Luke 16

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

1 And he also said to the disciples, "A certain man was rich, who had a manager. And charges were brought to him that this person was squandering his possessions.

2 And he summoned him [and] said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give the account of your management, because you can no longer manage.'

3 And the manager said to himself, 'What should I do, because my master is taking away the management from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.

4 I know what I should do, so that when I am removed from the management they will welcome me into their homes!'

5 And he summoned each one of his own master's debtors [and] said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'

6 And he said, 'A hundred measures of olive oil.' So he said to him, 'Take your promissory note and sit down quickly [and] write fifty.'

7 Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your promissory note and write eighty.'

8 And the master praised the dishonest manager, because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are shrewder than the sons of light with regard to their own generation.

9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it runs out they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.

10 "The one who [is] faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and the one who [is] dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much.

11 If then you have not been faithful with unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true [riches]?

12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you your own?

13 No domestic slave is able to serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and money."

Hypocrisy, Law, and the Kingdom of God

14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these [things], and they ridiculed him.

15 And he said to them, "You are the ones who justify themselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts! For [what is] [considered] exalted among men [is] an abomination in the sight of God.

16 "The law and the prophets [were] until John; from that time [on] the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urgently pressed into it.

17 But it is easier [for] heaven and earth to pass away than [for] one stroke of a letter of the law to become invalid.

On Divorce

18 "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from [her] husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 "Now a certain man was rich, and dressed [in] purple cloth and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day.

20 And a certain poor man {named} Lazarus, covered with sores, lay at his gate,

21 and was longing to be filled with what fell from the table of the rich man. But even the dogs came [and] licked his sores.

22 Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels to {Abraham's side}. And the rich man also died and was buried.

23 And in Hades he lifted up his eyes [as he] was in torment [and] saw Abraham from a distance, and Lazarus {at his side}.

24 And he called out [and] said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he could dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering pain in this flame!'

25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you received your good [things] during your life, and Lazarus likewise bad [things]. But now he is comforted here, but you are suffering pain.

26 And in [addition to] all these [things], a great chasm has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross over from here to you are not able [to do so], nor can they cross over from there to us.'

27 So he said, 'Then I ask you, father, that you send him to my father's house,

28 for I have five brothers, so that he could warn them, in order that they also should not come to this place of torment!'

29 But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; they must listen to them.'

30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent!'

31 But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead.'"

Luke 16 Commentary

Chapter 16

The parable of the unjust steward. (1-12) Christ reproves the hypocrisy of the covetous Pharisees. (13-18) The rich man and Lazarus. (19-31)

Verses 1-12 Whatever we have, the property of it is God's; we have only the use of it, according to the direction of our great Lord, and for his honour. This steward wasted his lord's goods. And we are all liable to the same charge; we have not made due improvement of what God has trusted us with. The steward cannot deny it; he must make up his accounts, and be gone. This may teach us that death will come, and deprive us of the opportunities we now have. The steward will make friends of his lord's debtors or tenants, by striking off a considerable part of their debt to his lord. The lord referred to in this parable commended not the fraud, but the policy of the steward. In that respect alone is it so noticed. Worldly men, in the choice of their object, are foolish; but in their activity, and perseverance, they are often wiser than believers. The unjust steward is not set before us as an example in cheating his master, or to justify any dishonesty, but to point out the careful ways of worldly men. It would be well if the children of light would learn wisdom from the men of the world, and would as earnestly pursue their better object. The true riches signify spiritual blessings; and if a man spends upon himself, or hoards up what God has trusted to him, as to outward things, what evidence can he have, that he is an heir of God through Christ? The riches of this world are deceitful and uncertain. Let us be convinced that those are truly rich, and very rich, who are rich in faith, and rich toward God, rich in Christ, in the promises; let us then lay up our treasure in heaven, and expect our portion from thence.

Verses 13-18 To this parable our Lord added a solemn warning. Ye cannot serve God and the world, so divided are the two interests. When our Lord spoke thus, the covetous Pharisees treated his instructions with contempt. But he warned them, that what they contended for as the law, was a wresting of its meaning: this our Lord showed in a case respecting divorce. There are many covetous sticklers for the forms of godliness, who are the bitterest enemies to its power, and try to set others against the truth.

Verses 19-31 Here the spiritual things are represented, in a description of the different state of good and bad, in this world and in the other. 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. 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. Here is the different condition of this godly poor man, and this wicked rich man, at and after death. The rich man in hell lifted up his eyes, being in torment. 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. But the damned in hell shall not have the least abatement of their torment. Sinners are now called upon to remember; but they do not, they will not, they find ways to avoid it. 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. 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 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! 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 isaiah 8:20 ) , for that is the ( 2 Peter. 1:19 ) 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("summoned") has been translated as a finite verb
• [b]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("summoned") has been translated as a finite verb
• [c]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("sit down") has been translated as a finite verb
• [d]. Or "kind"
• [e]. *The word "[riches]" is not in the Greek text but is implied
• [f]. The verb is translated here as a passive; some English versions translate the verb as active ("forces [their way] into it")
• [g]. Literally "by name"
• [h]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("came") has been translated as a finite verb
• [i]. Literally "the bosom of Abraham"
• [j]. *Here "[as]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("was") which is understood as temporal
• [k]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("lifted up") has been translated as a finite verb
• [l]. Literally "in his bosom"
• [m]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("called out") has been translated as a finite verb
• [n]. *The words "to do so" are not in the Greek text but are implied