Notes on Luke 16:13-31

Luke 16:13

servant. Serving God brings freedom and joy (Rom. 6:18). Serving anything else is idolatry and it brings bondage (John 8:34; Rom. 6:16-18). love . . . hate. Masters call for an exclusive commitment. Between two masters, someone or something is going to rise to the top of your affections and be the supreme treasure of your heart. It's either God or an idol like wealth (14:26).

Luke 16:14

Pharisees. See note on 5:17.

Luke 16:15

justify yourself. They tried to show their righteousness by their external behavior (see 10:29). Part of this was displays of wealth. They wrongly believed that wealth was a sign of God's acceptance (see 1:52-53; 6:20-26; Matt. 6:19-21; Jam. 1:9-11). hearts. You might fool everyone else by looking righteous on the outside. But you cannot fool God who sees the heart. Loving anything more than him is abomination. See BC 23.

Luke 16:16

law and the prophets. These represents the Old Testament age. John. Jesus's cousin, John the Baptist (see notes on 1:13-17; 3:1-21). From that time. The Old Testament age was superseded by the new age of Jesus and his kingdom. John was the last of the old prophets who had the privilege of preparing the way for Jesus (see notes on 7:24-30). As the promised Christ, Jesus preached the kingdom (Mark 1:15). force. Those who heard the good news and believe, strive against the world to enter into the kingdom (Matt. 11:12).

Luke 16:17

The old covenant law is still significant because Jesus fulfilled it (24:44; Matt. 5:17-18). Likewise, the law reflects God's righteous character, which doesn't change (Num. 23:19; Mal. 3:6; Jas. 1:7). But the Pharisees did live according to this law (v. 18). stroke of a letter. Small marks that distinguished letters in the Hebrews alphabet. Jesus emphasized the importance of all God's Word.

Luke 16:18

Some rabbis in Jesus's day twisted God's law, which permitted divorce because of sexual immorality (Deut. 24:1-4), to allow divorce for any reason. This was an example of Pharisee's hypocrisy (vv. 14-15). They boasted about keeping the law, but actually tried to escape its godly intent (11:37-44; Matt. 23:2-3). divorces. Elsewhere, Jesus and his apostle, Paul, allow for divorce in cases of sexual immorality (Matt. 5:32; 19:9) and abandonment by an unbelieving spouse (1 Cor. 7:10-11). However, divorce is never mandated, for it results from sin (Mal. 2:14, 16). commits adultery. Because the married couple is one flesh the marriage is meant to be permanent (Gen. 2:24). If divorce occurs on unbiblical grounds, remarriage is forbidden as the divorce is considered invalid. Thus, remarriage after an unbiblical divorce is considered adultery.

Luke 16:19-31

This passage is unique to Luke. Unlike every other place in the last two chapters, Luke does not introduce this by saying, Jesus taught a parable. Furthermore, most of the characters in Jesus's parables are anonymous. We hear about a shepherd, a woman, a father, but here Jesus broke social convention to highlight a poor man's name. This story describes not just the coming judgment or a divine banquet, but the afterlife itself. Thus, some believe this story is rooted in actual events. But, the introduction is very similar to other parables (10:30; 14:16; 15:11; 16:1; 19:12), and continues Jesus's teaching on the dangers of money and the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (see notes on vv. 14-18).

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