Luke 16:1 He also said to his disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2 He called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’
3 “The manager said within himself, ‘What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don’t have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.’ 5 Calling each one of his lord’s debtors to him, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe to my lord?’ 6 He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
8 “His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, are more shrewd than the children of the light. 9 I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents. 10 He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is 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 one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and Mammon.”
When a wealthy landowner discovered that his foreman was mismanaging the farm he fired the manager and demanded to see the books. The manager, lacking the strength to be a laborer, being too proud to beg, and knowing that he would soon be without a means of income, came up with a plan to secure his future. Before turning over the books the manager reduced the debt that the sharecroppers owed the landowner so that they would, in gratitude, be indebted to the manager. The shrewd manager turned something that was of no value to him, the debt owed the landowner, into an asset with which he could support himself in the future. Having reduced their debt, the manager could always count on the sharecroppers to meet his future needs.
Christ’s point, given as a warning to the disciples, was that if unbelievers shrewdly plan for their earthly futures, shouldn’t believers carefully plan for their heavenly future? How would we do that? Just like the shrewd manager took something that was of no real value to him, the debt owed the landowner, and turned it into an asset, Christians are to take something that has no eternal value, the riches of this world, and turn them into something of eternal value. As Christ said on the Sermon on the Mount:
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19–21
In the upside-down economy of the Kingdom, Christians use their wealth, money, and time, things that they can’t take to heaven, and use those assets here to advance the Kingdom, supporting their church, caring for the poor, establishing hospitals to heal the sick, planting churches in every community, building schools to teach everyone about God’s truth. You may know and support missionaries who have forsaken the wealth this world offers, giving their time, and treasure to tell others about the free gift of heaven. Or you may know and support Christian schools and teachers who willingly accept much less pay then their counterparts in the public schools, so that they can advance the Kingdom to the next generation.
Christ concludes by saying that his disciples cannot serve two masters. Christians should hold onto their earthly wealth loosely, using it as much as possible to advance the Kingdom.
Overhearing this teaching the Pharisees scoffed at Christ.
Luke 16:14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they scoffed at him. 15 He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. 16 The law and the prophets were until John. From that time the Good News of God’s Kingdom is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a pen in the law to fall. 18 Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
The Pharisees loved money and loved the acclaim that they received from the people who looked up to them. As previously pointed out, they thought that by keeping God’s Law, or, rather, their version of the law, they could force their way into heaven. They were so good, in their own eyes, that God was obligated to open the pearly gates of heaven for them.
Remember, the Pharisees made a habit of trying to create loopholes to the Law of God to suit their own purposes. In this instance, Christ calls them to account for their workarounds to God’s commands regarding marriage. In place of following God’s Law they instead taught that anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce. Matthew 5:31 The Rabbi Hillel taught that a husband could divorce his wife if she was a bad cook and Rabbi Akiba taught that a husband could divorce his wife if he found someone who was prettier. So while God’s Law teaches that the only two grounds for divorce are adultery, Matthew 5:32 and abandonment, which is breaking a vow that you made to God, 1 Corinthians 7:15 the rabbis were issuing certificates of divorce for, among other things, burnt toast, wrinkled skin and grey hair.
Despite the Pharisees rationalizations, God [knew] their hearts. Though they cloaked themselves in religion they were really all about enjoying their treasures here on earth while being praised and respected by their contemporaries. In previous parables the priest avoided helping the man dying along the road, Luke 10:25 the Pharisees opposed Christ healing the sick on the Sabbath, Luke 13:10 and here the rabbis rewrote God’s Law so that they could be justified in marrying younger, prettier cooks. Christ reminded the Pharisees and the doctors of the law that the only thing that really matters is God’s unchanging Law: unchanging because it is grounded in the Holy, perfect character of God.
Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,
but righteousness delivers from death.
Proverbs 11:4
Next Christ tells another parable to illustrate his point, but before moving on, I must note that there are many legalistic Pharisees alive and well in the church today who counsel people that they are under no obligation to remain faithful in their marriages. They have substituted eisegesis, that is reading popular therapeutic preferences into God’s Word, for exegesis, finding and obeying God’s unchanging and eternal meaning in his Revelation.
Luke 16:19 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. 20 A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores, 21 and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. 23 In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. 24 He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’
25 “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted, and you are in anguish. 26 Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’
27 “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house; 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’
29 “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’
30 “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”
A rich man, living in luxury, and shrewd in the ways of the world, stored up many treasures on earth but had given little thought toward Heaven. Had he thought about the afterlife he would have stored up treasure in Heaven by helping out the beggar named Lazarus who sat dying at his gate. But he was shortsighted, hoarding his wealth.
In time, Lazarus died and was gathered with his people, Genesis 49:33 where he was with Abraham. The wealthy estate owner also died, but he found himself burning in hell: in anguish in this flame. He was able to look across the great chasm from hell to heaven where he saw Abraham. In a great reversal of fortune he now became the beggar. First, he begged for cool water. Next, finally thinking of someone other than himself, he begged that Abraham would go warn his brothers, still alive on earth, about the reality of hell.
Abraham responded, “They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.” In other words, they already have all they need to warn them of the curses of Hell and the blessings of Heaven. They have all of God’s Revelation. Not wanting to give up, the wealthy estate owner asks Abraham to send someone back from the dead to warn his brothers. But in a prophecy that will be fulfilled in a couple of weeks Abraham answered, “If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.” And, in fact, that is just what happened. Christ rose from the dead but still the Jewish leaders didn’t believe. Seeing the resurrection from the dead only strengthened their resolve to destroy the followers of Christ.
Luke 17:1 He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.
In a parting shot directed at the Pharisees, Christ says that it would be better to be thrown in the sea with a huge millstone tied around your neck than to go around teaching false things about God’s Law. In other words, a millstone pinning you to the bottom of the sea is much preferable to an eternity in hell.
And circling back to Christ’s original point, it is no small thing when the Pharisees or our modern church leaders allow divorce based on subjective feelings rather than on God’s objective Law. Nor is it a small thing when churches allow other cultural compromises such as allowing transvestites, attempting to groom children, into buildings or pulpits, causing the children to stumble.