CHAPTER 16

(A.D. 33)

THE UNJUST STEWARD

¹And He said also unto His Disciples (someone has said that Chapter 15 was addressed to the Pharisees in the hearing of the Disciples; Chapter 16 to the Disciples in the hearing of the Pharisees), There was a certain rich man, which had a steward (the moral of the Parable seems to be found in Verse 8); and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods (the man had wasted his employers goods).

²And He called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of You? (That you have wasted my goods.) give an account of your stewardship (will be the very words or similar which will be spoken to every Believer at the Judgment Seat of Christ); for you may be no longer steward (how many Believers are wasting that which the Lord has placed into their hands; in other words, they are not attending very well to the Lords business).

³Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? (This proclaims him beginning to make plans.) for my lord takes away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig (has reference to digging out stores of goods from stockpiles to replace what was lost; the idea is the goods which he was charged with have been wasted, and there is no more stockpile); to beg I am ashamed (many Believers will be ashamed at the Judgment Seat of Christ).

⁴I am resolved what to do (the beginning of a plan or scheme to provide for himself), that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses (he will ingratiate himself to those who owe money to his former Master).

⁵So he called every one of his lords debtors unto him (the beginning of his scheme), and said unto the first, How much do you owe unto my lord? (It is typical in one way or the other of that which is happening all over the world, each and every day, and millions of times over. The scheming and planning are the ordinary course of events in the world, and as Paul said, They do it to obtain a corruptible crown [I Cor. 9:25].)

⁶And he said, An hundred measures of oil (this steward actually had the right, as given to him by his employer, to set the price of certain commodities; however, as we see here, he misused that right in order to ingratiate himself with these debtors). And he said unto him, Take your bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty (he was wiping out half of their debt).

⁷Then said he to another, And how much do you owe? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take your bill, and write fourscore (he reduced his by twenty measures).

⁸And the lord (not the Lord of Glory, but rather his employer) commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely (exclaimed as to his cleverness, inasmuch as his dishonesty could not now be proven): for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light (this closing statement is the entirety of the moral of this Parable as given by Christ; the children of the world are wiser because the diligence given, crooked or otherwise, is the very best effort they have; but all too often, the children of light, even though possessing that which is far and away more important than anything the world has, still, most of the time pay precious little attention or diligence to the all-important task of living for God).

GOD AND MAMMON

⁹And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness (simply means that Believers must learn to be faithful with money regarding others and the Work of God; money is here called the mammon of unrighteousness simply because the love of such is the root of all forms of evil [I Tim. 6:10]); that, when ye fail (when you die), they (the Angels) may receive you into everlasting habitations (Heaven).

¹⁰He who is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much (implies that if a Believer is faithful with the money that God gives him, he will more than likely be faithful in all other aspects of his Christian endeavor): and he who is unjust in the least is unjust also in much (if the Believer will not allow the Lord to have first place respecting money, he will be unjust as well in spiritual matters).

¹¹If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon (this tells us that the Lord judges the faithfulness of a Believer, at least in part, as to how he handles money, which our Lord refers to as the mammon of unrighteousness), who will commit to your trust the true riches? (If you cant handle the least money, than how can you handle the much spiritual riches?)

¹²And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another mans (strikes at our practical everyday living), who shall give you that which is your own? (This tells us that the Lord will not bless anyone who does not discharge their responsibilities as they should.)

¹³No servant can serve two masters (we cannot serve the Lord and ourselves): for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other (mostly Jesus dealt with the Pharisees; here, He addresses the Publicans; they, plus every Believer, must be very careful about money, or anything for that matter thats not truly of the Lord). Ye cannot serve God and mammon (places God and money side by side, for this is what mammon means, at least in this case; money is not demeaned here by Christ; but the manner in which we hold or handle it; neither is the amount in question, but rather our faithfulness).

¹⁴And the Pharisees also (His statements applied to the Pharisees, as well as the Publicans), who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided Him (Israel had come to believe that riches equaled Godliness, and poverty equaled the curse of God; so they sneered at Christ, actually making fun of Him).

¹⁵And He said unto them, You are they which justify yourselves before men (means they tried to do things to make themselves look Holy in the sight of men); but God knows your hearts (thats a powerful phrase, God knows, and to be sure He does!): for that which is high ly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God (religious works are highly esteemed among men, hence, the adulation of the Catholic Nun called Mother Teresa; if men attempt to justify themselves with works, instead of by Faith in Christ and the Cross, God refers to it as abomination).

¹⁶The Law and the Prophets were until John (actually means, as far as John, which included that Prophet; in other words, John ministered unto the Law, but was the last Prophet of that era): since that time the Kingdom of God is preached (the Kingdom of God is obtained by being Born-again, which comes about by Faith in Christ, and what Christ has done at the Cross), and every man presses into it (every man is welcome into the New Covenant).

¹⁷And it is easier for Heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the Law to fail (Jesus would fulfill the Law, and in every capacity and, in fact, would be the only One Who ever did because He was the only One Who could).

¹⁸Whosoever puts away his wife, and marries another, commits adultery (Jesus addresses the subject here, even though it seems out of place, because the Pharisees treated divorce lightly and were secretly covetous and immoral; this is why, when exposed by the Lord, they derided Him): and whosoever marries her that is put away from her husband commits adultery (the Pharisees taught that if one was divorced, irrespective that they had no Scripture as grounds to do so, that they were then free to marry or to be married to such; Jesus refutes this, and does so pointedly).

¹⁹There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day (the Jews of Jesus day concluded that riches were the favor of God, and poverty was the curse of God; therefore, this illustration given by Christ ripped to shreds their false doctrine):

²⁰And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus (many claim this is a Parable not to be taken literally; however, as it is to be noticed, Jesus uses names in this illustration, meaning that its not a Parable but actually, something that really happened; consequently, it is chilling indeed!), which was laid at his gate, full of sores (the rich man saw Lazarus constantly, but offered no help whatsoever; as stated, such concluded ones like Lazarus to be cursed of God, and to help such would be thwarting the Plan of God; how so much the Word of God is twisted by so many),

²¹And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich mans table (probably means that this rich man felt very good with himself in even allowing crumbs to be given to this beggar): moreover the dogs came and licked his sores (proclaims the fact that this man was not only poverty stricken, but, as well, was sick; he would not fit the mold of the modern prosperity gospel, which, in fact, is no Gospel at all; but he definitely did fit Gods mold; we should consider all of this very carefully).

²²And it came to pass, that the beggar died (more than likely, no one cared, but the Lord cared, as we shall see), and was carried by the Angels into Abrahams bosom (Paradise; where all Believers went before the Cross; as well, Jesus also tells us here that whenever a Believer dies, his soul and spirit are escorted by Angels into the presence of God): the rich man also died, and was buried (no Angels carried him away, for he died eternally lost; him being rich did not carry any weight as it regards his souls Salvation);

²³And in Hell he lift up his eyes (Jesus here plainly proclaims the Doctrine of Eternal Hell; as well, He also proclaims the fact that the soul and the spirit immediately go to Heaven or Hell at the time of death, and that the soul and the spirit are totally conscious), being in torments (to say the least, Hell is not a pleasant place and, as stated, it is eternal), and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom (all Believers before the Cross expressed faith in the Revelation given to Abraham by God as it regards Redemption and, in a sense, it is the same presently [Rom. 4:16]).

²⁴And he cried and said, father Abraham, have mercy on me (there are no unbelievers in Hell, nor is there any Salvation there; the rich man repented, but too late), and send Lazarus (he had no concern for Lazarus back on Earth, but his conscience now recalls many things, but too late), that he may dip the tip of his finger in water (evidently there is no water there), and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame (the Bible teaches that the fires of Hell are literal; Jesus said so!).

²⁵But Abraham said, Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things (in no way does it mean that this was the cause of him being lost; it merely means that he was treated very well, but showed no thankfulness for his blessings), and likewise Lazarus evil things (the rich man didnt allow his blessings to bring him to the Lord, and Lazarus didnt allow his poverty to keep him from the Lord): but now he is comforted (because he had accepted the Lord), and you are tormented (the word now is that which is all-important; it speaks of the time after death; will it be one of comfort or torment?).

²⁶And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed (this is in the heart of the Earth [Mat. 12:40]; before the Cross, even though all who went to Paradise were comforted, they were still captives of Satan, with him hoping that ultimately he would get them over into the burning pit [Eph. 4:8-9]; this means that when Believers died before the Cross, due to the fact that the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins, the sin debt remained, and Satan still had a claim on them; so all those in Paradise were awaiting the Cross, which would deliver them): so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot (proclaims the fact that all opportunities for Salvation are on this side of the grave; this means that the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory is a fools hope; there is no such place); neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence (but yet it was possible for those in Hell to look over and see those in Paradise, and it seems to speak to them; that place, due to the Cross, is now empty, with all liberated by Christ after the price was paid [Eph. 4:8-9]).

²⁷Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that you would send him (send Lazarus) to my fathers house (this is the only example of praying to a dead Saint in Scripture; let those who do so remember that prayer to all other dead Saints will avail just as much as this prayer did nothing):

²⁸For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them (these statements proclaim the fact that this man had a working knowledge of God and more than likely even professed Salvation before his death; but he wasnt Saved!), lest they also come into this place of torment (he did not ask this grace for himself, for he knew that he was eternally entombed; it is easy to step into Hell, but impossible to step out).

²⁹Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them (doesnt mean that this event happened during the time of Moses, but that Abraham is referring to the Word of God; this tells us that at least a part of the Old Testament had then been written).

³⁰And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent (the Scriptures contain all that is necessary to Salvation; a returned spirit could add nothing to them; and a man who will not listen to the Bible would not listen to a multitude, if raised from the dead; in fact, a few days later, the Lord did raise a man named Lazarus from the grave, and the Pharisees went about to put him to death).

³¹And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead (this illustration as given by Christ, actually happened and, in fact, presents a startling portrayal of life after death; we learn from this, and in stark reality, that the only thing that really matters in life is being right with God; there is a Heaven and there is a Hell, and every soul who has ever lived has gone or is going to one or the other; the only way to make Heaven ones eternal Home is to accept Christ; He Alone is the Door; everything else leads one to Hell, exactly as the rich man found out, and to his eternal dismay).