Luke 16:9
“And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
(a) Make friends. Use worldly wealth to make eternal friends.
This parable is not about earning salvation or buying tickets to heaven. Salvation and all the other blessings of God come by grace alone (Eph. 1:3, 2:8–9). It’s about using worldly wealth to make friendships that last into eternity. We make eternal friends by telling people that God loves them and he holds nothing against them. Any debts they may think they have, have been written off and paid down by the blood of Jesus.
(b) The wealth of unrighteousness. Worldly wealth is a means to an end. Although it doesn’t last (Matt. 6:19), it can be used to secure lasting treasure (1 Tim. 6:18–19). When we do the good works of ministry or fund the gospel, we are sowing seeds that will bear lasting fruit.
We have many choices when it comes to spending money; we can accumulate toys and gratify the flesh, or we can invest for the future. Material possessions won’t last; friendships will. So invest in people. Give to the poor (and we are all spiritually poor in God’s eyes; we all need the riches of his grace) and you will have treasure (spiritual offspring, eternal friends) in heaven (Matt. 19:21).
(c) When it fails. This world will fail, your wealth will fail, and your body will fail. You brought nothing into this world, and you can take nothing out of it (1 Tim. 6:7). But in this lifetime you have an opportunity to invest in something that will never fail.
(d) Receive you. Welcome you.
(e) Eternal dwellings. God’s everlasting home, the tabernacle of eternity and the eternal home of the righteous (Ps. 61:4, Is. 33:20, John 14:2).
Further reading: “The Grace Bible: The Parables of Jesus” – coming soon!
Luke 16:14
Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at him.
(a) Pharisees; see entry for Matt. 3:7.
(b) Lovers of money. Corrupt religious used their position to enrich themselves by robbing Israel (John 10:8). They turned the temple courtyard into a “den of robbers” (Matt. 21:13).
Luke 16:15
And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.
You are those who justify yourselves. The Pharisees, although good and God-fearing, were also self-righteous hypocrites.
It would have been understandable for any Pharisee to have a high opinion of themselves because they were more devout and law-abiding than others. If our righteousness was based on the comparative performance of others, the Pharisees would have been the most righteous people around. But Jesus was not impressed (Matt. 5:20). Because he loved the Pharisees and didn’t want to see them lost, he spoke harshly to them about their self-righteousness (see entry for Luke 18:9).
Luke 16:16
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
(a) The Law refers to the Law of Moses, the commandments, ordinances, punishments, and ceremonial observances given to the nation of Israel through Moses (Jos. 8:31). This law is sometimes referred to as the law of commandments (Eph. 2:15) or the law of the Jews (Acts 25:8). See entry for The Law.
(b) The gospel revealed in the Bible goes by several names. There is the gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:1) or the gospel of Christ (Rom. 15:19, 1 Cor. 9:12, 2 Cor. 2:12, 9:13, 10:14, Gal. 1:7, Php. 1:27, 1 Th. 3:2). There is the gospel of God (Mark 1:14, Rom 1:1, 15:16, 2 Cor. 11:7, 1 Th. 2:2, 8, 9, 1 Pet. 4:17), gospel of the blessed God (1 Tim. 1:11), and the gospel of his Son (Rom 1:9). There is the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 4:23, 9:35, 24:14, Luke 16:16), and the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4). These are different labels for the one and only gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24). See entry for The Gospel.
(c) The kingdom of God is synonymous with the kingdom of heaven; see entry for Matt. 3:2.
Luke 16:17
“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
(a) Heaven and earth. Some believe the “heaven and earth” phrase refers to the temple, the earthly habitat of the heavenly God. If so, Jesus is prophesying its destruction, an event which came to pass in AD70 long after he had fulfilled the law. Alternatively, Jesus is employing a figure of speech as in, “heaven and earth are more likely to pass away than my words fail to come true.” See entry for Matt. 5:18.
(b) The Law; see previous verse.
Luke 16:18
“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
See entry for Mark 10:11.
Luke 16:27–28
“And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
(a) Send him to my father’s house. The rich man is still giving orders. “If you won’t send Lazarus to me, send him to my brothers.” His brothers are unbelievers, but a sign from beyond the grave will convince them to repent, or so he thinks. He reminds us of the religious leaders who often asked Jesus to show them a sign from heaven (see entry for Matt. 12:38).
(b) Five brothers. It seems that Jesus is having a dig at the man who was trying to put him to death, Caiaphas the high priest (John 11:49–53). Caiaphas wore purple robes and lived in a palace. His “father’s house” would be the house of Annas, his father-in-law, and his five brothers are Annas’ five sons. Caiaphas, Annas, and the five sons of Annas were all high priests at one time or another, and they were all hell-bent on killing Jesus.
Perhaps no other family did more to thwart the purposes of God than the house of Annas. In their desire to secure their position, these Machiavellian men dominated the Sanhedrin and they played the Romans like fiddles. They plotted to kill Jesus, held a trumped-up trial in the middle of the night, and bullied Pilate into doing their will. After Jesus ascended to heaven, they persecuted his followers (Acts 4:1–6, 5:17–18, 40, 7:57–58).
(c) Warn them. The brothers who need warning are the unbelieving Jews and their leaders.
From the beginning of his ministry to the night before he died, Jesus warned the religious leaders that they were in grave danger of missing the kingdom of God (Matt. 5:20). He said that the tax collectors and prostitutes were entering the kingdom of heaven ahead of them (Matt. 21:31), and that the sons of the kingdom were going to end up in the outer darkness (Matt. 8:12). He called them out for their hypocrisy (Matt. 15:7, Luke 12:1), and said they were whitewashed tombs and sons of hell (Matt. 23:15, 27). He told pointed parables about invited guests refusing to come to a feast (Luke 14:15–24) and stubborn brothers who would not join their fathers’ celebrations (Luke 15:28).
No other group in history has been warned more repeatedly or more vigorously than the Jews and their leaders. Before their eyes Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead. When they refused to believe the good news, Jesus asked them, “How will you escape the sentence of hell?” (Matt. 23:33).
(d) This place of torment. Like some evangelists, the rich man thinks he can save his brothers by scaring the hell out of them. It’s a bad idea. Visions of wrath and hellfire rarely inspire people to trust in the goodness of God.
God draws us to himself by revealing his lovingkindness (Rom. 2:4). It is not his will for anyone to perish, but for all his lost sons and daughters, whether rich or poor, Pharisee or Sadducee, to come home.
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Howdy Paul,
I would like to report a typo on this page please sir.
Luke 16:17, Comment “a”, last sentence.
(Copied and pasted here…)
Jesus is employing a figure of speech as in, “heaven and earth are more likely to pass away that my words fail to come true.” See entry for Matt. 5:18.
I think the word “that” is supposed to be “than”.
Your work is appreciated by many. May God continue to bless you with every tool necessary to complete the work! Hallelujah!
Thanks for the encouragement and the typo, Kevin.
I do have a question. Why have you omitted verses 1-8 of Luke 16. I know that those verses are somewhat frustrating, but I respect your teaching very much and would like to hear your thoughts on that parable. Thank you.
Hi Jerry. The Grace Commentary is a work-in-progress with about 20-30 verses being added every week. I am presently completing a series on all the parables of Jesus. That will be available in book form at the end of 2025 and here on the Grace Commentary shortly after. If you cannot wait, first drafts for many of the parables are available now on Patreon. Thanks for your comment.