Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

{1 of 2} BIBLE: Luke 16 – Headline “As this … So that”
{2 of 2} Luke 16 – “The Good, The Bad, and the Chummy”

Luke 16

The Parable of the Unjust Steward

Luke 16:¹ He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was (squandering) wasting his goods.

Luke 16:² So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’

Luke 16:³ “Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.

Luke 16:⁴ I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’

Luke 16:⁵ “So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

Luke 16:⁶ And he said, ‘A hundred measures (Gr. batos, same as Heb. bath; 8 or 9 gallons each) of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’

Luke 16:⁷ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred (Gr. koros, same as Heb. kor; 10 or 12 bushels each) measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

Luke 16:⁸ So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.

Luke 16:⁹ “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon (Lit., in Aram., wealth), that when (it fails) you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.

• Use the worthless things of this world to gain favor in the eternal heavens. The unjust steward was wiser than the just who store up for themselves many worldly items.

Luke 16:¹⁰ He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

Luke 16:¹¹ Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

Luke 16:¹² And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?

Luke 16:¹³ “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

The Law, the Prophets, and the Kingdom

Luke 16:¹⁴ Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided (Lit. turned up their nose at) Him.

Luke 16:¹⁵ And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Luke 16:¹⁶ “The law and the prophets (The kingdom of heaven) were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God (the kingdom of God) has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.

• The Kingdom of heaven is Jesus’ kingdom on earth. The Millennium.
  • The Law and the Prophets. A Jewish Kingdom with Gentile exceptions. A physical kingdom.
    
• The Kingdom of God is a heavenly kingdom.
  • The age of Grace. A spiritual kingdom.
    
• The Kingdom of heaven is subject to the Kingdom of God.
• Kingdom of God: (instances)
  Matthew (6), Mark (15), Luke (32), John (2), Acts (7), Romans (1), 1 Corinthians (4), Galatians (1), Ephesians (1), Colossians (1), 1 Thessalonians (1), 2 Thessalonians (1), Hebrews (1), James (1), Revelation (3)
• Kingdom of Heaven: (instances)
  Matthew (32)
  
  
• Note: The Gospel of Matthew focuses on the “the kingdom of heaven on earth” when Jesus will reign as the King of kings.
• The greatest in the kingdom of heaven (John the Baptist) is less than those who are the least in the kingdom of God (Paul the apostle).

Luke 16:¹⁷ And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle (The smallest stroke in a Heb. letter) of the law to fail.

Luke 16:¹⁸ “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

• See Topic: The Meaning of Parables The Rich Man and Lazarus

Luke 16:¹⁹ “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously (lived in luxury) every day.

• The rich man symbolizes the Jews whom God clothed in the Royalty of Atonement (purple) and Righteousness (linen). They fared sumptuously from a banquet table of the promises God gave to Abraham: Land, the Law, Prophets, Kings, God’s Favor, the Word of God, Prosperity, and the Messiah.

Luke 16:²⁰ But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,

• Lazarus symbolizes the Gentiles. They are “unclean”, and without the Word of God, they are starving for the “bread” that comes from heaven. (Jesus told His disciples “I have bread to eat that you do not know of, ie: the Word.)

Luke 16:²¹ desiring to be fed with (what fell) the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

• The Gentiles desired to have that which God had given to the Jews. The Gentiles were called “dogs” by the Jews.
• Note the callousness shown by the Rich Man. Jesus told the Pharisees they tithed mint and cumin but ignored the weighty part of the Law like mercy and justice.

Luke 16:²² So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.

• Jew and Gentile alike die.

Luke 16:²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

• The Rich man is in torment in Hades, but he saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham in Paradise! What??? A Gentile in the bosom of Abraham!
• What! Unheard of!
• But Abraham is the father of faith, not just the father of the Jews. The Pharisees bragged their father was Abraham, but Jesus said God could make children of Abraham from rocks. (PS. Jesus is referred to as a Rock throughout scripture.)

Luke 16:²⁴ “Then 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 tormented in this flame.’

• He who gave no mercy is begging for mercy.

Luke 16:²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.

•  Jesus warned about gaining the world but losing your soul.

Luke 16:²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’

• A chasm is fixed: there is no way to reverse the outcome.

Luke 16:²⁷ “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,

• Pray now. Pray for your loved ones now. In the grave prayers and begging cannot find an ear.

Luke 16:²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’

• The Rich Man had five brothers that are yet alive. The Rich Man knows his brothers are living just as he had.
• (Take note: There were five virgins who had no oil for their lamps in the story of the Ten Virgins. Likewise, this Rich Man has five brothers who have the Word of God, but no oil (Holy Spirit) for their lamp that they may see and understand.)
  • The number 5 is half of 10, a whole. A “half” is “broken”. Half means “It’s time to make a choice.”

Luke 16:²⁹ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’

• It was Abraham who replied to the Rich Man, not Lazarus. It is Abraham the Jews rely on.

Luke 16:³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

• Think about who is telling this parable: Jesus, a Jew, who will soon die and descend into Hades (Sheol) where He will be raised from the dead in order to redeem the Jews if they repent.  Yet…

Luke 16:³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”

• Jesus is prophetically confronting the Pharisees. They were considered the rich and spiritually esteemed in this world among the Jews, just like the Rich Man.
• Moses and the prophets are the “Word of God”. The “Word of God” is the lantern carried by each of the ten virgins (Matthew 25). However, only five had the oil (the Holy Spirit) for the lantern to emit Light.
• The Pharisees had their lanterns, they were “expecting” their Messiah, (the bridegroom) but they were oblivious of what God was doing.  They were blind without oil in their lanterns. They were the blind leaders of the blind.