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BOOK 42 OF 66 · GOSPELS · KING JAMES BIBLE

Luke 16

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REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Luke 16 Overview

Jesus tells the parable of the unjust steward to teach prudent use of temporary resources, warns that no servant can serve God and mammon, and rebukes money-loving Pharisees. He then teaches on the law, divorce, and the rich man and Lazarus, where earthly reversal gives way to irreversible conscious conditions after death and Abraham insists that Moses and the prophets provide sufficient testimony.

LukeBook
16Chapter
31Verses
GospelsDivision

Before you read Luke 16

Coming from

Luke 15 established the immediate context: Publicans and sinners draw near to hear Jesus while Pharisees and scribes complain that He receives sinners.

In this chapter

Luke 16 confronts money, stewardship, self-justification, covenant faithfulness, and the deadly illusion that present prosperity proves divine approval.

Leads into

Luke 17 continues the account: Jesus warns about offences, commands repeated forgiveness of a repentant brother, and corrects the disciples’ request for increased faith with mustard-seed and servant illustrations.

Key understandingExplore deeper

The unjust steward is commended for shrewd foresight, not dishonesty. Jesus uses a flawed character to teach disciples to use temporary wealth with eternal wisdom.

The rich man and Lazarus account should not be turned into a teaching that poverty earns heaven or wealth earns hell. The rich man’s life displays self-indulgent disregard, and the final emphasis rests on hearing Moses and the prophets rather than demanding spectacular signs.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Money is a stewardship test, not a master worthy of service

Faithfulness in little reveals readiness for greater trust.

God and mammon demand competing loyalties

Jesus denies the possibility of ultimate dual service.

Human approval can hide what God condemns

The Pharisees justify themselves before men, but God knows hearts.

Death exposes reversals hidden during life

The rich man’s comfort and Lazarus’s misery do not predict their final conditions.

Revelation already given is morally sufficient

Someone refusing Moses and prophets will not automatically be persuaded by resurrection spectacle.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Amos 6:1–7

The rich man’s luxurious indifference resembles prophetic condemnation of ease without grief for others.’ affliction.

1 Timothy 6:6–10,17–19

Paul similarly warns about love of money and urges rich generosity.

Hebrews 9:27

The New Testament affirms death followed by judgment, matching Luke’s irreversible postmortem seriousness.

John 5:45–47

Jesus later argues that refusal to believe Moses is connected with refusal to believe Him.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Do not imitate the unjust steward’s dishonesty

Jesus commends foresight, not fraud.

Do not teach salvation by poverty or damnation by wealth

The chapter condemns love of money, self-justification, and disregard of revelation.

Do not use rich-man/Lazarus details to map every feature of the unseen world beyond what Jesus teaches

The clear points are conscious reversal, fixed separation, and sufficiency of Scripture.

Read Luke 16 watching for…

What the steward is praised for.

Faithfulness in little and much.

The impossibility of serving two masters.

The Pharisees’ love of money.

Contrasts between the rich man and Lazarus.

Abraham’s final statement about Moses, prophets, and resurrection.

TWBC REVIEW STANDARD

Plain language. Scripture first. Fact distinguished from inference. No filler. No fake certainty. Designed to help you read the Bible itself.

Chapter outline3 sections
1-13Jesus teaches stewardship through the unjust steward and says no one can serve God and mammon14-18Jesus rebukes the Pharisees’ love of money and speaks about the law and marriage19-31Jesus tells of the rich man and Lazarus and the sufficiency of Moses and the prophets
1

And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

2

And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

3

Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

4

I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

5

So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?

6

And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

7

Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

8

And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

9

And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

10

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 trust the true riches?

12

And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?

13

No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

14

And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

15

And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

16

The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

17

And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.

18

Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

19

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 fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24

And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

25

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

26

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

27

Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

28

For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

29

Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

30

And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

31

And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

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Luke 16:24

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