Luke 16:1-18: God vs. Stuff, part 1

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This passage has three seemingly distinct teachings — parable of the shrewd manager, whether the Law and Prophets stopped with Yokhanan the Baptizer and a “one-liner” on divorce – but all of them as well as the parable that follows of the rich man and Lazar deal with one topic: God as Master or wealth as Master.

Many people are confused about this parable because it’s a parable about a very shrewd embezzler. The parables teach only one point and the point is in the punchline. Don’t get lost in the details leading up to it. 

Though seemingly disconnected, the parables and teachings in chapter 16 and 17 follow a general theme: The things of this world that seem to be something of value — money and prestige — are fleeting. Best to use one’s position and wealth for charitable purposes that support the Kingdom of God, which will endure. 

Luke 16:1–15: Parable of the shrewd manager

The main parable we will review is Luke 16:1-15, the parable of the shrewd manager. This parable has a similar punchline of the parable of he prodigal son in the previous chapter, which is about squandering one’s wealth or inheritance. In the parable of the prodigal son, the real wealth that had been squandered was the word of God. We see in that chapter how eager God is to call back those who didn’t realize what they had until it was gone and wanted it back. We also learned that those who know how valuable God’s word is and resent the “backsliders” who reject God’s word. 

The punchline of the parable of the shrewd manager is in Luke 16:9:

“And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.” 

In Rabinnic writings, when you see the word “them” or “They” without an antecedent, it’s a reference to the Kingdom of God or God’s world. In other words, the “they” that will “receive you into eternal dwellings” is God. 

One of the common teaching of the Pharisees is that all wealth comes from God. What is the wealth you think you have and what are you doing with it? The Pharisees of the first century were very interested in materialism and reputation. They thought highly of their own wealth and reputation but oftentimes were not protective of the wealth and reputation of others and were seen as backstabbers and gossips. 

Wealth is a fleeting thing. We can’t take it with us when we die so what do we do with it while we have it? Yeshua warns in Luke 16:10-11:

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?” 

What is the value of what you have in your hand? This applies to material wealth as well as to the things of God. 

The second “parallel” parable is Matt. 18:2-35 of the forgiving master and the unforgiving slave. The punchline asks us what do we do with the resources given us? Do we hoard them or do we use them to help others? Do we forgive as freely as we have been forgiven? Yeshua warns that if we do not forgive, we are not forgiven and this is true in both the material and the spiritual realm. 

The third “parallel” parable is Matt. 25:14-30, the parable of the three servants and the talents. The first two servants doubled the investment but the third one buries it and gives it back to the Master. The Master rebuked the lazy servant and gave it to the one who had doubled his talents. We are told that those who use what they have been given and increase it will be given more but those who do nothing with what they have will have it taken from them. 

Luke 16:16–17: Law and Prophets “until” or “toward” John the Baptist?

Now, we’ll look at Luke 16:16-17, which is also a perplexing verse:

“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.” 

The parallel texts we will review are in Matt. 11:7-15; Luke 7:24-30 and Matt. 5:17-20. 

Some have observed that the preposition translated “until” could be the same as ad in Hebrew, which can mean “until” or “with the goal of.” A messianic prophesy example of that is in Psa. 110:1:

“The LORD says to my Lord: Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” 

The goal of all the Law and Prophets was John the Baptist and his ministry as the herald of the Messiah. The law and the prophets point to John the Baptist and many want to have a piece of it.  

Many are confused by Yeshua’s comment in Luke 16 about “everyone forcing their way” or using violence to receive God. 

What was John’s baptism? Repentance. Those who received John’s baptism understood they deserved death, they received God’s justice but when they repented, they received God’s love and mercy. Crowds of people came out to meet John the Baptist. These large crowds attracted the attention of the scribes and pharisees in Jerusalem. The tax collector and sinners wanted God’s mercy and were willing do take John’s offer of repentance to have that debt discharged without being wiped out in the coming judgement where God is going to judge those who have squandered what God has given them. 

If God promises justice and mercy, that is what God is going to give. When God promises something, He will do it. 

God hasn’t just given people material wealth, He also gives us knowledge of His word. What are we doing with it? Are we using it to gather people in or to try to block them out. 

Matt. 5:17-20 shows us that we can count on God’s word that it does not change. 

Luke 16:18: A random teaching on divorce?

The last verse we will review is Luke 16:18, which seems to drop in out of nowhere talking about divorce. “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.” It’s not as random as one might think after we also review Matt. 5:31-32, Matt. 19:3-12 and Mark 10:10-12. 

The boundaries of marriage are set very high, as we read in all these texts. Only adultery can break it according to God. The Greek word for divorce is apoluo (G630), which means “to set free, release” it comes from the Greek words apo (G575, away, from) and luo (G3089, to loose, to release, to dissolve). In Deut. 24:1-4, certificate of divorce is translated from סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻת safar keritut. כָּרַת Karat (H3772) is a verb that means to cut off. Applied to in various places in Scripture, it refers to “cutting off” someone from a covenant or from life. 

Two common interpretations of Luke 16:18: 

1. It’s an example of how one small part of the Torah won’t disappear, as taught in verse 17. Yet marriage is hardly a small matter among God’s teachings. The entire book of Hosea is a lesson on God’s view of marriage
2. Some interpret this text as meaning that one can not divorce one’s wife for the expressed purpose of marrying another woman. One can not serve desires in life, so divorcing oneself from God’s way to “marry” the more attractive ways of materialism and praise of peers is “adultery.” In the scriptures, idolatry is often compared to adultery but it is also often compared to money. The religions in the world around Israel were polytheists, they were not monogamous to their god, just as they weren’t monogamous to their spouses. 

Speaker: Jeff. Summary: Tammy.