Luke 16
The Parable of the Clever Steward
16:1 Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets.
Since the nation of Israel rejected the Messianic Kingdom and called Jesus demon-possessed, Jesus began to speak to the people in parables. A rich man was informed that one of his workers was wasting his assets.
16:2 So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your administration, because you can no longer be my manager.’
The manager was fired for wasting assets.
16:3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m too ashamed to beg.
The fired manager was looking for a new career. He did not want to perform manual labor. He did not want to beg.
16:4 I know what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.’
The fired manager went to the clients of his old manager.
16:5 So he contacted his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
Many of the clients owed debts to his manager. He contacted those in debt and offered them deals in which they could not refuse.
16:6 The man replied, ‘A hundred measures of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ 16:7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ The second man replied, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
The fired manager asked for fifty percent of the debt. This was theft. The clients were under the impression that they were paying off their debt to the owner.
16:8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries than the people of light.
The manager was dishonest. He was living in a dog-eat-dog world. He used his time and effort to build his own wealth and position in life. What is commended is his ingenuity in solving the problem, not his dishonesty in using unfair business practices. In this same sense of urgency, the believer should use the gifts that he has in this life for the service of God in order to assure rewards in heaven. Christians need to be more urgent in using their gifts for the kingdom of God.
16:9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal homes.
God does not need the believer’s money, because it belongs to God already. Therefore, believers are to use their worldly wealth to build the kingdom of God.
16:10 “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
God gives gifts to His children. God trusts His children to be honest and faithful with these gifts. Believers are not to be dishonest with the gifts that God gives to them.
16:11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches?
If believers cannot be trusted with worldly wealth, then God will not reward believers with true riches in heaven.
16:12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own?
If an owner trusts a lender with his own property, but the lender does not take care of it or appreciate it, then the owner will take the property away and not trust that person any more.
16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
A person cannot serve both God and money. He needs to either live for material things or live to serve God.
More Warnings about the Pharisees
16:14 The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him.
The Pharisees were prosperity preachers. They did not appreciate this kind of teaching.
16:15 But Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight.
Jesus was not a seeker-friendly teacher. He told the Pharisees that they were justifying themselves, but they were not justified by God. They thought that they were really something, but they were detestable in God’s eyes.
16:16 “The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it.
The Mosaic Law ended at John’s announcement. Jesus had been introduced by John the Baptist as the Messianic King of Israel who would establish the Millennial Kingdom. This was good news for Israel. They were all urged to enter into the Millennial Kingdom. However, the people were not interested in this type of kingdom, so they rejected Jesus and called Him demon possessed.
16:17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter in the law to become void.
Heaven and earth will pass away. The Millennial Kingdom will one day replace the present heavens and earth. After one thousand years, eternity will be established. The Millennial Kingdom world will be destroyed and replaced by the eternal order.
Although heaven and earth will pass away at least two more times, the Word of God will never pass away. The Word of God is the language of God. When God uses His language, then whatever He speaks is true and it will happen.
16:18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
Divorce was rampant in the Roman Empire. It was also rampant among the Jews. There were two different rabbinical teachings on divorce. The Shammai school taught that husbands could divorce their wives for almost any reason, including the burning of bread. The Hillel school taught that divorce could only happen for sexual immorality. Jesus did not quote from Shammai or Hillel. He quoted directly from the Word of God. The other gospel writers recorded more of the details of divorce. Divorce was disallowed except for adultery, unfaithfulness during the period of betrothal, or marriage between near relatives.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
16:19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
Jesus did not teach Lazarus and the rich man as a parable. He taught this incident as an actual historical event. Often times, liberals will teach this incident as an allegory, because they want to wish away the fires of hell.
16:20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 16:21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.
The rich man failed to take care of the poor during his earthly life.
16:22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
Jesus gave a supernatural look into death. When an Old Testament believer died, he was taken into Abraham’s bosom, which was the Jewish name for Paradise. At this time, Paradise was in the middle of the earth. The unbeliever was taken into a different compartment called hell.
16:23 And in hell, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side.
The Pharisees taught that Abraham saved all Jews from entering hell. Jesus taught differently. The rich man was sent to hell for rejecting God, not for neglecting the poor. He looked across from hell and saw Abraham and Lazarus enjoying themselves in Paradise.
16:24 So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this fire.’
Hell is a real place of extreme heat. The rich man called Abraham his father, meaning that he was Jewish. He asked Abraham to send Lazarus to him for some water. Unbelievers will experience thirst in hell, but there will not be any water in hell to quench their thirst.
16:25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish.
Abraham called him “child”, which was a name of affection. Abraham reminded the rich man of his choice on earth. The choice to reject God brought about eternal consequences.
16:26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’
There was a great chasm between Paradise and hell that no one could cross.
16:27 So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father – send Lazarus to my father’s house 16:28 (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’
Hell was such a terrible place that the rich man wanted Lazarus to go warn his five brothers.
16:29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’
The five brothers possessed the written scriptures. The written Word of God is all one needs to believe.
16:30 Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
The rich man believed that his five brothers would respond to God if someone was raised from the dead.
16:31 He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
Here is an important spiritual concept. The observance of miracles will not save anyone. If Jesus lit up the sky and showed His presence to everyone (which He will), then the unbelievers would still reject Him. The written Word of God is the only revelation that a man needs to come to Christ.