1 Jesus also said to his followers, “Once there was a rich man who had a manager to take care of his business. This manager was accused of cheating him. 2 So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give me a report of what you have done with my money, because you can’t be my manager any longer.’ 3 The manager thought to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is taking my job away from me? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I’ll do so that when I lose my job people will welcome me into their homes.’
5 “So the manager called in everyone who owed the master any money. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe?’ 6 He answered, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write four hundred gallons.’ 7 Then the manager asked another one, ‘How much do you owe?’ He answered, ‘One thousand bushels of wheat.’ Then the manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and write eight hundred bushels.’ 8 So, the master praised the dishonest manager for being clever. Yes, worldly people are more clever with their own kind than spiritual people are.
9 “I tell you, make friends for yourselves using worldly riches so that when those riches are gone, you will be welcomed in those homes that continue forever. 10 Whoever can be trusted with a little can also be trusted with a lot, and whoever is dishonest with a little is dishonest with a lot. 11 If you cannot be trusted with worldly riches, then who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you cannot be trusted with things that belong to someone else, who will give you things of your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters. The servant will hate one master and love the other, or will follow one master and refuse to follow the other. You cannot serve both God and worldly riches.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, were listening to all these things and made fun of Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You make yourselves look good in front of people, but God knows what is really in your hearts. What is important to people is hateful in God’s sight.
16 “The law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were preached until John came. Since then the Good News about the kingdom of God is being told, and everyone tries to enter it by force. 17 It would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the smallest part of a letter in the law to be changed.
18 “If a man divorces his wife and marries another woman, he is guilty of adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman is also guilty of adultery.”
Read Luke 16:1-18 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Every so often, a phrase jumps out at me while reading a passage I have read dozens of times before. Perhaps this has happened to you. You are leisurely reading through the Bible when bam, some phrase hits you in a new way and shifts your thinking.
This passage holds one of these “bam”-moments for me. While most of the time we read these verses, we focus in on the parable, the verse that jumped off the page at me comes after the story, and in Jesus’ direct words to the Pharisees. Verse 15 says, “He said to them, ‘You make yourselves look good in front of people, but God knows what is really in your hearts. What is important to people is hateful in God’s sight.’”
Prior readings of this verse never really jumped out at me, probably because the verses on either side of this one have powerful messages as well, but the last sentence of this verse hit me in a new way: “What is important to people is hateful in God’s sight.”
In the context, Jesus is challenging the Pharisees on their view of money and the priority they have placed on it, and in the sentence just before this one (verse 15a), sets the stage for a broader focus than on money. Making oneself look good in front of people may come because one has some money, but it is the desire for fame and status. Desiring fame and status is one subtle foothold for pride to enter our lives. Pride wants the focus to be turned towards me, and desiring fame and status, is similar because it wants the spotlight and the stage – specifically the attention.
But Jesus says, “What is important to people is hateful in God’s sight.”
This truth is both powerful and challenging.
Is God saying that He hates money, fame, status, and stuff?
While it might appear like this on the surface, Jesus is touching on a deeper truth: Where is your heart at?
Is your heart focused on acquiring money, stuff, status, etc. or is it focused on Jesus?
Can it be both? Perhaps one could have both sides of this dilemma, but there must be a priority that is visible in your life. If Jesus is first, then it must be visible to others through with where we put our money, time, talents, and other resources. If we are not intentionally placing Jesus first in our lives, all the stuff that crowds out God will crowd out God.
All the stuff that is important to people is hateful in God’s sight because it feeds pride in one’s heart, and because it crowds out God from being the primary focus. God doesn’t hate fame, status, or stuff; He wants us to have righteous priorities.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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