Luke · chapter 16 of 24
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Luke 16 deals with the use of money in the light of eternity. Jesus tells the parable of the shrewd manager and says no one can serve both God and money. He rebukes the money-loving Pharisees and tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus, showing that whoever does not hear Moses and the Prophets will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.
After the parables of the lost in Luke 15, Jesus speaks first to his disciples and then to the Pharisees about money and faithfulness. Luke 16 is a challenging chapter: one parable that is hard to interpret and another that warns strongly about indifference to the poor and about the authority of Scripture.
Jesus tells of a rich man whose manager is accused of wasting his possessions. The owner asks for an account and announces he will be dismissed. Before that happens, the manager calls his master's debtors and reduces what they owe, to make friends who will welcome him when he is out of work. The master praises his shrewdness, and Jesus draws the lesson: the people of this age are shrewder than the people of the light; use wealth to make friends so that they may receive us into eternal dwellings. Whoever is faithful in little is faithful in much, and no one can serve two masters: God and money.
The Pharisees, who love money, ridicule Jesus. He tells them they justify themselves before people, but God knows their hearts, and what is highly valued among people is detestable in God's sight. He says the Law and the Prophets were until John the Baptist and since then the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and that the law is not to be set aside; he gives as an example the teaching on divorce.
He then tells of a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and feasted every day, and of a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores, who lay at his gate longing for the scraps. Both die: angels carry Lazarus to Abraham's side, and the rich man goes to Hades, where he is in torment. The rich man asks that Lazarus dip the tip of his finger in water, but Abraham reminds him that each received his share in life and that between them lies a great chasm. The rich man then begs that Lazarus be sent to warn his five brothers. Abraham answers that they have Moses and the Prophets; if they do not listen to them, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus says that whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is dishonest in little is also dishonest in much. Character is tested in small, everyday matters.
No one can serve two masters, and we cannot serve both God and money. Jesus forces a choice about who governs our life, because divided loyalty does not exist.
Abraham reminds the rich man that in his life he received his good things and Lazarus his bad, and that now Lazarus is comforted and he is in anguish. The story implies that indifference to the poor has eternal consequences.
Abraham says that if they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead. Scripture is sufficient to call to repentance, and miracles do not replace faith.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He called his master's debtors and reduced what each one owed. — Luke 16:5-7
Answer: Serve two masters: you cannot serve God and money. — Luke 16:13
Answer: A beggar covered with sores who lay at the rich man's gate and longed to eat what fell from his table. — Luke 16:20-21
Answer: The angels carried him to Abraham's side. — Luke 16:22
Answer: A great chasm that no one could cross. — Luke 16:26
Answer: That Lazarus warn them; Abraham said they already had Moses and the Prophets. — Luke 16:27-29
Luke 16 reminds us that money is a test of faithfulness, not a goal. Everything we have is stewardship: the question is what we use it for. In a class you can talk about how our spending and giving decisions reflect whom we serve.
The story of the rich man and Lazarus forces us to look at the poor person at our gate. The rich man's sin was not being rich but not seeing. There is a specific person you can help this week. And the closing warning directs us to Scripture: we already have what we need to repent and believe, and we should listen to it now.
Luke 16 ends with the assertion that God's Word is enough for anyone willing to hear it. In Luke 17 Jesus speaks of forgiveness and faith, heals ten lepers, of whom only one, a Samaritan, returns to give thanks, and teaches about the kingdom.
No. The master commends his shrewdness or prudence, not his fraud. Jesus uses the contrast: if a worldly man acts cleverly for his temporary future, how much more should we use resources wisely with eternity in mind. It is a difficult parable with several interpretations, but the central point is faithfulness and generosity.
Luke does not call it a parable or give more details. Many consider it a parable; others, an account of real events. In either case the central teaching is the same: indifference to the poor and rejection of Scripture lead to a final separation.
It is a Jewish image of the place of rest and blessing of the righteous after death, beside the father of believers. Luke uses the language of his day; the text gives no further details about the intermediate state and should not be used to speculate beyond it.