While the Lord Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, certain of the Pharisees came out to encounter Him. Much of what the Lord did and said on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem was aimed at the Pharisees. The record of this is a particular feature of the Gospel of Luke. The record in Mark and Matthew is somewhat different. In his Gospel Luke writes in such a way as to show the conflict that took place on the way to Jerusalem between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees who came out to meet Him. In chapters fourteen through sixteen the Lord’s word is addressed to the Pharisees.
In these chapters the Lord’s word is based upon the jubilee He declared in chapter four. We have seen that the jubilee is revealed as having two aspects: the aspect of the jubilee in this age and the aspect of the jubilee in the age to come. In other words, the Lord refers to both the present jubilee and to the jubilee in the coming age. The present jubilee is the jubilee of grace. But in the coming age the jubilee will be the jubilee of the kingdom.
The jubilee both in this age and in the age to come is actually the kingdom of God. Furthermore, the kingdom of God is the Man-Savior Himself. Moreover, the jubilee is the gospel. According to Mark and especially Luke, the gospel is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the Savior Himself, the all-inclusive One coming in His status as both God and man, with the divine attributes expressed in His human virtues, to sow Himself as a seed. In the Life-study of Mark we pointed out that the seed of the kingdom in Mark 4 may be called the kingdom gene. The Lord Jesus sowed Himself as the seed, the gene, of the kingdom of God. His goal is that the seed sown into those who receive it may grow and develop into a kingdom. This is the genuine kingdom of God. This kingdom is the gospel that frees us from every kind of bondage and recovers our right to the lost inheritance to enjoy God in Christ through the Spirit. This is the jubilee.
We need to be impressed with the fact that in the Gospel of Luke the gospel, the kingdom of God, the Man-Savior, and the jubilee are actually synonymous and refer to the same thing. These four refer to our being set free from bondage and experiencing the recovery of our divine inheritance. This is the jubilee, the gospel, the kingdom of God, and also the Man-Savior Himself.
The basic element of the Lord’s speaking on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem is the jubilee. The jubilee is also the governing principle of His teaching. Everything in 9:51—19:27 is related to the jubilee.
If we do not see that the jubilee is the basic element and the governing principle in chapters nine through nineteen, we shall not have the key that enables us to understand these chapters properly and thoroughly. Instead, our understanding of these chapters may be fragmentary; that is, we may understand a piece here and a piece there, but not understand these chapters as a whole. We may compare this section of the Gospel of Luke to a jigsaw puzzle. Only when we use the key to open each chapter are we able to put the pieces together and see the whole picture, a picture portraying the jubilee.
In chapter fifteen of Luke we see the salvation accomplished by the Divine Trinity. God’s salvation issues in the stewardship. As saved ones, we should now serve our saving God as His stewards. A steward is one useful in a household. This indicates that after we have been saved, we should serve God in His church, which is His house on earth today, as good stewards.
According to Luke 16, our stewardship has much to do with the handling of money. In a sense, all of us are “bankers” who deal with money day by day. Daily you may consider how much money you have in your possession.
As an illustration of how people are occupied with money, let me tell you the story of a certain businessman who was called upon to pray after the pastor’s sermon. The man was greatly surprised and could not avoid offering a prayer. In the course of his prayer, he suddenly uttered a word concerning an amount of money. As he was praying, he spontaneously spoke about money. This is a fulfillment of the Lord’s word that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34). Whatever fills our heart will eventually proceed out of our mouth.
When you hear about this businessman, you may think that you would never be that way. However, is it not true that you give much thought to the matter of money? Even during the church meetings you may be concerned with money, perhaps considering how much you have in your checking account or savings account. The handling of money is certainly a great matter.
The satanic world could not exist without money. If there were no money, the world would cease to exist, and the kingdom of God would come. When money is gone, the kingdom comes.
The Lord Jesus surely knows the secret in the depths of our being. This deep secret is mammon, money. The Lord not only knows this secret within us, but He knows how to touch our problem concerning it. Regarding money, we all may be like the Pharisees. Therefore, in 16:1-13 the Lord teaches us to be prudent in handling our money. He teaches us to take the opportunity to use the unrighteous mammon in a prudent way.
A time is coming when money, the mammon of unrighteousness, will fail. This means that there will be a time when money will be useless. I believe that this time will be during the millennium. There is no word in the Bible telling us explicitly that money will be out of use during the millennium. However, as a result of my study of the millennium in the Scriptures, I believe that this will be the situation. After studying the millennium according to Isaiah, the Gospels, Acts, the Epistles of Paul, and the book of Revelation, I would say assuredly that when the millennium comes, money will be out of use. Today’s world is the system of Satan, and money belongs to this satanic system. But when the millennium comes, the satanic system will be terminated and replaced by God’s kingdom. Then money will no longer have a place in human society.
Some may think that it will be a long time before the millennium comes and money is useless. But have you ever thought that when a person dies his money becomes useless to him? At the time of death a person’s relationship with his money is terminated. Someone may have a great deal of money, but it will all be useless to him when he dies.