Exploring God’s Word with Brad Thurston

Repentance and Money

Episode Summary

Luke 16:1-14 Jesus gives a lot of instructions on both the use of money, or how money can become a driving force in out lives. I have often wondered about why that is such an important topic when dealing with spiritual issues. Obviously it is a topic that Jesus deems critical – and one that the Pharisees ridicule him about! This is the parable that Jesus tells his disciples upon exposing the Pharisees as those who really do not know about the nature and character and purposes of God.

Episode Notes

Many find this text confusing and it has given rise to many discussions as to its meaning and interpretation. I find that the understanding of this text is seen in two particular aspects:  first, the cultural setting in which the story is told, and second, the reaction of the Pharisees at the end of the story.  These two clues point to a dynamic in the Kingdom of God that Jesus sees as critical for the spiritual growth and development of his disciples.

First let us examine the cultural background of the text, then the revelation concerning the Kingdom of God, and lastly the application to the lives of any disciple of Jesus.

  1.  The rich landowner is a righteous man. The amount of riches a person has does not determine either the extent of the blessing of God in a persons life, the righteousness of their walk with God, or their faithfulness and submission to the will of God.  You can be righteous before God, waking in holiness and be rich or poor in the world’s eyes.  It is not possessions that make you rich, it is your submission to both God’s will and character in your life that makes you rich in both spirit and truth.  The rich man is not righteous because of his wealth, but because of his character!  Some dangerously and falsely assume that wealth - as a sign of God’s blessing - determines righteousness. Righteousness is determined by our faithfulness to God, regardless of our circumstances. 
  2. The manager is a person who is unrighteous not because of his possessions or lack of them, but because of his love for money, and his corruption in his dealings with money. He assumes that he can abuse his relationship with the landowner and that he has a right to his employers wealth!  This leads to his being fired! 
  3. The manager sees the doom of his impending future, so he acts in such a way as to ingratiate himself with the tenants, and procure a future for himself in a legal way.  The righteous employer sees how shrewd the manager has changed his perspective (repented) from seeing wealth as more important than relationships, and complements him on his life’s change of direction!
  4. Now Jesus turns to discuss how his disciples treat their stewardship of what belongs to God, and how faithfulness is determined by their handling of little things. Compare with 12:30-34. 

The focus of all parables has to do with the revelation of the Kingdom of God, how life in the Kingdom functions and grows and impacts the world about them.  

Here are some major themes in understanding the nature of the Kingdom:  

  1. Jesus is King, and requires submission to his rule.
  2. His rule is for others at great cost to himself!  He loves all of his subjects, and does not abuse that relationship as other leaders do.  His righteousness is not in question!
  3. He demands repentance from his subjects to begin to think and act like he does, considering others as more important than himself
  4. He looks for those who will learn the life of faith and holiness, who depend on him to transform their lives from the inside out! Not placing their own needs and desires above the others!  This is radical and the Pharisees see it, that they are in essence being compared to the unrighteous managers who need to repent of their ways and attitudes! They were just compared to the older lost son in the previous parable.  Now Jesus is showing his disciples the core issue that they are dealing with, it has to do with their relationship to riches and money. That is the bottom line.  It has little to do with kingdom relationships, primarily to the King.
  5. Even the smallest sign of repentance is enough to begin with in transforming our thinking and our dependence upon the mercy of the master.  He can work with that.
  6. The difference in this parable to the last one, is that there is no resolution for the older son, but here, there is an opening for grace that can be built upon for the one who sees their relationship to God being in jeopardy. 

Finally, the key interpretation of this parable is evident in verses 9-13. 

  1. How do you use your money?  Not, how do others use their money for my benefit? Are the things I am a steward of, properly cared for?
  2. Faithfulness in little things leads to faithfulness in real valuables!  This is the spiritual impact of dealing with monetary issues.  There are heart issues here that require us to examine ourselves.  First comes the natural and then the spiritual. 
  3. True riches are based upon being righteous with little things, and the things of others!
  4. If I cannot manage the things that belong to others correctly, how will God entrust me/us with our own possessions?
  5. Compare verse 13 with 12:34
  6. The tell tale sign of worldly versus spiritual is seen in verse 14!
  7. What do you and I need to repent of?