Parable of the Unrighteous Steward.

  10 He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much. [God does not judge by the magnitude of an act, but by the spiritual principles and motives which lie back of the act. A small action may discover and lay bare these principles quite as well as a large one. In the administration of small properties entrusted to us on the earth we reveal our disposition and temper as stewards quite as well as if we owned half the universe.]

  11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? [The word "unrighteous" is here used to mean deceitful, as opposed to true. Worldly riches deceive us by being temporal and transitory, while the true riches are eternal-- 2 Corinthians 4:18 .]

  12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? [We are all God's stewards, and the perishing possessions of earth are not our own ( 1 Chronicles 29:14 ), but that which is given us forever is our own-- 1 Corinthians 3:22 .]

  13 No servant can serve two masters [ Galatians 1:10 ; James 4:4 ]: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. tfg.cgi?section=T#">Section

  14 And the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things; and they scoffed at him. [They derided him with open insolence ( Luke 23:35 ). This was a new phase of their opposition, and showed that they no longer feared Jesus as formerly, being assured that he aimed at no earthly dominion. Because of his poverty they may have regarded him as prejudiced against wealth. At any rate, they regarded themselves as living contradictions of this to them ridiculous statement that a man could not be rich and yet religious.]

  15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves in the sight of men; but God knoweth your hearts: dor that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. [The Pharisees lived in such outward contrast to the publicans and made such pretensions and claims that men esteemed them righteous, but they were none the less abominable in God's sight. God approves righteousness when inward, but despises the mere outward show of it.]

  16 The law and the prophets were until John: from that time the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached, and every man entereth violently into it. [See Section 45.]

  17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than one tittle of the law to fall. tfg.cgi?section=T#">Section The law and the prophets had been used of God to set up the old dispensation, and it had been so perverted and abused that in it the Pharisees could pass for righteous men, though abominable according to its true standard. Since the days of John the old dispensation has been merging into the new, and this also has been subjected to violence. But despite all the changes made, approved, and justified by men, the God-given law had never changed. Its smallest letter could no more be eliminated than the universe could be obliterated. But of course the Lawgiver could with notice modify his law.]

  18 Every one that putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth one that is put away from a husband committeth adultery. tfg.cgi?section=T#">Section an illustration of a flagrant violation of the law of God both countenanced and practiced by these Pharisees.]