The parable of the unjust steward
16
📚And he also said to his disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager, and an accusation was made to him that this man was wasting 📖 his property. 16:1 The accusation was of mismanagement which had resulted in loss to the rich man.⚜
2 📚And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’
3 📚“Then the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking away from me this position of manager. I cannot dig. I am ashamed to beg. 4 📚I know what to do, so that when I am dismissed from the position of manager people will receive me into their homes.’
16:4 He determined to make friends who would help him in the future after he lost his job.⚜
5 📚So he called each one of his master’s debtors, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 📚“And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ 7 📚Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
8 📚“And the master commended the unrighteous manager, because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this world 📖 are more shrewd among their people than the children of light.
16:8 The master was not praising the manager’s dishonesty – he would have hated that. But he could not help seeing how cleverly the manager provided for the future. The Lord Jesus then makes a comment on this.⚜
9 📚“And I say to you, Make friends for yourselves through money, that unrighteous thing 📖, so that when it fails, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
16:9 Here Jesus gives the one lesson He wants us to learn from the parable. The people of light should use what they have of this world’s goods in a wise and spiritual way to help people. Later such people will welcome them in heaven. This does not mean that salvation and heaven can be gained by helping people financially (see Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6). It does mean that we can lay up treasure in heaven and meet people there whom we have helped on earth (compare Matt 6:19-21; 25:34-40; Ps 112:5-6, 9; Heb 6:10).⚜
Jesus speaks of faithful service
10 📚He who is trustworthy in very little is trustworthy also in much, and he who is unrighteous in very little is unrighteous also in much.
16:10 Lest anyone should think He was commending dishonesty in the above parable the Lord Jesus sets forth this exceedingly important principle. A person’s character is revealed in small things as well as in large. See how the Lord applies this in Luke 19:11-26; Matt 25:21-23. And all of us are being tested and revealed by what we do with money. Some Christians seem to think that if they believe the right doctrines it is all right for them to cheat, lie and swindle others. This is totally false and dangerous thinking. If dishonesty rules a person’s life, can we really think that person knows and loves the Lord Jesus who is the Truth (John 14:6)? Loving Jesus surely means loving truth also. The Lord demands absolute honesty and faithfulness in whatever He puts in our hands (1 Cor 4:1-2). The believer’s whole future position in God’s kingdom depends now on this factor. Very terrible will be the future loss of those who are dishonest and unfaithful in money matters now.⚜
11 📚Therefore if you have not been trustworthy in the matter of money, the unrighteous thing who will entrust the true riches to you?
16:11 True riches are spiritual riches, eternal riches, riches of God’s kingdom. The one who entrusts, or does not entrust, them to us is God.⚜
12 📚And if you have not been trustworthy in what belongs to another, 📖 who will give you what could be your own?
13 📚“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money”.
16:13 Notes at Matt 6:24. Here in Luke the subject is a wise use of worldly goods and faithfulness. There is only one way to be faithful and wise and that is to make God the master of one’s life and to reject money as the master.⚜
14 📚And the Pharisees also, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they scoffed at him.
16:14 These Pharisees, like many men today, instead of learning from the Son of God, sneered at Him. Money was their master, and they were deceived into thinking it was a good one. Money is a good servant but a bad master. The love of it leads to destruction and ruin – 1 Tim 6:6-10.⚜
15 📚And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
16:15 See Luke 10:29; 18:9; Matt 6:1-2, 5, 16. It is surprising that men think they can do anything and think anything they like, and God will not know it (Ps 10:11; 64:5; 73:11; 94:7-11). In the last words of this verse we have another principle which will be true as long as the world is occupied by sinful men. God despises what they think is great. Here the subject is the love of money – an attitude that God hates – but the principle applies to many other things highly regarded by men in general.⚜
16 📚“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. From that time the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone is forcibly pressing into it. 17 📚And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one pen stroke of the Law to fail.
16:17 Compare Matt 5:17-18.⚜
18 📚“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.
16:18 Matt 5:31-32. Jesus gives an example of the continuing force of God’s law. It is very likely that many of the Pharisees had put away wives and married others. That may be the reason Jesus spoke these words here.⚜
The illustration of the rich man and Lazarus
19 📚“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and delighted in luxury every day.
16:19 In the following verses the Lord Jesus gives a powerful illustration to emphasize the truth He had already taught. It sums up much of Christ’s teaching on the rich and poor. “A certain rich man” represents those who have not been faithful in using what God has given them (v 13), have loved money (v 14), and have highly valued what is detestable in God’s sight (v 15). This rich man was guilty “every day” of using for himself the wealth that God had enabled him to have. This was misusing it. And he had no desire to help the poor (v 21).⚜
20 📚And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus who was laid at his gate, covered with sores,
16:20 This is not, of course, the Lazarus of John 11:1-44.⚜
21 📚and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.
16:21 Lazarus was utterly destitute, but the rich man did not lift a finger to help him. In this way he showed his selfishness, hardness of heart, and contempt for God’s Word which speaks everywhere of helping the poor (Lev 19:10; Deut 15:7-8; Ps 41:1; 82:3; 112:9; Prov 19:17; Mark 10:21).⚜
22 📚“And it happened that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels 📖 into Abraham’s 📖 bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. 23 📚And in hell 📖 he raised his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 📚And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame. 📖’
16:24 He who showed no pity now asked for pity. But he did not receive any mercy (Matt 5:7; 7:2; Ps 18:25-26; Gal 6:7). Observe that after death the rich man (as well as Lazarus and Abraham) was conscious. The soul does not sleep at death, only the body.⚜
25 📚“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted, and you are in agony.
16:25 There is going to be a great reversal of things after death and after God judges the world.⚜
26 📚And besides all this, between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, so that those who would cross over from here to you cannot, nor can those who are there cross over to us.’
16:26 The state after death is irreversible, and there will be no getting out of the place of punishment. Compare Matt 25:46. Observe that Jesus’ teaching in this story is contrary to the idea of reincarnation. See also Job 11:12; John 3:3; 9:3; Heb 9:27. After people go to the realm of the dead, they are never again reborn on earth – their spirits remain there until the resurrection of their bodies (John 5:28-29).⚜
27 “Then he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, 28 📚(for I have five brothers) so that he can testify to them, so that they too will not come to this place of torment.’
16:27-28 Those in Hades may desire the salvation of relatives on earth, but their requests for them will not be answered.⚜
29 📚“Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets 📖. Let them hear them.’
30 📚“And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
16:30 This is a vain hope, as Abraham says in the next verse. People’s sinful hearts and unbelief are not so easily overcome.⚜
31 📚“And he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
16:31 People who had refused to believe God’s word were not convinced even when the Lord Jesus Himself rose from the dead (Matt 28:11-15). It is not signs and miracles that men need, but hearts made humble and believing and obedient (Matt 5:3-8).⚜