Greetings everyone.
I will continue my exegesis of Luke 16 today, by looking just at verses 14-15. Jesus has just told the paarable of the corrupt manager and then offer some advice about money to his listeners. In my previous post I listed three bits of advice that Jesus gave regarding money:
- Be generous with money.
- Be faithful with money.
- Serve God, not money.
14 There were Pharisees there, and upon hearing all of this, these Pharisees, who loved money, began to show contempt for Jesus. 15 So Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before people, but God knows what is in your hearts. But men value things that are detestable to God.
The Pharisees who heard Jesus make his statement that we cannot serve both God and money, began to show contempt for him. Perhaps they thought that you can serve God and money at the same time. Luke comments that they are Φιλάργυροι (philargyroi) or ‘lovers of silver.’ They didn’t like what Jesus is saying because they are greedy. So rather than listen to Jesus and apply what he is saying, they resort to ridicule. Darrell Bock says that the Greek word here ἐξεμυκτήριζον (exemyktarizon) literally means “to turn one’s nose up” at someone, indicating strong contempt. (Bock, 1349.)
The Pharisees do not share in Jesus’ view of money, and he makes it very clear that he does not share theirs. As they are showing their contempt for him, Jesus responds, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before people, but God knows what is in your hearts. But men value things that are detestable to God.” God has a different value system. What people tend to exalt, God finds detestable. So, apparently, God has a different view of money. Worldly wisdom is to accumulate wealth and material possessions. God tells us to use our wealth to help people.
God also doesn’t like their self exultation. The Pharisees were shameless self-promoters. Jesus calls them out on it, stating that they justified themselves before people. They work hard to make themselves look good. God, however, knew what was in their hearts. They would not be able to fool Him. Self promotion and the love of money are not valuable to God. He values humility and generosity. God knows what is in our hearts. We have to check our own hearts to make sure that those detestable things are not in them.
We are not to conform to thinking of the world. Think about Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” As we change the way that we think to be more in line with Jesus, our hearts become more in line with what God approves of.
Jesus is teaching a new paradigm that gets rid of the might seem good, but that God actually finds detestable. Unfortunately, the critics of Jesus refuse to listen, and turn their noses up at him. They prefer their worldly wisdom. Let us make sure that are ridding our hearts of those detestable things and living simple lives of humility and generosity.
Tom
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