Tyndale Open Study NotesLuke 16

There was a rich man whose manager: Wealthy landowners commonly put managers over their estates.

Turn in an account of your management: This financial statement was probably meant for the person who would replace the manager.

too ashamed to beg: The Jewish wisdom writer Sirach said, “It is better to die than to beg” (Sirach 40:28). This reflects how many Jews viewed begging.

The manager called in his master's debtors and reduced their debts. He made friends who would help him when he no longer had a job.

A hundred measures of olive oil … fifty: The measure in Greek is a batos (from the Hebrew bath), a standard unit for measuring liquids. A hundred measures could have been about 3,000 liters (800 gallons), and fifty measures about 1,500 liters (400 gallons). The exact sizes are uncertain.

A hundred measures … eighty: The Hebrew word for measures here is cor. This was the standard dry measure. A hundred measures could have been around 35,000 liters (9,300 gallons or 1,000 bushels) and eighty measures around 28,000 liters (7,400 gallons or 800 bushels). The exact size of the cor is uncertain.

Jesus seems to praise the manager for acting wisely, not for being dishonest. It likely means that believers should use their resources wisely as they prepare for eternity.

• The ways of the world are the opposite of God’s ways. The children of this world use all their resources to succeed or gain an advantage in this world. God’s people do just the opposite (16:9).

• the sons of the light: These are God's people (see John 12:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:5).

• Worldly wealth: This is a better translation than the traditional “mammon of unrighteousness” (KJV). Believers are to use their resources wisely for spiritual benefit.

• they will welcome you into eternal dwellings: This probably refers to the friends gained through faithful use of wealth. Just as the manager’s friends gave him security, the people brought into God’s kingdom will welcome believers into eternal homes.

No servant can serve two masters: Complete love and devotion can be given only to one master.

The Pharisees … heard all of this and were scoffing: People often thought wealth was a reward from God, so the Pharisees rejected the warning Jesus spoke about money.

• John the Baptist was a transitional figure. He was the last of the Old Testament prophets and the messenger who announced the coming age of salvation (see 1:5–25, 57–80; 3:1–20; 7:18–35).

• everyone is forcing his way into it: The verb usually refers to force or violence and may describe people trying to force their way into or oppose the kingdom (see Matthew 11:12). More likely, however, it describes people urgently pressing forward to enter the kingdom.

• This does not mean the Law has lost its power. The new covenant fulfilled the Old Testament laws and prophets, but the Law remains (however, compare Acts 15:23–29).

• God will cause heaven and earth to pass away and replace them with a new heaven and earth at the end of the age (Revelation 21:1). But God's word lasts forever (Psalm 119:89, 160; Isaiah 40:8; 55:10–11).

• This example fits the context by showing that the authoritative words of Jesus interpreted and fulfilled the Old Testament law.

• Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery: The Old Testament allowed divorce but did not approve of it (Deuteronomy 24:1–4). In the time of Jesus, Jewish teachers debated what counted as valid grounds for divorce. The school of Shammai taught that a man could divorce his wife only for sexual unfaithfulness. The school of Hillel allowed divorce for almost any reason.

  Against this casual view of marriage, Jesus taught that divorcing a spouse and marrying another person was equal to committing adultery. In other passages (Matthew 5:32; 19:9), Jesus gave a clear exception for cases of unfaithfulness.

This parable repeats the warning about the danger of riches (16:13–15). It also returns to the idea that when God’s Kingdom comes, many situations will be reversed (changed to the opposite).

The rich, proud, and powerful will be brought low, while the poor, humble, and oppressed will be lifted up.

Purple was the color worn by royal people. Phoenician purple was an expensive dye made from mollusks.

Even the dogs came and licked his sores: This is an image of misery and poverty. In Jewish culture, dogs were seen as unclean animals and scavengers (animals that eat what others leave behind).

carried by the angels to Abraham’s side: The Greek suggests a banquet at which guests reclined around a low table (see John 13:23). Lazarus was taken to the messianic banquet in the kingdom of God (see Luke 14:1–24).

Hades: This can refer to either the place where all people go when they die, or where the wicked go after death, as in this context.

• send Lazarus: Ironically, the man was still treating Lazarus as a lowly servant.

• I am in agony in this fire: See Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10, 14–15.

nor can anyone cross from there to us: This verse gives the general principle that a person's state after death is permanent.

they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead: Wicked people refuse to repent even when faced with overwhelming evidence of the truth.