60 to 75 min Analyze the Parable of the Dishonest Manager as a lesson in shrewd kingdom foresight. Understand Jesus' declaration that no servant can serve two masters: God and money. Examine the continuity of the Law and the Prophets in light of kingdom righteousness. Deconstruct the narrative of the Rich Man and Lazarus, exploring its radical reversal of fortunes in eternity. Luke 16 contains two of Jesus' most striking and challenging teachings regarding material possessions. The chapter opens with the Parable of the Shrewd Manager, a dishonest steward who, facing dismissal, slashes the debts of his master's debtors to secure future hospitality. Jesus does not commend his dishonesty, but praises his realistic foresight: children of the kingdom should use worldly wealth to make eternal friends. When the money-loving Pharisees scoff, Jesus declares that God knows their hearts, for what is exalted among people is an abomination before God. The chapter culminates in the harrowing story of the Rich Man (traditionally called Dives) and Lazarus. The rich man feasts sumptuously in purple and fine linen while starving Lazarus lies at his gate covered with sores. At death, an irreversible divine reversal takes place: Lazarus rests in Abraham's bosom, while the rich man suffers torment, denied even a drop of water, having neglected Moses and the Prophets. Material resources must be handled with shrewd eternal foresight rather than selfish luxury, for earthly wealth cannot purchase salvation and eternity reverses all selfish entitlement. 16:1-9: The Parable of the Shrewd Manager A wealthy master charges his manager with wasting possessions. Facing dismissal and realizing he is too weak to dig and ashamed to beg, the manager calls his master's debtors one by one, reducing a bill of one hundred measures of olive oil to fifty, and a hundred measures of wheat to eighty. The master commends the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. Jesus explains: worldly people are shrewder in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. Use worldly wealth (unrighteous mammon) to make friends so that when it fails, you may be received into eternal dwellings. 16:10-13: Faithfulness and the Two Masters Jesus establishes the law of spiritual stewardship: "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 you have not been faithful in worldly wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? He concludes with an absolute ultimatum: "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." 16:14-18: The Lovers of Money and the Permanence of the Law The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, ridicule him. Jesus exposes 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. Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to drop out. 16:19-31: The Rich Man and Lazarus A rich man dresses in royal purple and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day. At his gate lies Lazarus, covered with sores, desiring to eat what fell from the rich man's table; even the street dogs lick his sores. Both die. Angels carry Lazarus to Abraham's side, while the rich man is buried and finds himself in torment in Hades. Seeing Abraham far off with Lazarus, the rich man cries: "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." Abraham replies: "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." When the rich man begs for Lazarus to warn his five brothers, Abraham declares: "They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them... If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead." Shrewdness (Phronimōs) Practical foresight and decisive action in light of impending crisis, commended by Jesus for eternal stewardship. Mammon (Mamōnas) An Aramaic term for wealth and material possessions, often personified as a rival master demanding total ultimate allegiance. Abraham's Bosom The Jewish idiom for the place of comfort, honor, and fellowship with the patriarchs in the afterlife for the righteous. Examine your financial habits: are you using money as a tool to advance the kingdom and bless the poor, or has money become your master? Notice the "Lazarus at your gate", the unseen, vulnerable, or struggling individuals whom your life intersects daily. Heed the authoritative word of Scripture today; do not demand spectacular signs as a substitute for obeying God's revealed truth. Why did the master commend the dishonest manager, and what specific lesson does Jesus draw from his actions? How does Jesus' warning that "you cannot serve God and money" confront modern consumerism? What was the rich man's fundamental sin in the story of Lazarus, and why does Abraham point to Moses and the Prophets? Clarify that Jesus commends the manager's shrewd foresight in preparing for his future, not his ethical dishonesty. Emphasize that the rich man is never accused of gross outward crimes; his sin was callous indifference to the starving man on his doorstep. Point out the irony in 16:31: even when Jesus rose from the dead, those with hardened hearts refused to repent. Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, chapter 16. Kenneth E. Bailey, Through Peasant Eyes, chapters on the Unjust Steward and Lazarus. Darrell L. Bock, Luke 9:51 to 24:53, BECNT. Identify one regular luxury or unnecessary expense in your weekly budget. Redirect that specific money this week to buy groceries, clothing, or essential supplies for a family or individual in material distress. Sovereign God, you are the true owner of all wealth, and before you all hidden hearts are laid bare. Deliver us from the love of money and the blindness of luxury. Give us eyes to see the hurting at our gates, and make us faithful, shrewd stewards of your resources for your eternal glory. Amen. Mammon, Eternity, and the Chasm of Indifference in Luke 16 Write 700 to 900 words on the stewardship of wealth and the reality of eternity in Luke 16. Analyze the Parable of the Shrewd Manager and the dramatic reversal between the Rich Man and [Lazarus](/bible/explorer/person/lazarus). Examine the ethical and interpretive difficulties of the Parable of the Dishonest Manager and what [Jesus](/bible/explorer/person/jesus) means by "unrighteous mammon." Analyze Jesus' confrontation with the money-loving Pharisees and his warning that human elevation is an abomination to God. Evaluate the social contrast between the purple-clad rich man and ulcer-covered [Lazarus](/bible/explorer/person/lazarus) at his gate. Discuss Abraham's refusal to send a ghost to warn the five brothers and why Moses and the Prophets are sufficient for repentance on the journey to [Jerusalem](/bible/explorer/place/jerusalem). Integrates rigorous textual exegesis of Luke 16 with historical understanding of Greco-Roman debt contracts, Jewish eschatological views of Hades, and practical economic ethics. According to Luke 16:13, what two masters is it impossible to serve simultaneously? God and Money (Mammon). Where was Lazarus carried by the angels when he died in Luke 16:22? To Abraham's side (or Abraham's bosom). What did Abraham say the rich man's five brothers should listen to for repentance in Luke 16:29? They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. Read Luke 16:1 to 31 in two modern translations. Read Deuteronomy 15:7 to 11 and Isaiah 58:6 to 10. The Manager's Debt Reductions Commentators explore whether the steward eliminated his own inflated commission or usurious interest disguised in the contracts, thereby winning popular praise and forcing his master to honor the discounts to maintain his social reputation for generosity. Parable vs. Historical Account of Lazarus Scholars examine whether Luke 16:19-31 is a formal parable utilizing contemporary folk motifs or an actual historical glimpse into the intermediate state. In either case, the theological focus centers on how present treatment of the poor determines eternal destiny. Lazarus is the only named character in any of Jesus' parables; his Hebrew name Eliezer means "God is my helper." Purple dye (porphyra) extracted from murex snails was the most expensive fabric in the ancient Mediterranean, worn exclusively by royalty and the ultra-wealthy. Kenneth E. Bailey, Through Peasant Eyes: More Lucan Parables (Eerdmans). Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke (NICNT).