Luke 16

1-8. Parable of THE UNJUST STEWARD. This parable has been variously explained and applied. But the key to it is in vers. 8, 9, on which see notes. In a sentence it may be said that the parable teaches that we should exercise prudence and foresight in regard to eternal things, even as men do in regard to their temporal affairs.

8 the lord. “His lord.” That is, the steward’s lord, who admired the man’s shrewdness, though he suffered by it. “The master praised the dishonest factor for looking ahead” (Moffatt).

children of light. The “sons of the light” are they who are illuminated by heavenly wisdom: see John xii. 36; Eph. v. 5; 1 Thess. v. 7, 8. They, however, use this wisdom to far less purpose in the pursuit of heavenly things, than the men of the world use their natural shrewdness in earthly pursuits.

9 friends of (by means of) the mammon, etc. As the unjust steward, by the use of his lord’s money, provided for himself “friends” and “habitations” against his time of need, so do you employ whatever your Lord entrusts to you in such a way that you may have friends and a home hereafter. This includes not only almsgiving, but all use of property in God’s service: ep. xii. 33; Matt. xxv. 34-40; Mark ix. 41; Heb. vi. 10.

mammon of unrighteousness. “The mammon which the unrighteous worship.” Make money, not your god, but your friend. Our Lord cautions us against two opposite mistakes: (1) idolising money, as if it were a good in itself; (2) supposing it to be so profane and unclean that it cannot be employed in the service of God.

when ye fall. Another reading has “when it fails.” When earthly wealth is gone, the eternal home remains. For “everlasting mansions,” R.V. translates, “the eternal tabernacles.”

they may receive you. The “friends” whom you have thus made will welcome you. It is not the title to heaven of which our Lord is speaking, but the welcome.

10 in that which is least. Or, as R.V., “in a very little”; in earthly riches. He who faithfully employs these will also make a right use of spiritual gifts.

12 that which is your own. Substantial, enduring, and inalienable possessions. These questions intimate that faithfulness to God is the highest prudence; to which the next verse, reproduced from the Sermon on the Mount, adds that this faithfulness cannot exist with the love of money (Matt. vi. 24).

14 covetous. Better, “lovers of money,” as R.V.

15 highly esteemed. The Greek means “lofty.” Is abomination. Or, “loathsome.” See Exod. viii. 26, and note.

16 until John. This had been already said to the disciples of the Baptist: see note on Matt. xi. 12.

17 it is easier, etc. Reproduced from the Sermon on the Mount: see note on Matt. v. 18.

18. Whosoever putteth away his wife, etc.** Another illustration of our Lord’s immediate subject—the false principles and teachings of the Pharisees: see notes on Matt. v. 31; xix. 3-9. This verse “combines the first case of Mark x. 11, with the second case of Matt. v. 32, and may be the original form” (Grieve).

19-31. Parable of THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS. The parable is an answer to the sneers of the Pharisees (14). Its main points are: 1. The uncertainty and transitoriness of earthly blessings; 2. The responsibility of rich men, not only for what they do, but for what they do not do, with their wealth; and 3. The supremacy of the Law of God as a guide to eternal life (Speaker’s Commentary).

19 fared sumptuously. Not to be understood merely of food: see R.V. marg., “living in mirth and splendour.” There is no intimation that his luxuries were unjustly acquired or squandered profligately. The sin was in the neglect of duty.

20. Lazarus.** The name Lazarus (or Eleazar, signifying one whose help is God) is probably meant to mark the poor man’s character, which is not otherwise designated. Not because he was poor, but because, in his poverty, he made God his trust, he is taken to “Abraham’s bosom.”

21 the dogs came. Treated by men contemptuously, as little better than a dog; and by dogs compassionately, as like one of themselves.

22. Abraham’s bosom. An expression derived from the position of the favoured guest at a feast (see John xiii. 23, 25), implying honour, joy, and intimate association (John i. 18).

and was buried. The rich man’s body has a gorgeous funeral on earth, the soul of Lazarus an angelic convoy to heaven.

23 hell. “Hades” (R.V.); the name given to the abode of the departed, both the righteous and the wicked: see Acts ii. 31; Rev. i. 18. It is by the “torments” that the state of the ungodly man after death is characterised.

24 tormented in this flame. The sufferings of disembodied spirits are here and elsewhere metaphorically represented by bodily pain.

25. Son, remember. There is every reason to suppose that, in the future state, the events of the past life will be vividly recalled by the memory, which will thus become a source either of grateful joy or of poignant anguish. The “rich man,” as a Jew, was a “son of Abraham.” The word employed is one of affection: “Child.”

thy good things. What most seemed “good” to thee: thy choice; “receiveth,” i.e., to the full: ep. Matt. vi. 2.

26 a great gulf. The image is that of a deep ravine, across which this conversation is held, as from opposite mountain sides. The details of the parable must not be literally pressed. They form its accessories, by which its spiritual lessons are conveyed.

29. Moses and the prophets. That is, their inspired writings, in which sufficient condemnation would be found of self-indulgent luxurious lives.

30. Nay. “Not so”; that is, I know they will not hear them.

31 though one rose from the dead. Lazarus was recalled from the grave, and One greater than Lazarus soon afterwards rose from the dead: but the Pharisees, instead of believing, were only the more exasperated against the truth. The claims of modern spiritism may well be subjected to the light of this parable.