16:1-8Our use of money is a good test of the lordship of Christ. (1) Money belongs to God, not us; let us use our resources wisely. (2) Money can be used for gocd or evit; let us use ours for good. (3) Money has a lot of power, let us use it carefully and thoughtfully. We must use our material goods in a way that will foster faith and obedience (see 12:33, 34).
Life Application Study BibleLukeChapter 16
Luke 16
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1721, 1722
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
16Luke 16
1Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer's money. 2So the employer called him in and said, ‘What's this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’ 3“The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4Ah, I know how to ensure that I'll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’ 5“So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 galions.*’ 7““And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.*’ 8“The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And itis true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.* 10"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. 1tAnd if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? 13“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” 14The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. *Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God. 16“Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in.* 17But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God’s law to be overturned. 18"For example, a man who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery. And anyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.” Jesus Tells about the Rich Man and the Beggar (163) 19Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. 20At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. 21As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores. 22“Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham.* The rich man also died and was buried, 23and his soul went to the place of the dead.* There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side. 24"The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’ 25"But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. 26And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’ 27"Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. 28For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’ 29"But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’ 30The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’ 3“But Abraham said, ‘If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't listen even if someone rises from the dead.’” Jesus Tells about Forgiveness and Faith (164)
Textual footnotes
- eternal homes.
- 16:6 Greek 100 baths... 50 [baths].
- 16:7 Greek 100 korous... 80 [korous}.
- 16:9 Or you will be welcomed into
- 16:16 Or everyone is urged to enter in.
- 16:22 Greek into Abraham's bosom.
- 16:23 Greek to Hades.
Life Application Notes 11 notes
16:9We are to make wise use of the financial opportunities we have, not to earn heaven but to help people find Christ. If we use our money to help those in need or to help others find Christ, our earthly investment will bring eternal benefit. When we obey God's will, the unselfish use of possessions will follow.
16:10,11Qur integrity is often put on the line in money matters. God calls us to be honest even in small details we could easily ignore. Heaven's riches are far more valuable than earthly wealth. But if we are not trustworthy with our money here (no matter how much or little we have), we will be unfit to handle the vast riches of God's Kingdom. See that you maintain your integrity in all matters, whether big or small.
16:13Money can easily take God’s place in your tife. It can become your master. How can you tell if you are a slave to money? Ask yourself: Do I think and worry about it frequently? Do I give up doing what I should do or would like to do in order to make more money? Do I spend a great deal of my time caring for my possessions? Is it hard for me to give money away? Am lin debt? Money is a hard and deceptive master. Wealth promises power and control, but often it cannot deliver. Great fortunes can be made-~and lost—overnight, and no amount of money can provide health, happiness, or eternal life. How much better it is to let God be your master. His servants have peace of mind and security, both now and forever.
16:14Because the Pharisees loved money, they took exception to Jesus’ teaching. We live in an age that measures people's worth by how much money they make. Do you scoff at Jesus’ warnings against serving money? Do you try to explain them away? Do you apply them to someone else? Unless we take Jesus’ statements seriously, we may be acting like Pharisees ourselves.
16:15The Pharisees acted piously to get praise from others, but God knew what was in their hearts. They considered their wealth to be a sign of God's approval. God detested their wealth because it caused them to abandon true spirituality. Though prosperity may earn people's praise, it must never substitute for devotion and service to God.
16:16,17John the Baptist’s ministry was the dividing line between the Old and New Testaments (John 1:15-18). With the arrival of Jesus came the realization of all the prophets’ hopes. Jesus emphasized that his Kingdom fulfilled the law (the Old Testament); it did not cancel it (Matthew 5:17). His was not a new system but the culmination of the old. The same God who worked through Moses was working through Jesus.
16:18Most religious leaders of Jesus’ day permitted a man to divorce his wife for nearly any reason. Jesus’ teaching about divorce went beyond Moses’ (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). Stricter than any of the then-current schools of thought, Jesus’ teachings shocked his hearers (see Matthew 19:10) just as they shake today’s readers. Jesus says in no uncertain terms that marriage is a lifetime commitment. To leave your spouse for another person may be legal, but it is adultery in God's eyes. As you think about marriage, remember that God intends it to be a permanent commitment.
16:19-31The Pharisees considered wealth to be a proof of a person’s righteousness. Jesus startled them with this story in which a diseased beggar is rewarded and a rich man is punished. The rich man did not go to hell because of his wealth but because he was selfish, refusing to feed Lazarus, take him in, or care for him. The rich man was hard-hearted in spite of his great blessings. The amount of money we have is not as important as the way we use it. What is your attitude toward your money and possessions? Do you hoard them selfishly, or do you use them to help others?
16:20This Lazarus is merely a character in a story and should not be confused with the Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead in John 11.
16:29-31The rich man thought that his five brothers would surely believe a messenger who had been raised from the dead. But Jesus said that if they did not believe Moses and the prophets, who spoke constantly of caring for the poor, not even a resurrection would convince them. Notice the irony in Jesus’ statement; on his way to Jerusalem to die, he was fully aware that even when he had risen from the dead, most of the religious leaders would not accept him. They were set in their ways, and neither Scripture nor God's Son himself would shake them loose.
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1722 16:18 Matt 5:32; 19:9 Mark 10:11-12 1 Cor 7:10-11