Luke 16:13-18 - Various teachings

16:13-15

The Pharisees had been listening to all this, and Jesus knew this. We cannot serve two masters, we must serve God, not money. What we serve has an effect on our heart, as does what we love. It is so important that we love properly, and so we must love God above all else.

The Pharisees sneered at Jesus, but Jesus knew what was in their hearts. They sought to justify themselves in the eyes of men, instead of seeking to earn God’s approval. “What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight”. So many religious leaders today totally ignore this and make it their goal to please men. Doing so will not end well.

16:16-18

We get here a couple of random statements about the gospel, that don’t seem to fit into the immediate context. The Law and the prophets represent essentially all of the Old Testament. Then came John the Baptist who acted as a kind of bridge between the old and the new.  “everyone is forcing their way into it” is a statement that no one seems to really know what it means. For one thing, while many welcomed the good news, there were also many who rejected it. Perhaps we should understand it together with verse 17. The “old testament” - John the Baptist - good news progression is a continuum. Jesus and the good news do not do away with the Law at all. This does not mean that we have to obey its ceremonial requirements, or the details of the law that were particular to Israel, but the concept of righteousness has not been lessened at all. Yet today we see many claiming they are being consistent with Jesus and the gospel when they advocate all sorts of unrighteousness.

Then Jesus gives a very strong support for marriage. Here we just get a very terse statement, in Matthew and Mark much more context is given, and you can see my comments there on Matthew 19:1-12 and Mark 10:1-12. Perhaps Luke includes it here as an example of the requirements of the Law not being lessened in the least.