Luke 16
The Parable of The Shrewd Manager And The Parable of The Rich Man And Lazarus
In this section, Jesus used two parables to teach His disciples and the religious leaders about the dangers of greed and the eternal significance of the good stewardship of resources.
Most of Luke 16 is thematically arranged and concerns money, which, of course, is one of Luke’s strongest redactional interests in both his Gospel and Acts. Money is…the main concern in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
The audience in Luke’s travel section alternates between disciples, crowds, and opponents, usually the Pharisees. In 16:1, Luke indicates that this parable was directed to the disciples, But 16:14 indicates that Pharisees heard what was said. This alternation is a literary device which keeps both the teaching of Jesus and his conflict with (and differences from) his opponents in view. It also requires the reader to keep asking, like Peter in 12:14, “Is this for us?” - Klyne R. Snodgrass
Parable of The Shrewd Manager
Squandering Possessions
Vs. 1 - Now he said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions.”
This is a difficult parable to interpret. It is a story about as choice a set of rascals as one could meet anywhere. - William Barclay
In Jesus’ day, wealthy landowners often turned over the management of some of their money to an agent whose responsibility was to invest it to make more money for the master. Today a stockbroker, a banker, or an investment counselor serves his or her clients in a similar way. - Thomas Constable
Realizing that he was being fired, the manager had to find a way to support himself. Since he was not in condition to do physical labor and too proud to beg, he focused on a way to make his former clients willing to offer him hospitality. - A. Boyd Luter
Acting Shrewdly
Vs. 8 - The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly.
Now why does this manager do this? You can read all sorts of books trying to justify what this manager did, that the rich man was illegally charging interest and so he was cutting the interest or things like that. But this misses the point of the parable. The reason the manager reduced their bills was so he would have favors to pull when he got fired. He was going to go back to these people and tell them to remember how he saved them a year and a half of wages and to help him out financially. He is making preparations for the moment of his termination. He knows he will no longer have income but has come up with a plan to be financially secure when that time comes. Verse 8 sounds fairly shocking, but the master is not commending the manager for ripping him off. He is commending him for being clever. His dishonesty is not applauded, but his quick thinking and cleverness to make sure that preparations were made. - Brent Kercheville
Learning The Lessons
Luke included several lessons Jesus taught after this unique parable about money.
Make Friends
Vs. 9-10 (NLT) - Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
Verse 9 lays out the point of the parable and the key teaching of Jesus. Use your worldly wealth and possessions in such a way so that you will be received into eternal dwellings. Do you see the parallel to the parable? The manager used the possessions in such a way so that when he lost his job he would have people who would receive him into their homes. In the same way, we are commanded to use our wealth and possessions in such a way so that we will be received into the eternal home.
Please notice the certainty Jesus places on this command. Notice Jesus does not say, “if your wealth fails.” He says, “When it fails.” Wealth and possessions are useless on the day of judgment. Therefore use your wealth so that you are received into the eternal home. The parable is teaching us to have the wisdom to recognize that wealth will fail us and therefore we must be shrewd to act so that we have a home on that day. - Brent Kercheville
Faithful in Little Things
If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.
From the context, it would seem that the “little things” Jesus charged his audience to steward well were earthly possessions. Wealth in this life should be used in such a way that one may find himself “rich toward God” (Luke 12:21).
A man's way of fulfilling a small task is the best proof of his fitness or unfitness to be entrusted with a bigger task. That is clearly true of earthly things. No man will be advanced to higher office until he has given proof of his honesty and ability in a smaller position. But Jesus extends the principle to eternity. He says, "Upon earth you are in charge of things which are not really yours. You cannot take them with you when you die. They are only lent to you. You are only a steward over them. They cannot, in the nature of things, be permanently yours. On the other hand, in heaven you will get what is really and eternally yours. And what you get in heaven depends on how you use the things of earth. What you will be given as your very own will depend on how you use the things of which you are only steward.” - William Barclay
Serving Two Masters
Vs. 13 - No servant can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
The final lesson drawn from this parable was that money, which can so easily arrest our affection and deter our devotion, should not be honored as a god but rather used to honor God.
Summary
Most agree that this is a crisis parable. What is commended is action born of wisdom in view of the crisis. Wisdom calls for using wealth astutely in view of the presence of the kingdom and of coming judgment.
By way of summary then, vs. 9 may be paraphrased, “Put yourself in a good position through your use of money, which so easily leads you astray, so that when this age is over, God will receive you into his eternal dwelling.” - Klyne R. Snodgrass
A foolish person lives only for the present and uses personal wealth only for the present. A wise person considers the future and uses personal wealth to reap benefits in the future. - Pentecost
Justifying Yourselves
The Pharisees Scoffed
Vs. 14-15 - The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and scoffing at him. And he told them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.
The religious leaders were skeptical of most of Jesus’ teaching, and this time was no different. Their wealth and power was likely viewed by most as a direct blessing from God on their holy conduct, but Jesus noted the greed and narcissism in their “hearts.”
The Law And The Prophets
Vs. 16-17 - The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urgently invited to enter it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out.
It can be difficult to follow Luke’s organization of content in this section. The subjects Jesus addressed here seem disconnected, at first read, from the rest of the chapter. But Jesus was apparently highlighting that the religious leaders had been so blinded by greed and lust for power that they failed to see that all the scriptures they claimed to understand were being fulfilled in Jesus.
Jesus makes an interesting observation about the hearts of people toward God. Many people try to enter the kingdom of God by their own laws and rules. But the law of God cannot be circumvented. The teachings from the Law of Moses are now being fulfilled in the kingdom of Christ. Nothing of the Law of Moses is being tossed aside. The Law of Moses finds its fulfillment in Jesus. In fact, all of the teachings from the Law and the Prophets were pointing to these days when Jesus would come and bring the kingdom of God. For the people to obey God’s law, they must embrace Jesus’ kingdom message. - Brent Kercheville
Divorce and Adultery (Matthew 5:31-32)
Vs. 18 - Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
As an illustration of law that would never pass away, Jesus took the law of chastity. This very definite statement of Jesus must be read against the contemporary background of Jewish life. The Jew glorified fidelity and chastity. The Rabbis said, "All things can God overlook except unchastity." "Unchastity causes the glory of God to depart." A Jew must surrender his life rather than commit idolatry, murder or adultery.
But the tragedy was that at this time the marriage bond was on the way to being destroyed. In the eyes of Jewish law, a woman was a thing. She could divorce her husband only if he became a leper or an apostate or if he ravished a virgin.
Jesus here lays down the sanctity of the marriage bond. The saying is repeated in Matthew 5:31-32 where adultery is made the sole exception to the universal rule. - William Barclay
Parable of The Rich Man And Lazarus
Feasting Lavishly
Vs. 19-21 - There was a rich man who would dress in purple and fine linen, feasting lavishly every day. But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was lying at his gate. He longed to be filled with what fell from the rich man’s table, but instead the dogs would come and lick his sores.
Continuing His teaching on the importance of good stewardship of wealth, Jesus told a parable about a very rich man who paid no attention to a very poor man who lived near him.
The story is about the hunger of one man who sat on the rich man’s doorstep. The story is asking us what are we doing with our wealth toward the people right in front of our eyes. Is the wealth that we are managing completely consumed on ourselves? - Brent Kercheville
Hades and Abraham’s Bosom
Vs. 22-23 - One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torment in Hades, he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off, with Lazarus at his side.
The parable is not intended to provide a schedule or details about precisely what happens after death. The “bosom of Abraham” is not literal but points to a place of honor and celebration. If this detail is not literal, then caution must be applied to the other details as well.
Are any conclusions about the afterlife possible? Although caution about reading the details too literally is needed, the parable’s eschatological relevance cannot be wiped away. The themes of reversal and judgment must be given their due. The parable is a warning to the rich and emphasizes the importance of what humans do with the present, and it teaches that humans will be judged for the way they lived and that the consequences will be serious. - Klyne R. Snodgrass
During Your Life
Vs. 25 - Son, Abraham said, remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.
The shock factor of this parable was the role reversal in the afterlife. The rich man, who many Jews would have considered blessed by God, found himself in agony, while the poor man, who many Jews would have considered cursed by his own sin, found himself at Abraham’s side.
Commentators note that the parable was not intended to teach any specific blessing for the poor (though God often identifies Himself as their defender) nor any special curse on the rich. The lesson is on stewarding whatever wealth one has in a way that honors God who granted it.
The sins of this rich man were selfishness and selfishness and greed. He could look on the world's suffering and need and feel no answering sword of grief and pity pierce his heart; he looked at a fellow-man, hungry and in pain, and did nothing about it. His was the punishment of the man who never noticed. - William Barclay
This is an example of the teaching found in Luke 16:1-13. The rich man did not make friends with God so that he would be received into eternal dwellings. He used his wealth as if it were his own. - Brent Kercheville
The rich man is reaping what he sowed. There is a clear message to Christian disciples here; they need to use their money prudently and generously in order to enter eternal dwellings. - Thomas Schreiner
They Should Listen
Vs. 29 - But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’
Certainly the resurrection was in Luke’s mind when he wrote this. The point of the last part of the parable is clear. No miracle can convince anyone of the credibility of the kingdom message. The scriptures are sufficient for salvation, and those who reject their message will rationalize miraculous phenomena as well. - Thomas Shreiner
It would seem that the lesson of responsible stewardship had already been communicated and that the final section of this parable was unnecessary. But perhaps this final segment of conversation between the rich man and Abraham served to unite the entire interaction. The law and prophets that the scoffing religious leaders claimed to meticulously follow was already filled with sufficient warning of the dangers of living lavish lives of selfish comfort. If the scriptures had not been convincing, no miracle could convince the calloused heart.
Two themes dominate: the idea of divine evaluation in the afterlife and the hardness of heart that cannot be overcome even by resurrection. - Darrell L. Bock
