< Luke 16 >

People are generally wise in acting to secure their future in this life, but Jesus lamented that his disciples, “the children of light”, often do not show the same wisdom in securing their eternal futures. In the parable the unjust steward used his master’s money to make sure he had friends who would receive him into their houses after he lost his position.v.4Waiting for response for Luke 16:4 Jesus teaches us likewise to use the resources we have, even “the mammon of unrighteousness” (money), to make friends for ourselves.v.9Waiting for response for Luke 16:9 These friends are Jesus himself and his Father who will receive the faithful into their household for ever: “they will receive you into everlasting habitations”.v.9Waiting for response for Luke 16:9

The Pharisees distorted the teaching of scripture and believed that the dead existed either in a paradise they called “Abraham’s bosom” or a place of eternal torment called “Hades”.v.23Waiting for response for Luke 16:23 This is false but Jesus based a parable on these beliefs to teach: “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead”.v.31Waiting for response for Luke 16:31 This parable was of a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus, and as Jesus had in fact raised his friend Lazarus from the dead, whom the authorities had then conspired to kill, this parable must have stung them to the quick.

Unfortunately, not realising Jesus was using the Pharisees’ false beliefs as the basis of his parable, people think that he taught that we go either to paradise or to torment at death, although they do have to change the parable to suit their point of view, e.g. they change “Abraham’s bosom” to “Heaven”. However, simple examination of the parable shows this is a mistake. In the parable these supposedly disembodied immortal souls have body parts like fingers and tongues, and no-one would enjoy eternal life in a paradise if all the time he could see other people, even their loved ones, suffering excruciating torture.v.23Waiting for response for Luke 16:23 The true hope given to us through Christ is resurrection from the dead to everlasting life in the Kingdom of God on Earth.