Law To Become Void? (part 1)

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter in the law to become void. – Luke 16:17 (NET)

Before Jesus gets to the words presented above, He told a story about a manager that had been irresponsible in the handling and management of the assets of his master. Without delving into the parable itself, we can simply posit that his irresponsibility eventually resulted in dishonesty. After telling the parable, Jesus says, “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much” (16:10). As Jesus continues to point back to the dishonest manager, He says, “If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches? (16:11)

As we consider the application of the parable and the interpretation of the parable that is provided by Jesus, we need to remember that this particular story and application follows the three parables of the fifteenth chapter of Luke (sheep, coin, and the prodigal), and that Jesus is speaking to “the Pharisees and the experts in the law” (15:2a), who were complaining that Jesus “welcomes sinners and eats with them” (15:2b). This was true, as Luke begins his record of Jesus’ dealings here with “Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming to hear Him” (15:1). So when Jesus is speaking about those who are faithful in a little and dishonest in a little, we can see that He is directing His comments towards the Pharisees and the experts in the law. The same is true of His statements concerning the handling of worldly wealth and the true riches.

His comments were quite direct, and He continued, saying “And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own?” (16:12) With the clear statement at the beginning of the fifteenth chapter in regards to the Pharisees, who were the guardians of the law and the traditions of the elders, and their being included with the experts in the law, it is reasonable to surmise that Jesus is reprimanding these groups in regard to their handling of the law. It becomes clear that they not have been faithful to the true purpose of the law, which was to mark Israel out as God’s covenant people, so that they could be a light to the nations in reflection of God’s glory, in a way that would cause all peoples to want to seek out and know and serve the God if Israel. The Pharisees and the experts in the law had been unfaithful to the purpose of the law, using it dishonestly, as a way to keep Israel separate from all nations and to block those who found themselves outside the covenant due to nothing more than race or ethnicity, from entering into the covenant so as to enjoy its blessings. This was clearly contrary to God’s promise to Abraham, which was to bless all peoples through His seed.

The law had been, for Israel, an astounding gift of God’s grace. By its receipt, they were blessed above all peoples, receiving direct revelation from God, with the knowledge of how to serve and please Him. They were given covenant markers of fleeing idolatry, reverencing God’s sanctuary, and honoring the Sabbaths, that would mark them out as God’s chosen people. By Jesus’ day, these covenant markers had been reduced down and were primarily demonstrated in the keeping of food and purity laws, honoring the Sabbath, and bearing the mark of circumcision. These were commonly referred to in that day as the “works of the law,” and were representative of what was surely a longer list. A person could hold to many traditions and laws, but if one was not holding to these main things, it was presumed that such a person was outside of the covenant, and looked upon as a sinner. Again, this law of God, delivered to Israel, represented a rich heritage for the people of God; but the guardians of the law in that day, had not handled it adequately. They had used it to draw boundary lines around the covenant. They had used it for the purposes of exclusivity, thus denying that God could bless anybody but those that were marked off as Israel (those that were doing the works of the law).

At the same time, the Pharisees and the experts in the law were eagerly awaiting and expecting the promised messiah to come forth, to establish the kingdom of God on earth and to elevate His covenant people above all nations. The kingdom of God, which represented God’s dimension of reality (heaven) breaking in to the world, was what was looked forward to as the true riches that were going to be experienced by God’s covenant people. It was the true riches of the kingdom of God, as these Pharisees and experts in the law understood them, that caused them to be so rigid and vigilant in their application of the required works of the law and the traditions associated with those works. Jesus, however, as He considers the way that these individuals understood the kingdom of God, in exclusion of the Gentile nations and all that did not perform according to the law and the traditions of the elders, informs them that they cannot be entrusted with the true riches.