What I’m saying is that He could be making a point that’s part of a bigger point.
Jesus gives a parable about a shrewd manager. It has a message to it that Jesus highlights afterwards. We can take it as it is just as that and leave it.
It’s just that right after that parable about how a man deals with things when it comes to finances, Jesus makes a point about character and faithfulness. Suggesting that if you’re a character in one level, you won’t necessarily change from that character in another circumstance.
From there He makes an issue about who you serve.
“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honours is detestable in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:13-15)
Soon after this he drops that bombshell, he has another parable to share. Once more it involves riches and how a man’s attitude to the poor can end up going horribly wrong. Among the things mentioned, it’s pointed out that there is enough in the Law and the Prophets to live in a way that looks out for the poor. Jesus fulfilling the Law and the Prophets is Him embodying a desire to help and love His neighbour whether it’s a foreigner, a tax collector or a poor person.
If your attitude is already bent against that, there’s little that even someone dying and rising from the dead will do to change that attitude.
There’s just a connection and more than a loose thread of a theme running through from the parable of the shrewd manager to the story of Lazarus and the apparently rich guy.
Loyalty to the Lord makes Him the priority. Loyalty to the Lord makes the declaration that there’s more to life than money and life won’t revolve around money or be ruled bu it. Loyalty to the Lord is faithfulness to Him as the one you serve, not to other pressing forces, such as the quest for financial satisfaction. Loyalty to the Lord leads to a love for the poor that is far more concerned with their plight than the state of your bank account.
It was a provocative position for Jesus to take then and it’s still disruptive in a day and age now where money’s hold on people can still take on a cunning disguise in pious, religious and moral garb.
It is one of the highlights of my life so far to witness people and organisations being far more concerned with the plight of their fellow man. Whether it’s feeding the hungry on the street or looking to provide shelter. Whatever the cause was, they didn’t turn a blind eye to the needs of others around them. Love expressed itself in pursuing the lost and the poor and where it was needed doing what it took to meet a need and share the good news of the Saviour who fulfilled words of righteousness, honour and justice.
Faithfulness in the commitment to that in small things will lead to being trusted to see that commitment expressed far beyond the small. This is because those who are touched by this brilliant, loving Jesus know that there’s more to life than …
(Photo by lucas Favre on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 