Luke 16:9
Friends for eternity
Make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth, so that when it runs out they will welcome you into eternal homes.
Easy to miss
Money will run out, Jesus says. The friendships made by generosity will not.
In one minute: If you only read this much
What happens
After the parable of the shrewd manager, Jesus tells his disciples to use worldly wealth to make friends for eternity. Whoever is faithful in little is faithful in much. No one can serve two masters. The money-loving Pharisees scoff, and Jesus says God knows their hearts.
Why this Sunday
The morning Gospel is the parable of the shrewd manager, and this passage draws its lessons.
Take with you
Money makes a good servant and a terrible master.
Readings for the Fourth Sunday after Holy Cross: Eight passages across four services
ഈ ഞായറാഴ്ചയുടെ വായനകൾ
Evening prayer സന്ധ്യാപ്രാർത്ഥന1 readings
- GospelസുവിശേഷംMark 10:1–16മർക്കൊസ് 10:1–16
What God has joined together; let the children come to me.
Morning prayer പ്രഭാതപ്രാർത്ഥന1 readings
- GospelസുവിശേഷംLuke 9:37–45ലൂക്കൊസ് 9:37–45
Jesus heals a boy his disciples could not, and foretells his betrayal.
Before Qurbana കുർബാനയ്ക്കു മുമ്പ്3 readings
- Old TestamentപഴയനിയമംNumbers 29:35–40സംഖ്യാപുസ്തകം 29:35–40
The offerings for the eighth day, the closing assembly of the feast of Tabernacles.
- Old Testamentപഴയനിയമം1 Kings 8:22–301 രാജാക്കന്മാർ 8:22–30
Solomon prays: heaven cannot contain you, much less this house I have built.
- Old TestamentപഴയനിയമംPsalm 42സങ്കീർത്തനങ്ങൾ 42
As a deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.
Holy Qurbana വിശുദ്ധ കുർബാന3 readings
- Acts of the Apostlesഅപ്പൊസ്തലപ്രവൃത്തികൾActs 21:17–26അപ്പൊസ്തലപ്രവൃത്തികൾ 21:17–26
Paul meets James and the elders in Jerusalem and takes part in a Temple vow.
- Pauline Epistleപൗലോസിന്റെ ലേഖനം1 Corinthians 1:21–291 കൊരിന്ത്യർ 1:21–29
God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.
- Gospel of the dayസുവിശേഷംLuke 16:9–18ലൂക്കൊസ് 16:9–18
Faithful in little things; no one can serve two masters. This is the Gospel of the day.
Open in five scenes
The thread through all eight
Israel keeps the last day of the feast of Tabernacles, and Solomon prays at the dedication of the Temple. The psalm cries “as a deer longs for streams of water”. Paul says God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise.
Source
References follow the official lectionary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Your parish may read them in a different order.
Luke 16:9–18 explained: Luke 16:9–18 in five scenes
Pick a scene to see what happens in it and what is easy to miss.
Friends for eternityLuke 16:9Faithful in littleLuke 16:10–12Two mastersLuke 16:13God knows your heartsLuke 16:14–15The law still standsLuke 16:16–18
Luke 16:10–12
Faithful in little
Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful in much. If you have not been trustworthy with worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
Easy to miss
Jesus calls money “a very little”. Compared with true riches, it is.
Luke 16:13
Two masters
No servant can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and money.
Easy to miss
Jesus uses the Aramaic word Mammon, almost as if money were a rival god.
Luke 16:14–15
God knows your hearts
The Pharisees, who love money, hear this and sneer. Jesus says: you justify yourselves before others, but God knows your hearts. What people prize is detestable to God.
Easy to miss
They laugh because they think wealth shows God’s blessing. Jesus says God looks at the heart, not the bank balance.
Luke 16:16–18
The law still stands
The law and the prophets were until John; since then the kingdom is preached. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one stroke of the law to fall. Whoever divorces and remarries commits adultery.
Easy to miss
Jesus does not loosen God’s law. He applies it more deeply, here to faithfulness in marriage.
The verse to keep
“രണ്ടു യജമാനന്മാരെ സേവിപ്പാൻ ഒരു ഭൃത്യന്നും കഴികയില്ല; അവൻ ഒരുവനെ പകെച്ചു മറ്റവനെ സ്നേഹിക്കും; അല്ലെങ്കിൽ ഒരുത്തനോടു പറ്റിച്ചേർന്നു മറ്റവനെ നിരസിക്കും. നിങ്ങൾക്കു ദൈവത്തെയും മമ്മോനെയും സേവിപ്പാൻ കഴികയില്ല.”No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and Mammon.”
Who is in the story, and what their names mean
The Phariseesപരീശന്മാർ
Luke says they loved money and scoffed at Jesus’ teaching.
Probably “the separated ones”
Three phrases worth knowing
- Mammon
- An Aramaic word for wealth or possessions, used by Jesus as if it were a master demanding service.
- Eternal homes
- The dwellings of God’s kingdom, where friends made by generosity will welcome us.
- One stroke of the law
- The smallest mark of a Hebrew letter. Not even that will fail.
Reflection: Two masters
രണ്ടു യജമാനന്മാർ
Jesus talks about money more than almost anything else in Luke’s Gospel. He knows how it grips people. In this passage he does not say money is evil. He says it is small, temporary, and a test. How we handle it shows whether we can be trusted with things that matter more.
Then he draws a line. No one can serve two masters. Money is a fine servant, but when it becomes a master it demands everything: our time, our worries, our relationships, our souls. The Pharisees laughed at this. Many people still do.
Families make money decisions every week. What we buy, what we save, what we give. Jesus suggests a simple test: is our money making friends for eternity? Generosity to the poor, support for the Church, kindness to people in need are how money serves God instead of ruling us.