Chapter BY Chapter

Luke 16 – Hearing the Law, the Prophets, and God

 

This passage is as follows:

 

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.  And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you?  Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’  And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me?  I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.  I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’  So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’  He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’  Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’  The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.  For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.  And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

 

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.  If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?  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.”

 

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.  And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.  For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.  But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

 

“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

 

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table.  Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.  And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’  And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house - for I have five brothers - so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’  But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’  And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’  He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

 

(End of passage)

 

This chapter starts off with, “He also said to the disciples.”  Is Jesus talking only to 12 disciples here?  This is a continuation from chapter 15, which starts off with, “Now all the tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to hear him.”  So is that all there were there – just 12 disciples and a few tax collectors and sinners?  Well, chapter 16, verse 14 says, “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things.”  So, just some Pharisees, a few tax collectors and sinners, and 12 disciples – is that all that were there?  Well, chapter 15 is a continuation of chapter 14, and chapter 14, verse 25 says, “Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them…”  So the great crowds that went with him would be his disciples.  So the great crowds that were his disciples, Pharisees, as well as tax collectors and sinners, were all there.

 

So here is Jesus speaking to his disciples.  Verses 1-13,

 

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.  And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you?  Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’  And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me?  I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.  I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’  So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’  He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’  Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’  The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.  For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.  And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

 

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.  If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?  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.”

 

What is the lesson that Jesus is teaching with this parable?  Some have proposed that the lesson is that the servant dealt shrewdly and that is a good quality since he was commended for that by his master.  Some say this meaning is justified because Jesus said, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”  Is this what Jesus meant by saying this?  Is Jesus saying that we should cheat to help others?  Certainly, cheating won’t help us get into the eternal dwellings.  We need to think of the whole context here.  Just a few minutes before, Jesus was telling the Pharisees that they should invite the poor, the lame and the blind to their dinners.  They should use their wealth to make friends of those people.  What does Jesus mean by using the term “unrighteous wealth?”  Does Jesus mean that the wealth was obtained wrongfully?  I think that Jesus just means here that wealth in and of itself is unrighteous.  If we have wealth, we should use it for good, not just let it sit there.  Using it to make friends will result in heavenly treasures.

 

What the master commended his servant for is not the lesson that Jesus is taking out of the story.  We know that it was just not right for this servant to cheat his master to begin with.  We know that it was just not right for him to cheat his master even more after he finds out that he is going to get fired from his job.  The master commends him for being shrewd, not for being moral.  Jesus gives us a whole paragraph of how he is teaching this lesson.  Jesus says, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”  Jesus is contrasting being faithful with being dishonest.  The servant in the parable was dishonest with a little to begin with, but he ended being dishonest with much.  Jesus is showing that if someone is centered on the money, he will be wrapped up in that and will continue to focus his life around money.

 

Now what if the servant had centered his life around being faithful?  He wouldn’t have had friends that owed him favors, but he wouldn’t have been fired in the first place.  And he would have had the true riches, that is reward from God for being faithful and doing right.  So the last thing that Jesus says here is his conclusion, “You cannot serve God and money.”

 

So, I wonder how the Pharisees, who were known to swindle widows out of their homes, felt about what Jesus was saying here.

 

Verses 14-17,

 

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.  And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.  For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.  But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

 

So how did the Pharisees react to this teaching?  They ridiculed Jesus.  I have noticed that when talking to non-Christians about Jesus that things will get to a point where they have been proven wrong, and then what do they do?  They make fun of me.  That is a typical reaction when they know that they are wrong, but can’t bring themselves to admit it.

 

How does Jesus respond to the ridicule of the Pharisees?

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1. First he points out that they justify themselves before men, but God knows their hearts.

2. Second, he points out that what is exalted among men is an abomination to God.Jesus just had a meal with these people where they all vied for the seats of honor.Jesus just got done explaining to them that they needed to give those seats of honor to the blind, the lame, and the poor.

3. Third, he tells them that the Law and the prophets were until John.What is Jesus saying here?

   • That the law and the prophets brought them along till the time that John the Baptist preached.

   • That they themselves had the knowledge of what was coming given to them through the Law and prophets.

4. Fourth, he tells them that since John the he good news of the kingdom of God is preached.What is Jesus telling them here?

   • That something new is in effect.The good news of the kingdom of God is here.If it is good news, then it must be here.Jesus often said that the kingdom of God is near or at hand.If it is at hand, we must be able to grasp it.

   • This must be the kingdom of God taught by the Law and the prophets.

5. Fifth he mentions that everyone forces his way into the kingdom of God.What does Jesus mean by this?

   • That people are trying to force themselves into the kingdom of God even when they don’t belong.

   • That the Pharisees are trying to force themselves into the kingdom of God.

6. Sixth, he says that it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot the Law to fail.What does Jesus mean by this?Is this the same thing as Matthew 5:18?

   • In Matthew 5:18, the Greek word “parelthA” is used in reference to a dot of the law, which means to pass away, or to disappear.

   • In Luke 16:17, the Greek word “pesein” is used in reference to a dot of the law, which means to fail.Some translations incorrectly translate this as “to become void.”They are equating this passage with the Matthew 5:18 passage.

   • Jesus is saying here that not one dot of the Law will fail to be accomplished.That is why the kingdom of God is being preached as GOOD NEWS!The Law is being accomplished, and it is being accomplished through Jesus Christ.

 

Next, Jesus says something very specific.  Verse 18,

 

“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”

 

Why did Jesus say this?  It seems to be off topic, and next he is going to tell a parable that seems to be directed at the Pharisees again.  Remember that the Pharisees had all these specific rules about what would constitute a good reason for divorce.  If your wife burned one side of your toast, that was not enough for a divorce.  But if your wife burned both sides of your toast, then that was it – that was cause for a divorce.  Jesus is still hitting on the Pharisees here.  Jesus reinforces the idea that God made one woman for Adam – and that was intended to be it for eternity!

 

Now let’s get back to the parables.  Verses 19-31,

 

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table.  Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.  The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.  And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’  And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house - for I have five brothers - so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’  But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’  And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’  He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

 

People often ask, “Does Jesus use the name of Lazarus in this parable because he raised a Lazarus from the dead?”  This parable was told before Lazarus was raised from the dead, but it is very likely that Jesus already knew Lazarus.  The Lazarus in the parable is apparently a lame beggar with leprosy.  There is no indication that the Lazarus that was raised from the dead was lame, a beggar, or had leprosy.  The Lazarus that was raised from the dead also had two sisters that were disciples of Jesus, Mary and Martha.  Mary was the one that anointed Jesus with oil. 

 

Jesus is using this parable to continue his criticism of the Pharisees.  At the dinner, Jesus said they should invite the lame, the blind, and the poor to their feasts instead of their best friends.  Now Jesus tells a parable about a beggar that was laid at the entrance to the rich man’s door, who wished to even get a crumb that fell from the rich man’s table, but was never given any attention.  In chapter 15, Jesus told the parable about the prodigal son, and there were many parallels between that parable and Jesus’ teachings.  What parallels can you find here?

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1. The beggar’s name is Lazarus, which means “God has helped.”There is no indication that God helped the rich man, who helped himself only.There is some indication that God helped the beggar, Lazarus, because the dogs came and licked his sores.

2. Jesus teaches that there is a heaven and a hell.Many people shy away from talking about it nowadays.If Jesus is who he said he was, we would expect him to warn us about hell if it was real.

3. Jesus teaches that once we die, there are no more second chances.The transition to our eternal destiny occurs as soon as we die.The rich man does not ask for a second chance.He can only ask to be comforted.

4. The chasm between heaven and hell are so great that no one can cross over.So, it is not like people can be punished in hell for a period of time, then get to go to heaven.

5. Jesus refutes the “prosperity gospel.”The rich man believed that his material wealth was evidence that he was loved by God, and the plight of Lazarus was evidence that he was cursed by God.Jesus is saying that the opposite is true.The prosperity gospel is deadwrong.God does not reward faith with material blessing, but with treasures in heaven.

6. If you were in hell, you would want to warn others so they won’t end up there.So this rich man wanted Lazarus to return from the dead to warn his brothers.There was a certain relative of mine that my Grandfather on my dad’s side witnessed to frequently.I witnessed this on one of our fishing trips.His response was to refuse the gift of salvation because his wife would never accept it and he wanted to go where his wife would go.When my grandmother on my mom’s side passed away, I was taxed to perform the service.I noticed that this certain relative was there, so I touched upon this passage as well.Later, he called me to tell me that he had accepted Jesus because of what I said at the funeral.

7. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the prophets.Earlier in this chapter, Jesus mentions that the Law and the prophets were until John.Since then the good news of the kingdom has been preached.Jesus is saying that he is fulfilling the Law and the prophets.Now, Jesus says, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”This is paralleled with the ministry of Jesus.When Jesus rose from the dead, they still did not believe, nor did they repent.Jesus is pointing out that the Pharisees, despite their claims, do not even believe Moses and the Prophets.Mic Drop!

 

We need to remember that the apostle that wrote, For those that love God, all things work out for good,” also was the apostle that was stoned and dragged out of the city for dead, beaten several times as punishment for preaching the gospel, had an infirmity so bad that he prayed every day for God to take it away, suffered many traveling hardships including a shipwreck and a snake bite, and ended up summarily executed for preaching the gospel.

 

When you are in the lowest valley, will you lift Jesus up high?

 

When your heart is heavy, will you still lift Jesus up high?

 

Song: “Yes I Will” by Vertical Worship