Jesus' began His response to the Pharisees' rejection of His teaching by pointing out the importance of submitting to God's Word.
16:14-15 Jesus rebuked His critics for their hypocrisy. They were able to explain their covetous practices to the Jews to their own satisfaction. Probably they reasoned that any wealth that they could accumulate was a sign of God's blessing on them. This was a common misinterpretation of the law in Jesus' day, as it is in ours. Their ostentatious display when giving alms may have been part of this hypocrisy too (cf. Matt. 6:2-4), but God was their real judge, and He knew their greedy hearts (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Chron. 28:9; Ps. 7:10).
What people esteem highly is the pursuit of money. That is detestable to God because it is idolatry. It robs people of their future, and it insults God who alone is worthy of our supreme devotion. Jesus illustrated this point with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus that follows (vv. 19-31). The Pharisees' values were wrong. What really mattered and what they should have concentrated on was the kingdom and God's Word.
16:16 The Hebrew Scriptures should have been of primary importance to the Pharisees. They pointed to the coming of Messiah. Since John the Baptist had come the message that he and Jesus had proclaimed had been that the Messiah was present and the kingdom was at hand. A new era had begun with John's preaching. The Pharisees had disregarded that preaching and in doing so had rejected the teaching of the Old Testament even though their fellow Jews were trying to get into the kingdom (cf. 13:24; 14:15; Mark 7:8-9).
The fact that Jesus said something similar about the kingdom on another occasion that Matthew recorded has raised questions about Jesus' meaning here and there (cf. Matt. 11:12-13). In Matthew, Jesus' point was this. The Jewish religious leaders were trying to bring in the kingdom in their own carnal way while refusing to accept God's way that John and Jesus announced. In the different teaching situation that Luke recorded, Jesus said something similar but slightly different. His point here was that many of the Jews were eager to enter the kingdom, but the religious leaders were hindering them by rejecting John and Jesus' ministries.
16:17 Regardless of the Pharisees' views the Old Testament would stand as the final authority. Verse 17 is a very strong attestation to God's preservation of Scripture (cf. Matt. 5:18). The implication was that Jesus' teachings would likewise endure.
16:18 Jesus next cited an example of the continuing validity of the Old Testament and the Pharisees' disregard of it. God still expected and expects submission to His Word. The Pharisees did not condone adultery, though they permitted divorce (Deut. 24:1-4). Some Pharisees permitted a man to divorce his wife and then remarry another woman, though many of them did not grant women the same privilege.374Jesus condemned such conduct as a violation of the seventh commandment. This was an example of the Pharisees justifying themselves in the eyes of men but not being just before God (v. 15). Jesus both affirmed and clarified the Old Testament revelation. Therefore for the Pharisees to disregard His teaching about money was equivalent to their rejecting other divine revelation.
This teaching on divorce supplements other statements that Jesus made on the same subject on other occasions (cf. Matt. 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:11). Matthew 19:9 and Mark 10:11 evidently record one teaching incident. Matthew 5:32 occurs in the context of the Sermon on the Mount. Luke's reference reflects a different context. As in Mark 10:11, Jesus omitted the exception clause here (cf. Matt. 5:32; 19:9). He evidently did not want to draw attention to the exceptional case because to do so would weaken His main point, namely that people should not divorce and then remarry another person. Matthew included Jesus' permission to divorce for fornication because the subject of how to deal with divorce cases involving marital unfaithfulness was of particular interest to the Jews.
"The basic application to this small unit is to respond with obedience to the kingdom demand for ethical integrity, whether it be in how we deal with our resources or how we approach our marriages."375
