Notes on Luke 16:14-18

Luke 16:14-18 is sectioned between two parables regarding "money" (Luke 16:1-13 and Luke 16:19-31) and Jesus specifically addresses the term "money (Luke 16:14). Not only did the Pharisees literally "love money" they they had been entrusted with much more - the covenants, the law, the Temple, etc. (Rom. 9:1-5) - and they did not make shrewd use of these blessings either. They took these riches and justified themselves before "men," not "God" (Luke 16:14-15). In essence, they misused the resources of the Kingdom of God. They were unwise dishonest stewards.

Luke speaks of two time periods, "the law and the prophets" and "the Kingdom of God" (Luke 16:16) with the dividing line between them being the ministry of John the Baptist. Lenski states, "This is a powerful assertion of the unchanging authority of the divine Word. What Jesus has just said about the Pharisees' justifying themselves before men when God regards them as an abomination is sealed by the Word of God."

Ryle's treatment of this text is rather helpful. He says:

Neutrality impossible; the dignity of the law (Luke 16:13-18)

1. A divided heart

These verses teach us, first, about the uselessness of trying to serve God with a divided heart. Our Lord Jesus Christ says, "No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money" (Luke 16:13).

The truth our Lord propounds here seems, at first sight, to be so obvious that there is nothing to discuss. And yet thousands of people are constantly trying to do the things which Christ says are impossible. They try to be friends of the world and friends of God at the same time. Their consciences are enlightened to the extent that they want to have some religion, but their affections are chained down to earthly things, so that they never show they are true Christians [because they aren't]. This results in their living in a state of unhappiness. They have too much religion to be happy in this world, and they have too much of the world in their hearts to be happy with their religion. In short, they waste their time trying to do what cannot be done. They are striving to serve "God and Money."

2. Two opposing views: God's and man's

These verses teach us, second, how differently God and man look at things. Our Lord Jesus Christ declares this in a severe rebuke which he gives to the covetous Pharisees who derided him. He says, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight" (Luke 16:15).

Whose words, after all, are true? Whose view of life is correct? Whose judgment will stand at the last day? By whose standard will all be tried before they receive their eternal sentence? Before whose bar will the current opinions of the world be tested and weighed at last? These are the only questions which ought to influence our behavior, and to these questions the Bible gives a clear answer. The counsel of the Lord alone will stand forever. The word of Christ alone will judge us on the last day. By that word let us live. By that word let us measure everything and every person in this evil world. It does not matter what people think. What says the Lord? It does not matter what is customary and fashionable. "Let God be true, and every man a liar" (Romans 3:4). The more closely we have the mind of Christ, the better prepared we are for the judgment day. To love what God loves, to hate what God hates, and to approve what God approves is true Christianity. The moment we find ourselves honoring anything which in God's sight is seen to be less worthwhile, we may be sure that there is something wrong in our souls.

3. The dignity and sanctity of God's law

These verses teach us, lastly, the dignity and sanctity of God's law. Our Lord Jesus Christ declares that "it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law" (Luke 16:17).

God's holy law was frequently defended by our Lord during his earthly ministry. Sometimes we find him defending it against human additions, as in the case of the fourth commandment; sometimes we find him defending it against those who wanted to water down its requirements, as in the case of marriage. But we always find him speaking respectfully about the law. He always made the "law great and glorious" (Isaiah 42:21). The ceremonial law was a type of his own Gospel and was fulfilled to the last letter. The moral law revealed God's eternal mind and was perpetually binding on Christians. . . .

Let us settle it in our minds that "the law is good if a man uses it properly" (1 Timothy 1:8). It is intended to show us God's holiness and our sinfulness, to convince us of sin and to lead us to Christ, to show us how to live after we have come to Christ, and to teach us what to follow and what to avoid. The person who uses the law in this way will find a true friend for his soul. The established Christian will always say, "In my inner being I delight in God's law" (Romans 7:22). . . .

The chain of thought here is probably this: Think not because I say that the law and the prophets have introduced a better dispensation, the kingdom of God, that I count the law and the prophets of no value. On the contrary, I tell you that they are of eternal dignity and obligation. They have paved the way to a clearer revelation, but they have not been set aside.

Jesus closes with an example that the moral aspects of the law is still in force even in the New Testament (Luke 16:18). Hendriksen states, "Over against the attempts to circumvent God's law (including that of Deut. 24) Jesus declares that whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and that the man who marries a divorce also commits adultery." In essence, the Pharisees' attempt to circumvent God's law is not unnoticed. Their adultery of the law will be punished. In the day of judgment they will be see as the spiritual type of "whores" that they really are!