Luke 16
16
The Story of the Crooked Manager
1-2Jesus said to his disciples, “There was once a rich man who had a manager. He got reports that the manager had been taking advantage of his position by running up huge personal expenses. So he called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? You’re fired. And I want a complete audit of your books.’
3-4“The manager said to himself, ‘What am I going to do? I’ve lost my job as manager. I’m not strong enough for a laboring job, and I’m too proud to beg. . . . Ah, I’ve got a plan. Here’s what I’ll do . . . then when I’m turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses.’
5“Then he went at it. One after another, he called in the people who were in debt to his master. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6“He replied, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’
“The manager said, ‘Here, take your bill, sit down here—quick now—write fifty.’
7“To the next he said, ‘And you, what do you owe?’
“He answered, ‘A hundred sacks of wheat.’
“He said, ‘Take your bill, write in eighty.’
8-9“Now here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.”
God Sees Behind Appearances
10-13Jesus went on to make these comments:
If you’re honest in small things,
you’ll be honest in big things;
If you’re a crook in small things,
you’ll be a crook in big things.
If you’re not honest in small jobs,
who will put you in charge of the store?
No worker can serve two bosses:
He’ll either hate the first and love the second
Or adore the first and despise the second.
You can’t serve both God and the Bank.
14-18When the Pharisees, a money-obsessed bunch, heard him say these things, they rolled their eyes, dismissing him as hopelessly out of touch. So Jesus spoke to them: “You are masters at making yourselves look good in front of others, but God knows what’s behind the appearance.
What society sees and calls monumental,
God sees through and calls monstrous.
God’s Law and the Prophets climaxed in John;
Now it’s all kingdom of God—the glad news
and compelling invitation to every man and woman.
The sky will disintegrate and the earth dissolve
before a single letter of God’s Law wears out.
Using the legalities of divorce
as a cover for lust is adultery;
Using the legalities of marriage
as a cover for lust is adultery.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19-21“There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man’s table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.
22-24“Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I’m in agony in this fire.’
25-26“But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It’s not like that here. Here he’s consoled and you’re tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.’
27-28“The rich man said, ‘Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won’t end up here in this place of torment.’
29“Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.’
30“‘I know, Father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but they’re not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.’
31“Abraham replied, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they’re not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.’”
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Luke 16: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Luke 16
16
1He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. 2And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ 3And the steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.’ 5So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8#1 Thess 5.5; Eph 5.8; Lk 20.34; Jn 12.36. The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world#16.8 Greek age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9#Lk 12.33; 18.22. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon,#16.9 Mammon is a Semitic word for money or riches so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations.
10 #
Mt 25.21; Lk 19.17. “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon,#16.11 Mammon is a Semitic word for money or riches who will entrust to you the true riches? 12And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13#Mt 6.24. No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”#16.13 Mammon is a Semitic word for money or riches
14The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they scoffed at him. 15#1 Sam 16.7; Prov 21.2; Acts 1.24; Lk 10.29. But he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
16 #
Mt 11.12-13. “The law and the prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and every one enters it violently. 17#Mt 5.17-18; Lk 21.33. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one dot of the law to become void.
18 #
Mt 5.31-32; 19.9; Mk 10.11-12; 1 Cor 7.10-11. “Every one who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
19“There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20#Jn 11.1-44; 12.1,9. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, 21who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22#Jn 13.23. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; 23and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. 24And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon 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.’ 25#Lk 6.24. But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26And 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.’ 27And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, 28for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29#Jn 5.45-47; Acts 15.21; Lk 4.17. But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30#Lk 3.8; 19.9. And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.’ ”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America