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Advent ChallengeDay 16


Luke 16



The parable of the shrewd manager is a complicated one. On one hand it seems that Jesus is almost praising the corrupt manager for dealing in his own interests when he had been caught out “cooking the books”.  By reducing their debts to his master, he hoped to ingratiate himself, hoping that they would look after him when he suddenly found himself out of a job.  Even his own master commended his actions when the scale of his deception was fully discovered.



What does this mean in today’s world?  Should we be dealing shrewdly or corruptly towards each other?  Is honesty not the best policy?  The moral of this parable is to point out who we worship the most, God or money?  Again, this parable, although relevant to the world at large, was initially directed towards the Pharisees.  The enjoyed the trappings of wealth and authority, but although they probably considered themselves as the master in the parable, they were actually the shrewd manager, with God as the master.  Challenge yourselves – whose opinion do we value the most, the world’s or God’s?  Can we actually say that God is truly our master in the face of the world’s opinion?



In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we have the perfect demonstration of the results of a selfish and sinful life.  The rich man (sometimes referred to as Dives) had had a fantastically rich and comfortable life, in direct comparison to the poor man (Lazarus), who had lived a life of abject poverty.  However, in death, the two men were judged as equals, with Lazarus found worthy of Heaven and Dives found worthy only of Hell.



When the veil was withdrawn between the two men, Dives pleaded for Abraham to send Lazarus to him with a single drop of water on the end of his finger to provide at least one moment of relief from his distress.  Abraham cannot allow this, and refuses to send anyone else to warn his brothers – leaving them to their own fates.



This parable shows the final reward that awaits our lives here on earth.  We will be questioned on our faith – with God’s final decision influenced only by his Son.  Did we accept him as our Saviour?  Yes or No – the only answers available to us, and there’s no point trying to fool God!  Do we consider our final destination – Heaven or Hell?



As a side thought, this parable clearly shows that people have recognised each other in Heaven, with Dives recognising both Abraham and the former beggar Lazarus.  This gives us the assurance that we will recognise each other in the next life, but that we will also be aware that others are not there too.

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