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Texts -- Luke 16:1-13 (NET)

Context
The Parable of the Clever Steward
16:1 Jesus also said to the disciples , “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets . 16:2 So he called the manager in and said to him , ‘What is this I hear about you ? Turn in the account of your administration , because you can no longer be my manager .’ 16:3 Then the manager said to himself , ‘What should I do , since my master is taking my position away from me ? I’m not strong enough to dig , and I’m too ashamed to beg . 16:4 I know what to do so that when I am put out of management , people will welcome me into their homes .’ 16:5 So he contacted his master’s debtors one by one . He asked the first , ‘How much do you owe my master ?’ 16:6 The man replied , ‘A hundred measures of olive oil .’ The manager said to him , ‘Take your bill , sit down quickly , and write fifty .’ 16:7 Then he said to another , ‘And how much do you owe ?’ The second man replied , ‘A hundred measures of wheat .’ The manager said to him , ‘Take your bill , and write eighty .’ 16:8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly . For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries than the people of light . 16:9 And I tell you , make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth , so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal homes . 16:10 “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much , and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much . 16:11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth , who will entrust you with the true riches ? 16:12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property , who will give you your own ? 16:13 No servant can serve two masters , for either he will hate the one and love the other , or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other . You cannot cannot serve God and money .”

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Joseph experienced God's blessing as he served faithfully in Potiphar's house. His master's wife repeatedly seduced him, but he refused her offers because he did not want to sin against God and betray Potiphar's trust. Joseph...
  • Moses recognized that when Israel settled in Canaan and took on the characteristics of other nations (e.g., a homeland, political organization, etc.) her people would desire a king. As he revealed the mind of God here a king ...
  • This parable illustrates the two attitudes that people during the Tribulation will have regarding Jesus' return.24:45-47 The servants (Gr. doulos) are Jesus' disciples to whom He has entrusted the responsibility of managing H...
  • Though Mark did not record it, Jesus gave His disciples much additional instruction as they travelled from Capernaum in Galilee toward Jerusalem (cf. Matt. 8:19-22; 18:15-35; Luke 9:51-18:14; John 7:2-11:54). Evidently Jesus ...
  • The main doctrines of systematic theology that Luke stressed were Christology, soteriology, pneumatology, and eschatology. There is much emphasis on the glory of God, prayer, miracles, the divine plan that Jesus fulfilled, Is...
  • I. Introduction 1:1-4II. The birth and childhood of Jesus 1:5-2:52A. The announcement of John the Baptist's birth 1:5-251. The introduction of John's parents 1:5-72. The angel's announcement to Zechariah 1:8-233. The pregnanc...
  • Jesus now gave His disciples information that enabled them to understand the deeper teaching of the parable. The proclaimed Word of God does not in itself yield a uniform response of faith. Response to it is all important.8:1...
  • In this last major section describing Jesus' ministry in and around Galilee (4:14-9:50), Luke stressed Jesus' preparation of His disciples for the opposition that lay before them. This was the climax of Jesus' ministry in Gal...
  • Teaching of the disciples continues as primary in this part of the third Gospel (9:51-19:10). Jesus' words to them at the beginning of the present section (12:1-13:17) broadened to include the crowds toward the end....
  • Another question led to this teaching. The thematic connection with Jesus' words about the small beginning of the kingdom (vv. 19, 21) should be obvious. As elsewhere, Luke recorded Jesus teaching lessons and using illustrati...
  • 14:31-32 This second parable makes essentially the same point as the first one. However the cost of failure in this one is not just embarrassment but personal destruction. It is very important to assess the strength of one's ...
  • "Luke 16:1-8 contains probably the most difficult parable in Luke."36716:1 The linguistic connection that ties this parable with its preceding context is the word "squander"(Gr. diaskorpizo, cf. 15:13). This is the clue to th...
  • Jesus proceeded to draw two more lessons from the parable He had just told. One was the importance of faithfulness for Jesus' agents. The other was the importance of undivided loyalty to Jesus.16:10-12 Trustworthiness does no...
  • The Pharisees who where listening to Jesus' instructions to His disciples scoffed at Him because they tried to serve both God and mammon (v. 13). They tried to appear pious and at the same time accumulate all the wealth they ...
  • In this parable the rich man and his brothers who did not listen to Moses and the prophets (vv. 29-31) represent the Pharisees (vv. 16-17). The Pharisees believed in a future life and a coming judgment, but they, as the rich ...
  • Again an action by the Pharisees led to a brief answer from Jesus followed by a longer explanation for the disciples (cf. 15:1-16:13; 16:14-17:19). Luke's conclusion of Jesus' teaching on this occasion included a parable (18:...
  • Jesus continued His instruction to the disciples about His return. He told them a parable designed to encourage them to continue praying while they lived in the interval before His second coming.18:1 The audience for this par...
  • Luke next developed the idea of faith on the earth that Jesus introduced in verse 8. This whole section clarifies how people become believers. This subject is a fitting conclusion to the part of Luke's Gospel that deals with ...
  • Jesus' passion announcements to His disciples constitute important structural markers in Mark's Gospel. Luke and Matthew did not use them this way. The incident before us was the third passion announcement that Jesus gave bes...
  • This section in Luke's long narrative of Jesus' ministry as He travelled to Jerusalem (9:51-19:27) is climactic. It is a choice example of Jesus offering salvation to a needy person. Zaccheus accepted Jesus' offer and respond...
  • This parable serves in Luke's narrative as a conclusion to the section on salvation's recipients (18:9-19:27). It provides something of a denouement(i.e., a final unravelling of the plot) following the excellent example of Za...
  • This parable taught that Israel's religious leaders who had authority were mismanaging their authority. It also affirmed Jesus' authority, not just as a prophet, but as God's Son. The leaders had expressed fear of death (v. 6...
  • Alford, Henry. The Greek Testament. New ed. 4 vols. London: Rivingtons, 1880.Bailey, Kenneth E. Poet and Peasant: A Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1977.Bishop...
  • 2:37 The Holy Spirit used Peter's sermon to bring conviction, as Jesus had predicted (John 16:8-11). He convicted Peter's hearers of the truth of what he said and of their guilt in rejecting Jesus. Their question arose from t...
  • "The first paragraph (vv. 1-5) leads the way by making an application of the servant model and showing how that relates to their treatment of him [Paul]. He changes images from farm to household and insists that he is God'sse...
  • Paul returned to instructions concerning the false teachers (cf. 1:3-11; 4:1-5) to alert Timothy to their underlying attitudes so he could deal with them effectively.". . . Paul issues a kind of wanted poster.' It is the coun...
  • 1:3 Peter called his readers to bless (praise) God for giving us a living hope. This undying hope rests on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because He lives, we shall live. Our new birth gave us this resurrected life of Chri...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.'--Luke 16:8.THE parable of which these words are the close is remarkable in that it proposes a piece of deliberate roguery as, in some sort,...
  • He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your tru...
  • If ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?'--Luke 16:12.IN a recent sermon on this context I dealt mainly with the threefold comparison which our Lord runs between ...
  • There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21. And desiring to be fe...
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