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Luke 16
Luke 16 is divided into 3 parts:
Part 1—The Parable of The Unjust Steward
Verse 1
This man was so rich that he had no idea he was being ripped off.
Verse 2
The rich man is nice enough to give the steward time to prepare for giving
an accounting.
Verse 3
What shall I do?
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He should have asked himself this question before he decided to rip off
his master.
I cannot dig.
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Being a steward required brains, not brawn.
To beg I am ashamed.
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There is an element of pride here. He could beg, but having been in such
an illustrious position, begging is made unprofitable.
Verse 5
He makes a decisive move by calling people to him, he did not go to them.
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He inquires about how much they owe to his master.
Verses 6-7
He reduces all of the debts by as much as 50‰.
Verse 8
Verse 8 is a summary of verses 1-7 and the precursor to verse 9.
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Money is a very powerful but temporary tool.
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This steward has discovered how to use the power in money.
Why was he commended?
First it is important to realize that it is not Jesus who is commending
the unjust steward, it is the rich man who commends him.
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He is commended by his master because he had secured for himself a final
dwelling place by making friends using goods that were not his, but only
left in his charge.
For the children of this world....
This is Jesus’ comment on the above.
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Even though the children of the world (unsaved) do not operate in spiritual
wisdom they still live their lives more wisely than the children of light
(believers)
because they take advantage of opportunities to improve their status in
life.
Verse 9
Our instruction from Jesus.
We are supposed to make friends using goods and materials which have been
entrusted to us to make friends who will receive us into everlasting (eternal)
habitations.
When Ye Fail
When Jesus returns, the stewardship we now have will be taken away from
us
Verse 12
Cf. Matthew 25:14
Verse 13
You cannot serve both God and mammon.
The idea here is that we are supposed to be faithfully serving God by doing
what he has called us to do.
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If we are not doing what God has called us to do because we are too involved
with the acquisition of money then we are serving money.
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If we are not doing what God has called us to do because we do not have
the finances to accomplish it we are serving money just the same.
Part 2—Removing The Pharisee’s Stewardship
Verse 14
The Pharisees were covetous.
Heard all these things:
Do not assume that by “all these things” Luke means The things from the
parable of the unjust steward. “All these things” will take us all the
way back to Luke 15:11 and the parable of the Prodigal Son.
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A parable about the glories of entering into the kingdom of heaven.
Verse 15
The Pharisees found it more important to look good and righteous before
men than before God.
Verse 16
The law and the prophets:
The LAW was God to the Jews (John 8:41).
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If a Jew left the law or did not keep it, he was called a fornicator!
Every man presses into it:
The law was until John, but Jesus (who came after John) preached the kingdom
of God, and every man has to press into the kingdom.
Verse 17
Jesus knew what the Jews would have said after this, “To put away the law
is to commit adultery.” But God knew he could not just put the law away.
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Jesus preached the true use of money and goods in the kingdom of God. Jesus
was telling them that the law was going to be fulfilled.
Verse 18
Through the law, God was married to Israel.
God was freeing Israel, through the death of Jesus, to marry one who was
raised from the dead.
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God also freed Jesus to marry Israel.
Romans 7:1-4
Part 3—The Pharisee’s Faithfulness
This account begins much like the parable of the unjust steward, “There
was a certain rich man,” but that is the end of the similarity.
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The story of Dives and Lazarus speaks of the wrath awaiting those who will
not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Verse 19
A certain rich man:
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From the Latin we commonly call him Dives—a rich man
Clothed in purple and fine linen:
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He was dressed as was befitting a prince.
Fared sumptuously every day:
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He had more than enough for himself and those around him.
Verse 20
Open sores are painful and more loathsome to those around him.
Verse 21
Lazarus was forced, through circumstances, to beg food.
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Here it is plain that he was so physically destitute that he could not
take himself to beg, but was carried by others.
Verse 22
Lazarus was carried to Abraham’s bosom.
Dives was buried.
Verse 31
Jesus was going to rise from the dead, and these Pharisees would not even
then believe on him as the long awaited Messiah.
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