Parable of the Rich Man

LUKE — LESSON 16

Jesus may have still been at the dinner in the home of the prominent Pharisee or moving on south toward Jerusalem. Whichever, He still had a large crowd present including scribes and Pharisees and probably some Sadducees. He continues to teach the ways of God by using stories about everyday life called, parables.

The first two parables in chapter 16 deal with the love of wealth and money. Jesus was still dealing with the people’s belief that if an individual was rich and happy, he would enjoy God’s special blessings and favor. If he was poor and burdened he was experiencing God’s judgment. There was a real confusion between spiritual values and material values. The Pharisees, who should have been spiritual minded, pursued wealth because prosperity made them look good and righteous in the eyes of the people. They would declare their money and property dedicated to God (Corbon) so that they could invest it and avoid giving to the poor and even caring for their own parents.

[Luke 16:1-15] (1) Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. (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.’ (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 — (4) I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ (5) “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ (6) “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’ (7) “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’ (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. (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. (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. (11) So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (12) And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? (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.” (14) The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. (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.

This parable takes careful reading. The rich man in the parable had a very poor manager. The manager represented the scribes and Pharisees who focused on gaining wealth at the cost of the poor and needy. The manager was doing a poor job of managing the rich man’s property so the rich man told the manager to give an account or pay him the money that was owed before he was fired from his job. So the manager went to all the people who owed the rich man money or olive or grain to pay up but at a lessor amount. If they owed 900 barrels of olive oil the manager said to pay half and he would consider the debt paid, and so on. By doing this the crooked manager was making friends hoping they would help him when he lost his job.

Jesus told them that it was important to be honest in the dealings with men whether they had responsibility over much or over little. It was important and right to always be honest in handling worldly wealth. Those who are dishonest are guilty of loving money more than God. “The love of money is the root of all evil” as the saying goes. In verse 13, Jesus said, “You cannot love both God and money.” It says that the scribes and Pharisees sneered at Jesus. I can see Him looking right at them when He said, “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.

We will be held responsible to God for the wealth He gives us today. It is only on loan to us for our use in daily living and taking care of our families. But we need also to use that wealth to minister to others and to further the spreading of the gospel.

[Luke 16:16-18] (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. (17) It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. (18) Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The preaching of the Old Covenant prophets focused on keeping the Laws of Moses. John the Baptist also preached repentance according to the Old Covenant Law because John was the last of the Old Covenant prophets. Now Jesus and His disciples are preaching that the Kingdom of God has come. The strict Jewish keepers of the Law think that they are already part of the Kingdom of God because of their keeping of the Law. Jesus said no part of the actual Law of God would be discarded, but the religious leaders did their interpretations of the Law to cover the parts they did not want to keep. One of those parts was divorcing their wives. The Law of Moses was strict about when divorce was accepted and when not. In their interpretations, it was okay for a man to divorce his wife if she burned his dinner. When Jesus quoted the Law of Moses about divorce, these men would have known that He was aiming those words straight at them.

[Luke 16:19-31] (19) There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. (20) At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores (21) and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. (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. (23) In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. (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.’ (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. (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.’ (27) “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, (28) for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ (29) “Abraham replied, ‘they have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ (30) “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ (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.’”

This story is a complicated one. Some biblical scholars say that this is not a parable but a true story that Jesus is relating. Their reasoning is that in no other parable does Jesus give a name to a figure in the story. I believe that is true to a point. Another factor is that there were Jewish religious leaders in the crowd listening to Jesus. Among the leaders were two religious sects. One sect was the Pharisees who were strict keepers of the Law and who believed in the resurrection of the dead. The other sect was the Sadducees who kept the Law but did not believe in a resurrection of the dead. All the Jews at that time believed that the rich were blessed by God and the poor and sick were cursed because of some sin. This story poked all kinds of holes in that belief.

However, I believe that this story was aimed mostly at the Sadducees who did not believe in a resurrection. The High Priest was the head of the Sanhedrin and was the ruling body of the Jews. It had 72 members plus the High Priest. A man called Annas was High Priest and he had 5 sons who had also served as High Priest. All of this family were Sadducees. A man called, Caiaphas, was High Priest during the time of Jesus’ ministry and he was the son-in-law of Annas. Annas and his family were very rich. They owned booths at the temple were the money was changed to temple money and the animals and birds were sold for the sacrifices. They charged high prices for these animals and cheated the people, getting rich at their expense.

I think the rich man in this story was Annas who was High Priest and the real power over that office. It says that the rich man was clothed in purple robes and fine linen. The rich man’s five brothers could represent Anna’s five sons who had been High Priests. Jesus had a very close friend named Lazarus who would die soon and after he was dead for four days, Jesus would bring him back to life. The High Priest’s family are the ones who would bring about Jesus’ death on the cross. And they would also try to kill Lazarus because his resurrection for the dead caused many to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. So I think this story/parable was aimed at that the Jewish religious leaders concerning resurrection of the dead and the fact that these people were trying to find something to use against Jesus to have Him arrested and killed to get Him out of the way. They would be successful in a short time after this. We will cover all that in depth soon.

Lessons for us from Luke Chapter 16:

1. We are to love God first and He will provide for our needs.

2. We should deal with people fairly and honestly in all situations.
3. We should use of the wealth that God gives us to help those in need.

4. Eternal life in heaven with God and Jesus Christ awaits those who believe in Jesus as their Savior.

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