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Scoffing at Jesus - Luke 16:14
Scoffing at Jesus - Luke 16:14
The wisdom of Jesus is often at odds with the thinking of men. He challenges not only our thinking but more deeply, our whole view of life and eternity. Often ‘short-term’ thinking produces a very different answer from long-term thinking! The whole concept of eternity and judgment were foundational to the thinking of Jesus. That simply cannot be said of us!
After telling the parable of the unjust steward, which is difficult to comprehend yet has at its core the idea of preparing for the future, Jesus warns us about money and materialism! "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth" (Luke 16:13)
Me and money: it won’t affect ME that way. I can handle it. I am not really ‘serving’ it. I am smart enough to know when enough is enough. And on and on we go, deceiving ourselves and arguing with Jesus.
- What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? (Luke 9:25).
- With food and shelter, let us be content. (Matt. 6:25-34).
In the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16), we all KNOW the man who was blessed was NOT the rich man! Yet, most live so as to be like the rich man in THIS life and at the same time hope to be like Lazarus in the judgment. In such, we simply deceive ourselves. So it was with the Pharisees: they scoffed at Jesus for his concept of money and materialism! They justified themselves, even as we do. They highly esteemed that which is detestable in the sight of God.
We need to examine ourselves in this matter, examine ourselves very carefully! Read again Jesus’ various statements concerning money, materialism, this life, and what is really important for eternity. I am afraid that our thinking aligns closer to the Pharisees than to Jesus. What are you serving?
Hugh DeLong
Read and think again: 1 Timothy 6:6-11 6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.
