Luke 16:14–18

Read the passage.

I am struck by the absurdity of the Pharisees ridiculing Jesus for His teaching about money. (v. 14) I can understand disagreement, because they were self-righteous enough to think that they had nothing wrong with how they viewed money. But I can’t figure out even on what angle they would take to make fun of Him. Jesus, of course, rebukes them for this as well. They may be able to fool men with their justifications, but God is not fooled. Furthermore, the things that sin-cursed people promote is the exact things that God will need to destroy.

As a counterpoint to this, Jesus brings up the perpetuity of the Scriptures. God’s Word stands forever, even over the seemingly unshakable universe. Verse 16 is apparently difficult to translate, and I am not a New Testatement Greek scholar, but taken with verse 17 it sounds like “everyone forces his way into it” is meant to describe how evil men try to assault the kingdom of God. However, these efforts are ultimately futile.

Verse 18 seems to come out of left field. Maybe it does, but we have to deal with God’s Word as it really is. Possibly, the laws concerning divorce were those the Pharisees were making more lax, despite being stricter everywhere else. At that time, Jewish men could divorce their wives fairly easily, without much cause. In contrast, Jesus reaffirms the marriage covenant as being between one man and one woman for one lifetime.

Let us exalt what pleases You instead of what the world thinks is right.