Luke 16: Surprising Stories

We have come to expect the comfortable parables of God's unconditional love and amazing grace that we find in Luke 15.  But what do we do with the surprising stories of Luke 16?  Are we supposed to imitate the dishonest manager?  Do people in hellfire actually converse with people in heaven?  What is Jesus' intent in telling these stories?

All analogies break down at some point.  So, too, will parables only take you so far.  A helpful approach to understanding the stories of Jesus is to ask: What is the main point He is trying to get across?  It's best to not get bogged down in details which may not have anything to do with the larger purpose of the story.

For instance, look at Jesus' conclusion to the parable of the dishonest manager for a clue to its meaning: "Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings."  The preceding story is meant to illustrate precisely that point.  The message of the parable is not to encourage us to cheat our employers or defraud others.  Rather, the commendable behavior of the dishonest steward was his ability to THINK AHEAD AND TAKE ACTION.  According to his employer, he was shrewd.  He made calculated decisions.  The lesson for us, according to Jesus, is that we, too, should look ahead and view the real worth of temporary worldly goods only as a means for investing in heaven.  Earthly money is best used as a tool to prepare for eternity.

This is a lesson that was lost on the rich man.  Instead of sharing his resources with the poor man Lazarus at his gates, the rich man hoarded them all for himself.  He did not share what he had so that he would one day be welcomed into eternal dwellings.  And when he eventually died, all that worldly wealth did him no good.  It was Lazarus - the poor man - who enjoyed eternal favor in Abraham's bosom.  The rich man was left to suffer agony in flames (vs. 24).

The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his brothers about the torments of hell.  Abraham says it won't work (vs. 31).  Worldly wealth is such a distraction that even something as startling as a bodily resurrection is not enough to shake rich people from their spiritual slumber.  

WHAT'S IT GOING TO TAKE TO GET YOU TO LIVE RIGHT?  That's the question the story poses to me.  According to Abraham, it should be enough for us to have the testimony of the Bible.  But we find ourselves always craving something more dramatic and powerful to impress us.  The story makes us wonder: Would we finally get serious about living for God if someone came back from the dead?  Yet, Someone already has, hasn't He?  And we see that Abraham was correct.  For many people, even that hasn't been enough.