‏ Luke 16

The Unjust Steward

This section contains the parable of the unjust steward, where Jesus teaches about being wise and faithful with what God gives us. The story uses an example of a dishonest manager to show that we should use our resources wisely and generously, especially to help others, so we will be welcomed into God’s kingdom. Jesus also warns that we cannot serve both God and money, and he rebukes the Pharisees for their love of wealth and their hypocrisy.

v. 1: Jesus told his disciples a parable about a rich man who had a steward (manager) who managed his property. The steward was accused of wasting his master’s goods. This reminds us that we are all stewards of what God gives us, and we will have to give an account for how we use it.

v. 2: The master called the steward and told him he would lose his job because of his wastefulness. He was told to give an account of how he managed the property. This teaches that one day, God will call us to give an account of how we have used what he gave us in this life.

v. 3: The steward wondered what to do next since he was about to lose his job. He said, “I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.” He realized he was not able to do hard work and was too proud to ask for help. This shows that people often try to find an easy way out rather than humbling themselves or working hard.

v. 4: The steward came up with a plan to make friends who would help him after he lost his job. He wanted to be welcomed into others’ homes. This shows that people can be clever in planning for their future, even when they have done wrong.

v. 5–7: He called in his master’s debtors and reduced their debts—one who owed a hundred measures of oil was told to write fifty, and another who owed a hundred measures of wheat was told to write eighty. He did this so they would owe him favors later. The steward acted selfishly, but he was smart in looking ahead.

 – –

v. 8: The master commended the unjust steward, not for his dishonesty, but because he had acted shrewdly. Jesus said, “The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” This means that people who care only about this life often make clever plans for their future, while believers are sometimes not as wise in preparing for eternity.

v. 9: Jesus told his disciples to “make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, you may be received into everlasting dwellings.” He means we should use our money and resources to do good and help others, especially the poor. When we use what we have for God, we are investing in eternity.

v. 10–12: Jesus said that if we are faithful in little things, we will be faithful in much; but if we are dishonest in little things, we will be dishonest in much. If we are not faithful with worldly wealth (unrighteous mammon), how can God trust us with true riches? We must be trustworthy with what God gives us in this life if we want him to trust us with more important things.

 – –

v. 13: Jesus warned that no servant can serve two masters. We cannot serve God and money (mammon). We will end up loving one and hating the other. We have to choose who we will serve—God or wealth.

v. 14: The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and mocked Jesus. They were greedy and did not like his teaching about using money to help others and not loving wealth.

v. 15: Jesus told them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.” What is highly valued among people is an abomination in God’s sight. God sees what is in our hearts, and he is not impressed by outward appearances or worldly success.

v. 16–17: Jesus said that the Law and the Prophets were until John, but since then, the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is pressing into it. God’s law will never fail; not even the smallest part will disappear. Jesus was showing that his message fulfills the law, not cancels it.

 –

v. 18: Jesus added a warning about divorce and remarriage, saying that whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. He was showing that even though some things were tolerated under the law, God’s standards remain the same and are very serious.

The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

Here the spiritual things are represented, in a description of the different state of good and bad, in this world and in the other. Jesus introduces a rich man, clothed in purple and fine linen, who feasted sumptuously every day. We are not told that the rich man got his estate by fraud or oppression; but Christ shows that a man may have a great deal of the wealth, pomp, and pleasure of this world, yet perish for ever under God's wrath and curse. The sin of this rich man was his providing for himself only, living for his own comfort and pleasure.

v. 20–21: At the rich man’s gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. Here is a godly man, and one that will hereafter be happy for ever, in the depth of adversity and distress. It is often the lot of some of the dearest of God's saints and servants to be greatly afflicted in this world. We are not told that the rich man did him any harm, but we do not find that he had any care for him. The contrast is striking: one feasted daily, the other starved; one was clothed in luxury, the other in sores.

 –

v. 22: The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. Here is the different condition of this godly poor man, and this wicked rich man, at and after death. Death comes to both, but what a difference in their reception! Lazarus is honored with an angelic escort to Abraham’s bosom, while the rich man receives only burial. As wicked people have good things only in this life, and at death are for ever separated from all good, so godly people have evil things only in this life, and at death they are for ever put from them.

v. 23: In Hades, being in torment, the rich man lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. The rich man in hell lifted up his eyes, being in torment. Now the tables are turned—he who once looked down on Lazarus must now look up to see him in glory.

v. 24: He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.” It is not probable that there are discourses between glorified saints and damned sinners, but this dialogue shows the hopeless misery and fruitless desires to which condemned spirits are brought. There is a day coming when those who now hate and despise the people of God would gladly receive kindness from them. Yet even in torment, the rich man still thinks of Lazarus as one to be commanded—“send Lazarus”—showing his heart remains unchanged.

v. 25: But Abraham said, “Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.” Sinners are now called upon to remember; but they do not, they will not, they find ways to avoid it. But in eternity, memory becomes a torment. Abraham’s words reveal the justice of God: each received their portion in life, and now justice demands the reversal.

v. 26: “And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.” But the damned in hell shall not have the least abatement of their torment. In this world, blessed be God, there is no gulf between a state of nature and grace; we may pass from sin to God. But if we die in our sins, there is no coming out. The chasm is fixed—not by arbitrary decree, but by the settled character and choices that led each to their eternal destiny.

v. 27–28: The rich man said, “Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” The rich man had five brethren, and would have them stopped in their sinful course; their coming to that place of torment would make his misery the worse, who had helped to show them the way thither. How many would now desire to recall or to undo what they have written or done! Yet even this concern for his brothers springs from selfish motives—to lessen his own anguish.

 –

v. 29: But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” Abraham points to the sufficiency of Scripture. God has not left humanity without witness; the law and the prophets provide all that is necessary for salvation.

v. 30: The rich man said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” The rich man argues for miraculous signs, as if God’s written word were insufficient. This reveals the corruption of human nature—always seeking for something more than what God has already provided.

v. 31: Abraham said, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” Those who would make the rich man’s praying to Abraham justify praying to saints departed, go far to seek for proofs, when the mistake of a damned sinner is all they can find for an example. And surely there is no encouragement to follow the example, when all his prayers were made in vain. A messenger from the dead could say no more than what is said in the Scriptures. The same strength of corruption that breaks through the convictions of the written word would triumph over a witness from the dead. Let us seek to the law and to the testimony (Isaiah 8:19–20), for that is the sure word of prophecy, upon which we may rest (2 Peter 1:19).

Summary and Application

This parable serves as a solemn warning to all. It teaches us that earthly prosperity is no sign of God’s favor, nor is earthly adversity a sign of His displeasure. The rich man’s sin was not in his wealth but in his self-centeredness and neglect of those in need. Lazarus’s virtue was not in his poverty but in his faithfulness to God despite his circumstances.

The parable also emphasizes the finality of eternal judgment. There comes a point when it is too late for repentance, when the great chasm cannot be crossed. This should drive us to urgency in our spiritual concerns and compassion for those still living.

Finally, we are reminded that circumstances in every age show that no terrors or arguments can give true repentance without the special grace of God renewing the sinner’s heart. We have all we need in God’s Word; let us not seek for signs and wonders when we should be heeding what has already been revealed.
Copyright information for MHM