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Please help me understand
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SumTinWong
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Matthew Henry the great Bible commentator said:
"Luke 16 -
The scope of Christ's discourse in this chapter is to awaken and quicken us all so to use this world as not to abuse it, so to manage all our possessions and enjoyments here as that they may make for us, and may not make against us in the other world; for they will do either the one or the other, according as we use them now.
I. If we do good with them, and lay out what we have in works of piety and charity, we shall reap the benefit of it in the world to come; and this he shows in the parable of the unjust steward, who made so good a hand of his lord's goods that, when he was turned out of his stewardship, he had a comfortable subsistence to betake himself to. The parable itself we have (Luk_16:1-8); the explanation and application of it (Luk_16:9-13); and the contempt which the Pharisees put upon the doctrine Christ preached to them, for which he sharply reproved them, adding some other weighty sayings (Luk_16:14-18).
II. It, instead of doing good with our worldly enjoyments, we make them the food and fuel of our lusts, of our luxury and sensuality, and deny relief to the poor, we shall certainly perish eternally, and the things of this world, which were thus abused, will but add to our misery and torment. This he shows in the other parable of the rich man and Lazarus, which has likewise a further intention, and that is, to awaken us all to take the warning given us by the written word, and not to expect immediate messages from the other world (Luk_16:19-31)."
Also He said "Luk 16:1-12 -
Whatever we have, the property of it is God's; we have only the use of it, according to the direction of our great Lord, and for his honour. This steward wasted his lord's goods. And we are all liable to the same charge; we have not made due improvement of what God has trusted us with. The steward cannot deny it; he must make up his accounts, and be gone. This may teach us that death will come, and deprive us of the opportunities we now have. The steward will make friends of his lord's debtors or tenants, by striking off a considerable part of their debt to his lord. The lord referred to in this parable commended not the fraud, but the policy of the steward. In that respect alone is it so noticed. Worldly men, in the choice of their object, are foolish; but in their activity, and perseverance, they are often wiser than believers. The unjust steward is not set before us as an example in cheating his master, or to justify any dishonesty, but to point out the careful ways of worldly men. It would be well if the children of light would learn wisdom from the men of the world, and would as earnestly pursue their better object. The true riches signify spiritual blessings; and if a man spends upon himself, or hoards up what God has trusted to him, as to outward things, what evidence can he have, that he is an heir of God through Christ? The riches of this world are deceitful and uncertain. Let us be convinced that those are truly rich, and very rich, who are rich in faith, and rich toward God, rich in Christ, in the promises; let us then lay up our treasure in heaven, and expect our portion from thence."
"Luke 16 -
The scope of Christ's discourse in this chapter is to awaken and quicken us all so to use this world as not to abuse it, so to manage all our possessions and enjoyments here as that they may make for us, and may not make against us in the other world; for they will do either the one or the other, according as we use them now.
I. If we do good with them, and lay out what we have in works of piety and charity, we shall reap the benefit of it in the world to come; and this he shows in the parable of the unjust steward, who made so good a hand of his lord's goods that, when he was turned out of his stewardship, he had a comfortable subsistence to betake himself to. The parable itself we have (Luk_16:1-8); the explanation and application of it (Luk_16:9-13); and the contempt which the Pharisees put upon the doctrine Christ preached to them, for which he sharply reproved them, adding some other weighty sayings (Luk_16:14-18).
II. It, instead of doing good with our worldly enjoyments, we make them the food and fuel of our lusts, of our luxury and sensuality, and deny relief to the poor, we shall certainly perish eternally, and the things of this world, which were thus abused, will but add to our misery and torment. This he shows in the other parable of the rich man and Lazarus, which has likewise a further intention, and that is, to awaken us all to take the warning given us by the written word, and not to expect immediate messages from the other world (Luk_16:19-31)."
Also He said "Luk 16:1-12 -
Whatever we have, the property of it is God's; we have only the use of it, according to the direction of our great Lord, and for his honour. This steward wasted his lord's goods. And we are all liable to the same charge; we have not made due improvement of what God has trusted us with. The steward cannot deny it; he must make up his accounts, and be gone. This may teach us that death will come, and deprive us of the opportunities we now have. The steward will make friends of his lord's debtors or tenants, by striking off a considerable part of their debt to his lord. The lord referred to in this parable commended not the fraud, but the policy of the steward. In that respect alone is it so noticed. Worldly men, in the choice of their object, are foolish; but in their activity, and perseverance, they are often wiser than believers. The unjust steward is not set before us as an example in cheating his master, or to justify any dishonesty, but to point out the careful ways of worldly men. It would be well if the children of light would learn wisdom from the men of the world, and would as earnestly pursue their better object. The true riches signify spiritual blessings; and if a man spends upon himself, or hoards up what God has trusted to him, as to outward things, what evidence can he have, that he is an heir of God through Christ? The riches of this world are deceitful and uncertain. Let us be convinced that those are truly rich, and very rich, who are rich in faith, and rich toward God, rich in Christ, in the promises; let us then lay up our treasure in heaven, and expect our portion from thence."
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From the Ignatius Study Bible:
"The parable of the Unrighteous Steward is about urgency and preparedness. About to lose his position(16:2), the steward makes use of a pressing situation to find favor with his master's debtors and prepare for his future(16:4). Christians should take even greater caer to prepare for a life in the world to come. (St. Gaudentius Sermo 18), the unrighteous steward signifies the devil, whose dominion over this world is nearing its end. Having wasted the Lord's goods by stripping us of divine grace and friendship, he now works anxiously to make friends by deception and empty promises of forgiveness. While his ardor and foresight are worthy of imitation, his wicked and dishonest tactics are not.
The master, although cheated by the debt reduction, commends the steward for his shrewdness. He recognizes that the stewards last-minute efforts proved successful in winning the favor of the bebtors and making his financial future more secure. The unjust strategy of the steward shows that he motivated by an entirely selfish concern for his own temporal welfare. Jesus points to the steward as both an example and a warning. (1)As an example, the steward shows how to expend every effort in making use of our means to prepare for the future. Just as his cunning won him a comfortable living in the "houses" of his master's debtor's(16:4), so believers are challenged to make friends by almsgiving in order to be received into "eternal habitations" (16:9). (2) As a warning, the steward is intended to characterizethe attitude of the Pharisees, who have been listening to Jesus since 15:2 and who are charged with being "lovers of money" in 16:14. It is implied that the Pharisees are despising God by their devotion to mammon, ie, they seek not eternal riches but the esteem of men and the temporal comforts of this world. (16:13).
"The parable of the Unrighteous Steward is about urgency and preparedness. About to lose his position(16:2), the steward makes use of a pressing situation to find favor with his master's debtors and prepare for his future(16:4). Christians should take even greater caer to prepare for a life in the world to come. (St. Gaudentius Sermo 18), the unrighteous steward signifies the devil, whose dominion over this world is nearing its end. Having wasted the Lord's goods by stripping us of divine grace and friendship, he now works anxiously to make friends by deception and empty promises of forgiveness. While his ardor and foresight are worthy of imitation, his wicked and dishonest tactics are not.
The master, although cheated by the debt reduction, commends the steward for his shrewdness. He recognizes that the stewards last-minute efforts proved successful in winning the favor of the bebtors and making his financial future more secure. The unjust strategy of the steward shows that he motivated by an entirely selfish concern for his own temporal welfare. Jesus points to the steward as both an example and a warning. (1)As an example, the steward shows how to expend every effort in making use of our means to prepare for the future. Just as his cunning won him a comfortable living in the "houses" of his master's debtor's(16:4), so believers are challenged to make friends by almsgiving in order to be received into "eternal habitations" (16:9). (2) As a warning, the steward is intended to characterizethe attitude of the Pharisees, who have been listening to Jesus since 15:2 and who are charged with being "lovers of money" in 16:14. It is implied that the Pharisees are despising God by their devotion to mammon, ie, they seek not eternal riches but the esteem of men and the temporal comforts of this world. (16:13).
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