# Luke 16 📖: Faithful in Little Things [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Luke Overview]] | [[Luke 15]] | [[Luke 17]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) #### The Parable of the Clever Steward **Principle**: Be wise. [[#Verse 01.]] Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets.  [[#Verse 02.]] 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.’  [[#Verse 03.]] 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.  [[#Verse 04.]] I know what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.’  [[#Verse 05.]] So he contacted his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’  [[#Verse 06.]] The man replied, ‘100 measures of olive oil.’ The managersaid to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’  [[#Verse 07.]] Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ The second man replied, ‘100 measures of wheat.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write 80.’ [[#Verse 08.]] 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.  [[#Verse 09.]] 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. [[#Verse 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.  [[#Verse 11.]] If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches?  [[#Verse 12.]] And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own?  [[#Verse 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 serve God and money.” #### More Warnings about the Pharisees **Principle**: The Kingdom of God reigns over all. [[#Verse 14.]] The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him.  [[#Verse 15.]] But Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight. [[#Verse 16.]] “The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it.  [[#Verse 17.]] But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter in the law to become void. [[#Verse 18.]] “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. #### The Rich Man and Lazarus **Principle**: What you do continues after you... good and bad. [[#Verse 19.]] “There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  [[#Verse 20.]] But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores,  [[#Verse 21.]] who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores. [[#Verse 22.]] “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.  [[#Verse 23.]] And in Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side.  [[#Verse 24.]] So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this fire.’  [[#Verse 25.]] But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish.  [[#Verse 26.]] Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’  [[#Verse 27.]] So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father—send Lazarus to my father’s house  [[#Verse 28.]] (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’  [[#Verse 29.]] But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’ [[#Verse 30.]] Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’  [[#Verse 31.]] Hereplied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” [[Luke 17]] ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. A household manager (16:1) handled his master's business and accounts and could act in his name. 2. A hundred measures of olive oil (16:6) was a very large debt, roughly 800 to 900 gallons. 3. Some scholars think the manager reduced the bills by removing his own commission or hidden interest, which the Law forbade charging fellow Israelites (Deuteronomy 23:19). 4. "Mammon" (16:9, 13) is an Aramaic word for wealth or possessions. 5. Luke notes that the Pharisees who scoffed at Jesus loved money (16:14). 6. The "smallest stroke of a letter" (16:17) refers to tiny marks that distinguish one Hebrew letter from another. 7. Purple cloth and fine linen (16:19) were luxury goods. Purple dye came from sea snails and was extremely expensive. 8. Lazarus is the only character in any of Jesus' parables who is given a name. The name means "God helps." 9. Dogs (16:21) in Jewish towns were mostly scavengers, not household pets, which adds to Lazarus's humiliation. 10. "Abraham's side" (16:22) pictures the place of honor at a banquet, reclining next to the father of the Jewish people. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One who truly rose from the dead (16:31). Those who will not listen to Moses and the Prophets will not be persuaded even by a resurrection, yet Moses wrote about Him (John 5:46). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Jesus said whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much (16:10). What "little things" is God asking you to handle faithfully? 2. Jesus said no one can serve both God and money (16:13). What signs show which master you are really serving? 3. The rich man ignored Lazarus at his gate day after day (16:20-21). Who is at your gate that you might be overlooking? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 10: Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much. - 📖 verse 13: No one can serve two masters; you cannot serve God and money. - 📖 verse 15: God knows the heart, and what people highly value can be detestable to Him. - 📖 verse 31: Those who will not listen to Moses and the Prophets will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[1 Timothy 06#Verse 17.|1 Timothy 6:17-19]] - Use wealth to lay up treasure for the future. - 🔗 [[Matthew 06#Verse 24.|Matthew 6:24]] - No one can serve two masters. - 🔗 [[1 Samuel 16#Verse 07.|1 Samuel 16:7]] - The Lord looks at the heart. - 🔗 [[Matthew 05#Verse 18.|Matthew 5:18]] - Not the smallest letter will pass away. - 🔗 [[Proverbs 21#Verse 13.|Proverbs 21:13]] - Shutting your ears to the poor. - 🔗 [[John 05#Verse 46.|John 5:46-47]] - Moses wrote about Me. - 🔗 [[John 12#Verse 10.|John 12:10-11]] - Lazarus raised, yet many still refuse to believe. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Luke 16 - SOAP|Did You Do The Dishes?]] ## 📂 Internal Notes