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Luke 16

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.

And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’

And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.

I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’

So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’

Then 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.’

The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?

And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

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 money.”

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.

And 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.

“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,

who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,

and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on 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.’

But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

And 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.’

And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—

for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Scripture quotations marked “ESV” are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Luke 16

The Dishonest Manager parable is addressed to the disciples and produces a sustained meditation on the relationship between material wealth and kingdom faithfulness. The shrewd manager who uses his last days of authority to create social obligations is commended for his shrewdness — not his dishonesty — and the disciples are instructed to use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The faithfulness-in-little principle governs the whole passage: trustworthiness in the small test of material wealth reveals the character that will be given true riches. The two-masters saying — you cannot serve both God and Money — is the summary. The Pharisees who love money sneer, provoking the response that what people value highly is detestable in God's sight. The Rich Man and Lazarus story is the chapter's culmination: the reversal of the Magnificat enacted — the rich man in torment, the poor man at Abraham's side — with the final word that those who do not listen to Moses and the Prophets will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.

Luke 16:9

I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings — use worldly wealth (tou mamōna tēs adikias, mammon of unrighteousness, unreliable wealth) to gain friends: the positive application of the manager's strategy. Money used to create relationships of generosity produces the welcome into eternal dwellings when the money is gone. The friends who welcome into eternal dwellings are those who have been served by the generous use of wealth.

Luke 16:10

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much — the faithfulness-in-little principle: the character displayed in small responsibilities reveals the character that will operate in large responsibilities. Trustworthiness is not contextual but character — it doesn't vary with the size of the trust.

Luke 16:11

So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? — the progression from worldly wealth (unrighteous mammon) to true riches (the spiritual realities of the kingdom). Who will trust you with true riches: the faithfulness in material things is the criterion for receiving kingdom responsibilities.

Luke 16:12

And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? — the property-you-hold-in-trust (the material wealth that belongs ultimately to God) versus the property that will be genuinely yours (the eschatological inheritance). Faithfulness with the entrusted property is the condition for receiving one's own.

Luke 16:13

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money — the two-masters principle: divided service is impossible. Hate/love and devoted/despise are not the emotions of the heart but the practical orientations of service — what one serves in practice defines what one loves. You cannot serve both God and Money (mamōna): the capital-M Money is the personified rival deity.

Luke 16:14

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus — the Pharisees who loved money (philargyroi, money-lovers) are the audience whose sneering triggers the following exchange. The hearing is addressed by the response — they heard and sneered; Jesus responds with the sharp rebuke.

Luke 16:15

He said to them, you are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God's sight — you justify yourselves in the eyes of others: the self-justification that the Pharisees perform before the human audience. God knows your hearts: the divine audience whose evaluation contradicts the human evaluation. What people value highly is detestable in God's sight: the reversal principle that underlies the Beatitudes.

Luke 16:16

The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it — the Law and the Prophets until John: the periodization of redemptive history. Since that time: the new era of the kingdom's proclamation. Everyone is forcing their way into it (biazetai): the urgency and vigor with which people respond to the kingdom's announcement.

Luke 16:17

It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law — the continuity of the Law: the kingdom's arrival does not abolish the Law. Even the smallest detail (keraia, the smallest stroke of a letter) remains. The Law's continuing validity is the ground for the following divorce teaching.

Luke 16:18

Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery — the divorce saying: the Law's continuing validity applied to the specific case of remarriage after divorce. The kingdom's ethics tighten rather than relax the Law's demands.

Luke 16:19

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day — the Rich Man and Lazarus story is not called a parable by Luke — it may be intended as a historical case or a story whose narrative features carry the weight of parable-like teaching. Purple and fine linen are the garments of extreme wealth and royalty. Lived in luxury every day: the daily, habitual indulgence.

Luke 16:24

So he called to him, father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire — father Abraham: the appeal to covenant lineage that cannot help here. Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water: the rich man's first request is for Lazarus to serve him — even in torment, the social hierarchy reasserts itself. I am in agony: the extreme suffering of the eschatological torment.

Luke 16:25

But Abraham replied, son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony — son: the covenant membership is acknowledged — he is Abraham's descendant. Remember that in your lifetime you received your good things: the simple explanation of the reversal — the earthly distribution was entirely to the rich man's advantage. Now he is comforted here and you are in agony: the present reversal is the fulfillment of the Beatitudes and Woes.

Luke 16:26

And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us — the great chasm (chasma mega, fixed and impassable) communicates the irreversibility of the eschatological division. The word set in place (esteriktai, has been fixed, is permanently established) communicates the divine determination of the boundary. The crossing is impossible in both directions.

Luke 16:27

He answered, then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family — the second request shifts from personal relief (water for my tongue) to family intercession: send Lazarus to warn my family. The concern for the five brothers is the first apparently selfless moment in the rich man's story.

Luke 16:28

For I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment — five brothers: the family who lived the same way the rich man lived, presumably facing the same fate. Let him warn them: the desire for a special messenger to prevent the brothers from arriving in torment.

Luke 16:29

Abraham replied, they have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them — Moses and the Prophets: the Scripture is the sufficient warning. The Torah and Prophets contain the teaching about wealth, poverty, justice, and judgment that the rich man ignored. They should listen to what they already have.

Luke 16:30

No, father Abraham, he said, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent — the rich man's insistence: Moses and the Prophets are insufficient — a resurrection appearance would be more convincing. The argument is that extraordinary evidence would produce the repentance that ordinary Scripture failed to produce.

Luke 16:31

He said to him, if they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead — the final word: if Moses and the Prophets cannot produce repentance, neither will a resurrection. The anticipated exception — someone rising from the dead — is made explicit and then denied as effective. This is the chapter's most significant prophetic statement: the resurrection of Jesus will not convince those who have rejected the Scriptures.

Luke 16:20

At his gate was laid a man named Lazarus, covered with sores — at his gate: the spatial proximity is the moral point. Lazarus is right there — at the gate of the rich man's house, visible from the entrance. Covered with sores communicates his physical condition. Lazarus is the only named character in any of Jesus' parables — the name (Eleazar, God is my help) is the theological statement about his true status.

Luke 16:21

And longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores — longing to eat the crumbs from the table: the Great Banquet parable's invitation to the poor, crippled, blind, and lame — Lazarus is that person, right outside the rich man's gate, wanting crumbs. The dogs who lick his sores communicate his complete vulnerability — the scavenging animals have more physical contact with him than the rich man who passes by daily.

Luke 16:22

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried — the time came when the beggar died: death is the great equalizer and the great revealer. The angels carried him to Abraham's side (kolpon Abraam, Abraham's bosom — the place of honor at the eschatological feast). The rich man also died and was buried: the burial noted for the rich man, unmentioned for Lazarus — even in death the social distinctions are maintained, only to be spectacularly reversed.

Luke 16:23

In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side — in Hades in torment: the reversal is complete. Saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side: the sight communicates the reality of the reversal — the rich man can see Lazarus at Abraham's side and Lazarus can see the rich man in torment.

Luke 16:1

Jesus told his disciples: there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions — the Dishonest Manager parable is addressed to the disciples (unlike the previous chapter's parables which were addressed to the Pharisees). The manager accused of wasting the rich man's possessions is the situation that produces the creative financial maneuver of the following verses.

Luke 16:2

So he called him in and asked him, what is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer — give an account of your management (ton logon tēs oikonomias sou): the final accounting demanded before the termination. You cannot be manager any longer: the dismissal is announced before the accounting — the manager is already fired; he just needs to settle the books.

Luke 16:3

The manager said to himself, what shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg — the internal monologue reveals the manager's self-assessment: no physical strength for manual labor, too proud for begging. The what shall I do now is the problem-solving that will produce the creative (if dishonest) solution.

Luke 16:4

I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses — the plan: create obligations in the wealthy debtors so that they will feel obligated to receive him after his dismissal. The plan is self-serving but brilliantly calculated — he uses his last days of authority to create a social network for his post-management life.

Luke 16:5

So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, how much do you owe my master? — the calling in of each debtor is the execution of the plan. How much do you owe: the specific inquiry before the specific reduction.

Luke 16:6

Eight hundred gallons of olive oil, he replied. The manager told him, take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it eight hundred — the first debtor: a hundred baths of oil (about 900 gallons) reduced to fifty. Take your bill, sit down quickly: the urgency communicates both the limited time available and the need to complete the transaction before the dismissal becomes widely known. Make it four hundred: the 50% reduction is the gift that creates the obligation.

Luke 16:7

Then he asked the second, and you, how much do you owe? A thousand bushels of wheat, he answered. He told him, take your bill and make it eight hundred — the second debtor: a hundred cors of wheat (about 1,000 bushels) reduced to eighty. The 20% reduction is still significant — the manager is creating goodwill while perhaps not exceeding his legal authority to offer discounts.

Luke 16:8

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light — the master commended him: the rich man's commendation is for the shrewdness, not the dishonesty. The people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind: the diagnosis of the disciples' failure — those oriented toward this world show more practical wisdom in pursuing their goals than those oriented toward the kingdom show in pursuing theirs.