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Two Sons
Luke 15:11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons.
In the two previous stories Jesus told how the Pharisees should act when lost sinners were found. In this longer story he pictured how they did act. They can see themselves in the person of the elder brother, who had his good and bad points. He was morally straight, a hard worker, and an obedient individual (vs. 29), but he was also proud and had no fellowship with the father.
He was more willing to think of his brother’s sin than of his repentance.
Luke 15:12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the poron of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. :13 And not many days aer, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
Luke 15:14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.
Luke 15:15 Then he went and joined himself to a cizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Luke 15:16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
Luke 15:17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luke 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, :19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’
Luke 15:20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was sll a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
Long before he reached his home, his father saw him and had compassion. He ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. This is probably the only time in the Bible where haste is used of God in a good sense.
“Daringly Jesus pictured God, not waiting for his shamed child to slink home, nor standing on his dignity when he came, but running out to gather him, shamed and ragged and muddied as he was, to his welcoming arms. The same name “Father” has at once darkened the color of sin and heightened the splendid glory of forgiveness.” Stewart
Luke 15:21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
Luke 15:22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
Luke 15:23 And bring the faed calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; :24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
Someone has said, “The young man was looking for a good time, but he did not find it in the far country. He found it only when he had the good sense to come back to his father’s house.”
It has been pointed out that they began to be merry, but it is never recorded that their joy ended. So it is with the salvation of the sinner.
Luke 15:25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. :26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. :27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the faed calf.’
Luke 15:28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.
Luke 15:29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any me; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.
Luke 15:30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the faed calf for him.’
Luke 15:31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
Luke 15:32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”
J. N. Darby put it well: “Where God’s happiness is, there self-righteousness cannot come. If God is good to the sinner, what avails my righteousness?
A Dishonest Manager
Luke 16:1 He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. :2 So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’
The Lord Jesus now turns from the Pharisees and scribes to His disciples with a lesson on stewardship. This paragraph is admittedly one of the most difficult in Luke. The reason for the difficulty is that the story of the unjust steward seems to commend dishonesty. We shall see that this is not the case, however, as we proceed.
The rich man in this story pictures God Himself. A steward is one who is entrusted with the management of another person’s property. As far as this story is concerned, any disciple of the Lord is also a steward. This particular steward was accused of embezzling his employer’s funds. He was called to account, and notified that he was being dismissed.
Luke 16:3 “Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. :4 I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’
Luke 16:5 “So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ :6 And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
Summary of Scheme: The steward did some fast thinking. He realized that he must provide for his future. Yet he was too old to engage in hard physical labor, and he was too proud to beg (though not too proud to steal). How then could he provide for his social security? He hit upon a scheme by which he could win friends who would show kindness to him when he was in need. The scheme was this: He went to one of his employer’s customers and asked how much he owed. When the customer said a hundred measures of oil, the steward told him to pay for fifty and the account would be considered closed.
Luke 16:7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
Luke 16:8 So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.
The shocking part of the story occurs when the master commended the unjust steward for acting shrewdly. Why would anyone approve of such dishonesty? What the steward did was unjust. The following verses show that the steward was not at all commended for his crookedness, but rather for his foresight. He had acted prudently. He looked to the future, and made provision for it. He sacrificed present gain for future reward.
In applying this to our own lives, we must be very clear on this point, however; the future of the child of God is not on this earth but in heaven. Just as the steward took steps to insure that he would have friends during his retirement here below, so the Christian should use his Master’s goods in such a way as to insure a welcoming party when he gets to heaven.
The Lord said, “The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.” This means that ungodly, unregenerate men show more wisdom in providing for their future in this world than true believers show in laying up treasures in heaven.
Luke 16:9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.
We should make friends for ourselves by means of unrighteous mammon. That is, we should use money and other material things in such a way as to win souls for Christ and thus form friendships that will endure throughout eternity.
Pierson states, “Money can be used to buy Bibles, books, tracts and thus, indirectly, the souls of men. Thus what was material and temporal becomes immortal, becomes non-material, spiritual and eternal. Here is a man who has $100. He may spend it all on a banquet or an evening party, in which case the next day there is nothing to show for it. On the other hand, he invests in Bibles at $1.00 each. It buys a hundred copies of the Word of God. These he judiciously sows as seed of the kingdom, and that seed springs up into a harvest, not of Bibles but of souls. Out of the unrighteous, he has made immortal friends, who when he fails, receive him into everlasting habitations.”
By the wise investment of material possessions, we can have part in the eternal blessing of men and women.
We can make sure that when we arrive at the gates of heaven, there will be a welcoming committee of those who were saved through our sacrificial giving and prayers.
These people will thank us saying, “It was you who invited me here.”
Darby states, : “Man generally is God’s steward; and in another sense and in another way Israel was God’s steward, put into God’s vineyard, and entrusted with law, promises, covenants, worship. But in all, Israel was found to have wasted His goods. Man looked at as a steward has been found to be entirely unfaithful. Now, what is to be done? God appears, and in the sovereignty of His grace turns that which man has abused on the earth into a means of heavenly fruit. The things of this world being in the hands of man, he is not to be using them for the present enjoyment of this world, which is altogether apart from God, but with a view to the future. We are not to seek to possess the things now, but by the right use of these things to make a provision for other times. It is better to turn all into a friend for another day than to have money now. Man here is gone to destruction. Therefore now, man is a steward out of place.” What are your thoughts?
Luke 16:10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 121). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. MacArthur, J. F., Jr., MacDonald, Farstad, Believers Bible; Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2195). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
