seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Luke 16:1 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
Sometimes I smile when I discover a verse [Verse13] where Jesus calls out the Pharisees. They were using the church as their own cash cow. They had the only cow in town, and everyone had to do what they said, except Jesus. He called it like He saw it. So, I see the manager cut the customer's bills so they would like him and welcome him into their homes after he got fired for stealing.
Let me put it another way. He was going to get caught for stealing... it was already investigated and reported.... so, he needed a place to stay. To make everyone love him enough to invite him into their homes for a day or so until he found someone new to steal from, he would steal more.
Look, these weren't vendors getting their bills cut.... these were the customers. The shrewd manager was having a "fired" sale.
16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
These two verses are kind of left out. In the online Bible I use, they are titled "Additional teachings" but in fact, I think they are a continuance of the shrewd manager.
See, the Pharisees were the "temple managers". They were doing what a lot of the preachers today are doing. They were watering down the Ten Commandments. They were watering down the laws God handed down to them. One prime example was divorce. God didn't want men to divorce their wives. The Pharisees allowed it because the rich could not be happy with what [who] they had.
Here they were all over Jesus because He allowed His disciples to gather a few grains of wheat on the Sabbath, or Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath, but they would change the law for the rich cat who might let them have a trip on the yacht. The Pharisees were so willing to make the rich happy they would discount the cost of Heaven for them.
Today, preachers are having a hard time preaching that Jesus is the only way. People these days don't like having only one judgmental option. We want a kinder simpler way.... so the preachers tone down our bill. Like the "shrewd manager", the preachers are having a "fired" sale.... so we will like their sermons and choose their offering plate to deposit our money in. Preaching the truth... well the people don't like that.
The shrewd managers of today [preachers, priests, and teachers of the law] are changing the bill so we will like them. We still owe the same to God, they just change the billing. They are treating God's home like a franchise.
It's a "fired" sale.
