT HIS IDEAS ABOUT WEALTH (16:14-18). The Pharisees had been listening in to his advice to His disciples and they derided Him. For in their eyes having wealth was a good thing. Some of them were wealthy, and others of them coveted wealth. But b... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said to them, “You are they who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts, for that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” Jesus recognises that their derision goes to the very heart of what is wrong with them. They have built up a theolog... [ Continue Reading ]
“The law and the prophets were until John, from that time the Good News of the Kingly Rule of God is preached, and every man enters violently into it (or ‘every man is overpowered by it').” Their next major failure lay in their having failed to recognise God's intervention in history. They professed... [ Continue Reading ]
“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle of the law to fall.” But all this does not mean that the Instruction of God (the Law) has been superseded, for nothing in that Instruction can fail. Heaven and earth will pass away before that can happen. Every last letter or... [ Continue Reading ]
“Every one who puts away his wife, and marries another, commits adultery, and he who marries one who is put away from a husband commits adultery.” For God's Instruction says that every man who puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery. And that anyone who marries a divorced person comm... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day,' The story opens with the picture of a man who according to Pharisaic teaching was a man blessed by God. He was wealthy, he dressed in the most sumptuous of clothing, he ate at a well-fille... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS (16:19-31). This story deals with two aspects of what has gone before, the danger of possessing riches and not using them rightly, and the danger of ignoring God's true Instruction. Jesus will point out that if only the rich man had heeded the Instruction given by Moses and... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And a certain beggar named Lazarus was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores.' There was also a beggar. He was probably a semi-invalid for he was ‘laid' (the root of the verb means ‘t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And it came about that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom.' And one day the beggar died, the end that awaits us all, including the rich man. And from that moment on there was a great change, for Lazarus was now no longer the poor destitute at the gate,... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the rich man also died, and was buried, and in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and sees Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.' The rich man also died, and was buried. What a splendid funeral he had. People probably talked about it for months afterwards. A sumptuous feast,... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he cried and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.” ' This anonymous rich man who had needed nothing on earth, now cried out because he had nothing, and was in a state of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But Abraham said, “Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in the same way evil things, but now here he is comforted, and you are in anguish.” ' ‘Son.' Abraham recognises his kinship. He is a son of Abraham, but it does him no good (compare Luke 3:8). The Phar... [ Continue Reading ]
“And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.” The further point, vividly put, is that the moment that this life is over, destinies have been determined. There can... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said, “I pray you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” ' Again this is not to be taken literally. Talking about the rich man as still having some good about hi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But Abraham says, “They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.” ' Abraham points him, and all who hear, to Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. They are the means by which God speaks to the world. No reference is made to Jesus. The poignant emphasis is on the fact that the Pharise... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said, “No, father Abraham, but if one go to them from the dead, they will repent.” ' The rich man was a typical Jew. He believed in being given wonderful signs. He was not alone. The Jews were always seeking signs. And the reason for this was because their past history had been full of signs... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead.” ' So Jesus tells him that if they will not listen to the word of God through Moses and the prophets, they will not listen even if one rises from the dead. This was prophetic... [ Continue Reading ]