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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Luke 16:14 - 16:15
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk_16:14-15
14Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him. 15And He said to them, 'You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.’"
Luk_16:14-18 This may be a separate unit of thought inserted by Luke from Jesus' teachings at another time. It is related to the parable in Luk_16:1-13; Luk_16:19-31. The central issue is worldly wealth and the priority of self. See hyperlink at Luk_12:21.
Luk_16:14 "Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money" This is a unifying theme of Luke 16. It shows that although the disciples were addressed in Luk_16:1, the Pharisees were equally a target for this truth (cf. Luk_15:2) and the next parable (Luk_16:19-31).
NASB "and were scoffing at Him"
NKJV "and they derided Him"
NRSV "and they ridiculed him"
TEV "they made fun of Jesus"
NJB "and jeered at him"
This is an Imperfect active indicative, implying (1) a repeated action or (2) the beginning of an action in past time. It is a compound idiom "to turn up the nose" (cf. Luk_23:35). This same term is used in the Septuagint in Psa_2:4; Psa_21:8; Psa_34:16. This set the stage for the parable of Luk_16:19-31. The Pharisees heard and understood His teachings about money, but rejected them in light of their traditional understanding of money as a sign of divine blessing (cf. Deuteronomy 28).
Luk_16:15 "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men" This could refer to either public, weekly almsgiving or ostentatious giving in the temple (cf. Mar_12:41-44). Luke often records Jesus' teachings about this kind of self righteousness (cf. Luk_10:29; Luk_16:15; Luk_18:9; Luk_18:14). This was the problem of the Pharisees!
▣ "God knows your hearts" We must remember that God knows the motives of the human heart, which determine the appropriateness or inappropriateness of every action (cf. 1Sa_2:7; 1Sa_16:7; 1Ki_8:39; 1Ch_28:9; 2Ch_6:30;Psa_7:9; Psa_44:21; Psa_139:1-4; Pro_15:11; Pro_21:2; Jer_11:20; Jer_17:9-10; Jer_20:12; Luk_16:15; Act_1:24; Act_15:8; Rom_8:27).
▣ "for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God" Here is the surprising role reversal theme again. The Pharisees were thought of as the best of the best, but God judges by a different standard (cf. Mat_5:20; Mat_5:48). God Himself is the standard and all fall short (cf. Rom_3:23). Salvation must be a grace gift because fallen humanity cannot obtain it by merit (cf. Rom_3:21-31; Galatians 3). God provided a way through His Messiah; all are welcomed through Him, but they would not come!
NASB "detestable"
NKJV, NRSV "abomination"
TEV "worth nothing"
NJB "loathsome"
In the Septuagint this term (in its various forms) relates to
1. idolatry (idol and its worship)
2. eschatological event or person (Daniel)
Here it is an idiom of that which pulls fallen humanity away from YHWH. It is worldliness versus spirituality. It is the priority of the immediate versus the eternal. It is humans' desire for independence from God.