Scripture reading – Luke 16
Today’s devotional reading continues our study of the Gospel of Luke. Chapters 15 and 16 contain some of the most beloved parables taught by our LORD. The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:4-10), The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), The Unfaithful Servant (Luke 16:1-13), and The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) are illustrative of God’s longsuffering and love. Because the latter used a man’s proper name (Lazarus), some suggest it was, in fact, an actual story and should not fall into the category of an allegory (parable).
Luke 16
Luke 16 opens with The Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-12) and concludes with the dramatic story of The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Amid the chapter, five verses interrupt the flow of the narratives until we remember they embodied Christ’s response to his adversaries (Luke 16:14).
The Pharisees’ Derision (Luke 16:14)
The Pharisees often used the occasion of Jesus teaching the people as an opportunity to criticize and confront Him. Having listened to the parable of “The Unjust Steward” (Luke 16:1-13), the Pharisees, “who were covetous” (Luke 16:14), began to “deride” Jesus, openly mocking Him before the people.
Jesus’ Reproval (Luke 16:15-18)
Rather than retreat, Jesus reproved the Pharisees’ scorn and exposed their hypocrisy. He indicted those religious leaders for aspiring to men’s admiration. He unmasked their hypocrisy and said, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men [attempting to appear righteous]; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). In other words, that which the world applauds is generally that which God despises.
The Pharisees, who considered themselves experts in God’s law, listened as Jesus continued His rebuke: “The law and the prophets were until John [the Baptist]: since that time the kingdom of God is preached [i.e., the Gospel marked by the coming of Jesus Christ], and every man presseth [pushes, forcing his way] into it. 17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle [a stroke of a pen] of the law to fail” (Luke 16:16-17).
The people had clamored to hear John the Baptist preach in the wilderness (Matthew 11:12-13). John was the bridge from the prophets and prophecies of the Old Testament to Christ and His preaching of the gospel of “the kingdom of God” (Luke 16:16).
After establishing that not “one tittle of the law” would fail, Jesus addressed an issue that the Pharisees distorted… marriage and adultery. He warned, “Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery” (Luke 16:18).
As with many pastors and believers in our day, the Pharisees had failed to uphold the sanctity of marriage being between one man and one woman as God designed (Genesis 2:21-24; Matthew 5:31-32; 19:4-10; Ephesians 5:28-33). Those hypocrites misled the people, misinterpreted the law, and gave liberty where the LORD had given none (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). They gave men the freedom to divorce their wives for the silliest of reasons (which I will discuss in a later Bible study of Matthew 19).
Closing thoughts –
I conclude today’s devotional with a few parting thoughts. The first is that God’s will is for marriage to be a lifetime covenant between one man and one woman. Furthermore, the Scriptures are clear–God hates divorce (“For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away,” Malachi 2:16).
Some teach there are no grounds for divorce. However, Paul, in his letter to believers living in Corinth, wrote on the matter of marriage and divorce: “If the unbelieving depart [i.e., breaks the marriage covenant], let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage [i.e., bound by covenant] in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.”
Christ identified fornication, meaning sexual promiscuity, with anyone other than one’s husband or wife to be grounds for divorce.
Matthew 5:31-32 – “It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”
Matthew 19:9 – “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.”
So much more might be said on the subject of marriage and divorce, but I will address that topic at another time.
Copyright © 2024 – Travis D. Smith
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