Luke Chapter Sixteen
Luke 16:1 “And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.”
- Jesus often addressed and/or taught His disciples (Matthew 5:1, Matthew 9:37, Matthew 11:1, Matthew 13:36, Matthew 16:13, Matthew 16:21, Matthew 19:23, Matthew 20:17, Matthew 24:1-3, etc.).
- Even with the public and private teaching, they had more to learn than Jesus would be able to teach them while He was with them (John 16:12-13).
- At this point in time, the disciples had already heard some cautionary teaching regarding “a certain rich man” (Luke 12:13-21) as well as having been taught that the rich had received their consolation (Luke 6:24).
- They had also received, at this point, some teaching regarding being a faithful and wise steward (Luke 12:35-48).
- It is expected that a steward will be faithful (I Corinthians 4:1-2).
- Think about the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).
- Think about “wasted” from the aspect of what we saw in the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:13). The difference here is, what was wasted did not belong to the steward.
- When you are trusted with someone else’s goods and you waste them… (Titus 2:9-10).
- Think about Gehazi and Judas (II Kings 5:1-27 and John 12:1-6).
Luke 16:2 “And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.”
- The certain rich man had heard something about what his steward was doing (cf. I Corinthians 1:11, I Corinthians 5:1, and I Corinthians 11:17-18).
- He gave him the opportunity to account for his stewardship (Proverbs 18:13).
- The man’s job is at risk. Such is expected on various levels (Proverbs 14:35).
- One who has expectations feels disappointed by the one who is living up to such. Think about how Paul felt towards the Galatians (Galatians 4:20).
- Think about elders [bishop] who are stewards of God (Titus 1:7).
Luke 16:3 “Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.”
- The steward examined his situation. Like we talked about two chapters ago, one should always consider costs (Luke 14:28-32).
- The steward, for whatever reason, thought himself incapable of digging (cf. Luke 13:6-9). Whether lazy or not, he did not feel the capability of manual labor.
- If he is just a lazy man… Proverbs 19:15, Proverbs 21:25-26, Proverbs 24:30-34, and II Thessalonians 3:10
- He thought begging to be shameful. That could be for good reasons (Acts 20:34-35) or it could be that he considered begging a huge step down from his current position (Proverbs 14:20).
Luke 16:4 “I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.”
- Facing termination, the steward came up with a plan. He is going to make friends in high places [so to speak; for they are really in lower places; in debt] (Proverbs 18:16 and Proverbs 19:6).
Luke 16:5-7 “So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.”
- Think about the love this gains (Luke 7:41-43).
Luke 16:8 “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”
- Remember the goal of the unjust steward (Luke 16:4).
- What has he done? He has provided for his well-being wisely (Proverbs 6:6-11, Proverbs 13:4, Proverbs 19:15, Proverbs 20:4, and I Thessalonians 4:11-12).
- People of the world deal better with people of the world than those in Christ can/do (John 15:19).
- People of this world can “network” in ways saints cannot (James 4:4).
- This is not teaching that saints should use worldly wisdom (I Corinthians 3:18-19).
Luke 16:9 “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”
- This is a difficult verse. The verses before and after don’t help.
- Jesus is talking to His disciples (Luke 16:1).
- Is He telling them to serve earthly wealth? NO, (Matthew 6:24-34)!
- Read down a little further (Luke 16:13).
- So, what does this mean? What can it mean? Consider it’s meaning being the opposite of preparing a pay back system on earth (Luke 14:12-14).
- The reward here is everlasting habitations, not earthly homes (Psalms 41:1, Proverbs 22:9, Proverbs 28:27, Matthew 19:21, and I Timothy 6:17-19).
Luke 16:10 “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”
- This is a great statement by Jesus. One can faithfully go many directions with this statement. In context, the least is the unrighteousness mammon (Luke 16:11). There is another Parable that illustrates the contextual point made here (Luke 19:11-27).
- For the disciples, would it be better for them to give or to receive (Acts 20:32-35, I Corinthians 9:1-18, and Galatians 2:9-10)?
- In other applications, consider how that you can tell a person’s dedication, etc. based on how they carry out carnal things. Looking at how one handles things smaller in comparison to the greater (cf. I John 4:20).
- If someone cannot manage something smaller, why would you trust them with greater responsibility (I Timothy 3:1-7)? *Specifically, the principle in I Timothy 3:4-5
- Think about temperance [self-control] (Galatians 5:22-23). If one cannot control themselves in the least, what about the greater?
- Think about laziness (Proverbs 24:30-34; cf. Hebrews 6:12).
Luke 16:11 “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”
- What about those that would have respect of persons regarding wealth (James 2:1-13)?
- Specifically, regarding the disciples, what about Judas (John 12:1-8)?
- What about those who are lazy regarding material things that impact them immediately (Proverbs 6:6-10, Proverbs 10:26, Proverbs 12:27, Proverbs 15:19, Proverbs 18:9, Proverbs 21:25, and Proverbs 24:30-34)? Would you trust one who cannot handle those things which immediately impact one with riches that have blessings in heavenly places (cf. Ephesians 1:3)?
- So, Jesus is trusting the disciples to carry His true riches (II Corinthians 4:1-7 and Ephesians 3:8) to the whole world (Mark 16:15-16). They have this point of examination to consider.
Luke 16:12 “And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?”
- Think about the Parable of the Talents here. Therein, men are given that which they have not labored for and are only expected to be stewards (Matthew 25:14-30).
- What if you have to handle it all from start to finish? If you cannot be a steward with lesser responsibilities, how can you handle it all on your own? If an employee under oversight fails, how could he start is own business?
- The two masters in this context are God and mammon. Mammon is in reference to wealth (Strong’s # 3126). You cannot serve both God and wealth (Matthew 6:24).
- God’s warnings against serving wealth are clear throughout the Scriptures (Psalms 49:6-10, Proverbs 11:4, Proverbs 11:28, Proverbs 13:7, Proverbs 22:1, Proverbs 23:5, Proverbs 27:24, Ecclesiastes 5:10-16, Matthew 6:19-21, Matthew 19:16-30, Luke 13:16-21, Philippians 4:10-13, and Revelation 3:14-19).
- See also: Romans 6:16-22, Romans 8:5-8, and I John 2:15-17
Luke 16:14 “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.”
- A Pharisee was part of a strict sect among the Jews (Acts 26:5) differing from the Sadducees (Acts 23:6).
- Those Pharisees present at this time were covetous [φιλάργυρος]. The meaning of the word here is: “fond of silver (money), that is, avaricious: - covetous” (Strong’s # 5366). Loving money isn’t the answer (Psalms 37:16, Proverbs 15:16, Luke 12:15-21, and I Timothy 6:6-10).
- Because they were covetous, they derided [scoffed at] (cf. Luke 23:35) Jesus because Jesus had taught one cannot serve God and wealth.
Luke 16:15 “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”
- Self-justification is terribly wrong (Psalms 36:1-4, Proverbs 30:12-13, Luke 18:9-14, Romans 10:1-3, and Galatians 6:3-4).
- Add to that, doing so to be seen as just in the eyes of men (Matthew 6:1-16, Matthew 23:1-5, and Matthew 23:25-28) which is foolish (I Samuel 16:7).
- God knows the heart (I Chronicles 28:9, Psalms 7:9, Jeremiah 17:9-10, John 2:24-25, Hebrews 4:13, and Revelation 2:20-23).
- So, God knows where our actions come from (Matthew 12:34-37) and judges accordingly (Genesis 6:5-7).
- So, a person thinks “I am good because everyone agrees with me” or “I am good, everyone tells me so.” WRONG! Just because man approves, doesn't mean that God does (Psalms 10:2-3, Malachi 3:13-18, John 12:36-43, and Romans 2:28-29).
- Think about this, God does not approve of what the world promotes as good, popular, etc. (Psalms 5:4-5, Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 2:1-10, James 4:4, and I John 2:15-17).
Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”
- See also: Matthew 11:10-14 (different audience, same point).
- This is a huge statement for Jesus considering the Pharisees, the most strict sect of the Jews (Acts 26:5), are being addressed (Luke 16:14-15).
- Many Jews, even who eventually obeyed the Gospel, did not want to walk away from the Law of Moses (John 8:30-47, Acts 15:1-5, Galatians 2:1-5, Galatians 5:4, etc.).
- The Law of Moses had its purposes (Ephesians 2:11-17, Galatians 3:19, and I Timothy 1:3-10).
- It was not intended to stay in place (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Galatians 3:11-4:7, and Hebrews 7:19).
- Moses wrote that the law was not to be added to (Deuteronomy 4:2 and Deuteronomy 12:32). Yet, Jesus clearly started making changes (Matthew 5:21-48). There was more than just doctrinal differences (John 1:16-17 and Acts 13:38-39).
- Consider how we can reason beyond what we have already discussed as to the changes under way since the days of John. What Old Testament Law was fulfilled when John the baptizer taught repentance and baptism (Matthew 3:1-12)? What Old Testament Law did Jesus obey when He was baptized (Matthew 3:13-16)? Remember, His baptism was pleasing to the Father (Matthew 3:17), though it was not Old Testament teaching! Those who rejected the teaching of John transgressed the will of God (Matthew 21:25-32). In fact, those who rejected the teaching of John were said to have been rejecting the counsel of God against themselves (Luke 7:29-30). John was teaching baptism (of which the Law of Moses said nothing about). Clearly, from John the baptizer forward, a new covenant was being put in place.
- We are under a new law [covenant; testament] (Romans 7:1-6, Colossians 2:6-15, Hebrews 7:11-12, and Hebrews 8:1-13), the law of liberty from which we shall be judged (James 1:25 and James 2:12). A.K.A. the law of Christ (Galatians 6:1-2).
- Jesus’ authority and His words are what we are to obey and He began those instructions before He died, before His law came into effect (Matthew 28:18-20, John 12:48, and John 14:21-26).
Luke 16:17 “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.”
- The Law of Moses was in effect until after Jesus died (Hebrews 9:11-17).
- All had to be fulfilled and until that was accomplished the law was in effect (Matthew 5:17-20).
Luke 16:18 “Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.”
- After Jesus taught the Law of Moses was coming to an end, He taught this. Consider why (Matthew 19:3-12 and Mark 10:1-12).
- Moses’ teaching (Deuteronomy 24:1-4) of which has passed (Luke 16:16). *See notes there.
- Understanding God’s allowance of Moses’ teaching (Psalms 81:11-12 and Acts 14:8-18 [VS. 16]). NO MORE (Acts 17:30-31).
- NOW - Don’t depart, yet if you err and do so… (I Corinthians 7:10-11).
- The only cause (Matthew 5:31-32). Fornication is: “1) illicit sexual intercourse; 1a) adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.; 1b) sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18; 1c) sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mar 10:11-12; 2) metaphorically the worship of idols; 2a) of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols” (THAYER; Strong’s # 4202). CF. I Corinthians 6:18 and I Thessalonians 4:1-5
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