May 6 – Reading Luke 16:1-15

Read and believe in Jesus.

“No servant can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and money.” Luke

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The Gospel according to Luke 

Review – Jesus told the parable of the Prodigal (wasteful) Son and the hardworking son, and a loving father who welcomes wanderers and disgruntled children alike, but who seeks repentance.

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Vss.  16:1-2

Jesus told this parable to the disciples (not the religious leaders), though it links to the one before. The prodigal son wasted his father’s inheritance, and the manager wasted his master’s possessions.

THIS story is about dishonesty, deception, retaliation, bribery, greed, and shrewdness.  And Jesus seems to condone them all, right?  Yeah, NO! This is the perfect, sinless Son of God.  So let’s try to dig out what He meant with this unusual parable.

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‘There was a rich man who had a crooked manager, and charges were brought against him…”

The rich man called the manager and told him to turn in the books, for he was fired.

So far, so good.

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Vss. 16:3-7.

At first, the manager was in panic mode.  Yikes! “I’m not strong enough to dig!  And I’m ashamed to beg!

Being a day-laborer was out – he’d spend his days with his feet up on a desk, scrolling on his phone, drinking iced sweet tea, and not paying attention to his boss’s assets.

And sitting in the local market, with an alms cup held out to strangers, also did not appeal to him.  Now what?

(He basically didn’t WANT to work.  He liked the ease. Then he got an idea!)

“I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into the houses.”

(Notice his reason, beginning with “so that…”  This was bribery. ‘I do this for you; you will reciprocate this to me.’  No thought for his employer.)

So, that’s what he did.  He went around to all his employer’s debtors and lowered the amounts they owed.  Notice that BOTH parties are complicit. None of the debtors said, ‘Well, that wouldn’t be fair to your employer.’  Nope, they all agreed.

And we presume, if this were a TRUE story, these debtors would have made life easy for that manager.  BUT this is a parable, a story with a lesson to be learned.  And this is the hard part.

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Vss. 16:8a.

Notice the master’s reaction. Totally shocking,

“The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.”

This shows, first, that the master was also a crook.  One crook to another, he admired his manager’s criminal genius. Perhaps he would have considered re-hiring him if this were a true story.  

It’s clear now that ALL the characters in this story are corrupt/dishonest: the master, the manager, and the debtors.   

Huh!

What does Jesus want His disciples to ‘see’ in this crazy parable?

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Vss. 16:8b-9

First, Jesus says, “The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.”

Sons of this world – unbelievers.

Sons of light – believers.

(Most unbelievers are wiser in the ways of the [financial] world than some believers are toward the things of God.

Even the most wicked are shrewd enough to provide for themselves against coming evil.  Believers ought to be more ‘shrewd’, because they are concerned with matters of eternity.)

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Jesus continues with true advice to His disciples about what to do NOW to ensure a more fruitful, glorious eternity.  

He says, “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”

“Unrighteous wealth” = money in this world.

“Make friends” = share the gospel, pray for unbelievers, support missions and ministries for evangelism.

“The failing world and its economy” = At the (or your) end, when Jesus comes, or you die.

“THEY may receive you” = all those you had a part in bringing to Jesus will welcome you into glory.

“The eternal dwellings.” = Heaven, for all eternity.

Invest yourself in promoting the kingdom of God, with what earthly money and work you can. You will have a living “treasure” in Heaven to meet you when you die or when Jesus comes.

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Vss. 16:10-13.

Jesus sums it up, looking at the negative side. 

“If then you have NOT been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you true riches.  And if you have NOT been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other … OR he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

“You CANNOT serve God and money.”

Serve the Lord! Use the world’s money to further the Kingdom. Put the Lord first in your life, love Him, serve Him.

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Vss. 16:14-15.

Oh, it seems that the richly clad Pharisees WERE still there, around the peripheral, probably.  These “lovers of money” ridiculed Jesus when they heard these things.

Jesus answered them harshly, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

Whoa!

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 Oh, Lord, please let my heart be towards You and not the things of the world. Help me to be wise in how I handle the money You give me.