Luke 16, a visual study from The Lampstand Project.
You cannot serve God and money.
The parable of the dishonest manager. You cannot serve two masters. The Law and the Prophets. The rich man and Lazarus.
Three movements. The clever steward, the two masters, the great reversal.
Luke 16 is the great chapter about money in the Gospel. Two parables, both about wealth, and a direct teaching about the impossibility of dual loyalty. The dishonest manager is commended for his shrewdness in a crisis, not for his morality. The rich man and Lazarus is the most solemn parable in Luke — no party at the end, no reversal, just an unbridgeable gap and the haunting question of whether even a resurrection would convince.
A chapter in 3 movements.
Tap any numbered marker to read its part
“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.”
The dishonest manager. Shrewdness in a crisis.
There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought that this man was wasting his possessions. He calls him: turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager. The manager thinks: what shall I do? 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, people may receive me into their houses. He reduces his master’s debtors’ bills, one by one.
The master commends the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. The lesson is not an endorsement of dishonesty but a rebuke of shortsightedness. Use what you have for what lasts. Make friends by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. One who is faithful in very little is faithful in much. If you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body.”
“You cannot serve God and money.”
You cannot serve two masters. The Law and the kingdom.
The Pharisees, who love money, hear all these things and ridicule him. Jesus says: 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.
No servant can serve two masters. He will hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. The statement is structural, not merely motivational. It describes a real impossibility: divided allegiance in ultimate things is not a stable equilibrium. The question the chapter has been asking since the dishonest manager is simply: what will you be faithful to when it costs you something?
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
“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.”
The rich man and Lazarus. An unbridgeable chasm.
There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 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. 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, in torment, he lifts up his eyes and sees Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
He 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 says: child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things. Besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed. The rich man asks that Lazarus be sent to warn his five brothers. Abraham: they have Moses and the Prophets. If they do not hear them, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.”
The direct statement falls between the two parables and is the key to both. The dishonest manager uses money cleverly to secure his future; the lesson is to use the things of this age to secure the things of the next. The rich man ignored Lazarus at his gate and is now separated from Abraham by a fixed chasm. In both cases the question is: what did you do with what you were given?
The chapter of money and its master.
Jesus tells his disciples the parable of the dishonest manager, who is accused of wasting his master’s possessions. He reduces the debts of his master’s debtors so they will receive him when he is dismissed. The master commends him for his shrewdness. The lesson: use worldly wealth to gain friends so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. One who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest in much.
No servant can serve two masters. The Pharisees, who love money, ridicule him. He says: you are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Then the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. A rich man feasts every day. A poor man named Lazarus lies at his gate covered in sores. Both die. Lazarus is carried to Abraham’s side. The rich man is in torment. A great chasm has been fixed. Even if someone rises from the dead, they will not be convinced.
“For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”Luke 16:15 ESV
All scripture quoted from the English Standard Version (ESV). A study from The Lampstand Project.