Luke 16:10-15 Unfaithful Shepherds’ Greed
Many Christian say the parable title the unfaithful servant is the most difficult to understand. For me it was in the beginning, but as I broke it down bit by bit I understand it more. It is all about the misuses of God’s possessions, it may think it was money, but money is an earthly treasure, His real most prized possession is you and I, His flock. Two groups of people are in the parable between Luke 16:1-15, it starts out with Jesus’s disciples (Luke 16:1) , and ends with Pharisees (Luke 16:14). Now to understand who were the unfaithful servants of the Lord’s possession, we have to know who had that role. Of course it was the Pharisees, they were priests who were students of God’s word and whose sole purpose was to minister to the Lord’s flock. Like many men of God who start with a heart who wants to God’s work with much earning of wealth, something happens within their hearts and seeing how humble people are so willingly to give silver, gold, crops and livestock to show love to the God of Creation. The unfaithful shepherds of the Lord’s most loving flock were ripping off the humble people, much like other false wolves in sheep’s clothing. Trying to profit from the gift of salvation, the priest already had all they needed. They ate meat of the sacrifice and food from the crops’ sacrifices, what do you really think the God of Spirit ate physical food? Plus they didn’t pay Roman taxes like the rest of Roman empire, the authority gave the priest grace and allowed them to live tax free, some government powers still give clergyman grace with taxes. The only reason the Pharisees start to rip off the flock of humble sheep of God and make their money bags heavy with coins, is because they made wealth their master. The Lord God watching with His Almighty eyes, told them with unfaithful servant parable you Pharisees are gonna be fired soon and your eternal dwelling place as you have so unfaithfully earned. After the death and resurrection of Jesus the disciples would take the role of shepherd to God, and spread His word to the world and just not within the borders of physical land of Israel. Not all Pharisees were bad Nicodemus (John 3:1-3) , but curious about Jesus’ teaching came to hear about being born again. Then there is Joseph of Arimathea (Mark 15:43) the wealthy Pharisees who gave Jesus his tomb. Then let’s not forget Paul (Acts 23:5-6), whose Hebrew name was Saul, but used his Greek name to be a shepherd to the Gentile people. The majority of pastors are shepherds to the Lord’s flock for not the reward, but for the sire pleasure of hearing God’s calling to serve the Lord he loves and help the kingdom of heaven grow. God bless you humble pastors and thanks for your humble work, the Lord Jesus loves you and so do I. Samuel Jerry Head.
Hebrews 13:5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,
