Luke 16: More teaching

• v.1-8 The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
• v.9-15 Jesus teaches on wise use of resources
• v.16-18 Additional Teachings
• v.19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus

v.1-15 The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

v.1 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.

v.2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

v.3  “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg—

v.4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

v.5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

v.6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

v.7  “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

v.8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.

[Note: Another story: a rich man with a careless manager who is held to account and wonders what to do. He called his master’s debtors in and reduced their debt by half and the master commended him.]

v.9-15 Jesus teaches on wise use of resources

v.9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

v.10-12 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

v.13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

v.14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.

v.15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.

[Note: Jesus taught use your material blessings for spiritual means. Trust breeds more trust so be trustworthy in how you use what you have. Beware, you can’t have split loyalty between God and materialistic prosperity. The Pharisees were upset over this and Jesus scolded them.]

v.16-18 Additional Teachings

v.16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.

v.17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

v.18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

[Note: Jesus taught, the Law reigned before John, but now the reality of the kingdom, and yet the Law is not abandoned, as seen in marriage requirements.]

v.19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus

v.19-26 There is a chasm after death that cannot be bridged

v.19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.

v.20,21 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

v.22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

v.23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.

v.24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

v.25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

v.26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

[Note: Another story: a rich man lived in luxury but outside his gate was a beggar. Both eventually died. In the post-death underworld, the rich man saw the beggar in heaven and pleaded for help but is told this is justice and now nothing can be changed.]

v.27-31 The fixed nature of unbelief

v.27,28 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

v.29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

v.30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

v.31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

[Note: The rich man asked, please tell my brothers of this then, and is told they already have the Law and the Prophets. But, he insists, if someone goes they will repent. No they won’t, he is told, even if someone rises from the dead they won’t be convinced.]

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: