This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s
happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

Jesus begins a conversation
with his disciples about money

using a parable about a dishonest
manager who is about to be fired.

When the manager finds out, he
does everything he can to survive.

His boss commends
him for his savviness.

He knew how to use money to gain
what was most valuable to him—survival.

The conclusion is simple:

The way you spend money
says a lot about what you value.

And Jesus says the more money you have, the
more difficult it will be to value God’s kingdom.

The more money you have, the more tempted
you will be to use it in service of a different god.

The Pharisees think this is ridiculous.

To them, wealth was a
sign of God’s blessing.

Jesus rebukes these experts in God’s law for
neglecting what the Torah had always taught.

Israel was the least of all
nations when God chose them.

The story of Israel showed that poverty
was a sign of blessing, not wealth.

Jesus tells them a parable about a rich man
who refuses to invite a poor man to his table.

Both die suddenly.

Contrary to what the Pharisees expect, the rich
man’s wealth did not indicate a place in paradise.

The poor man drinks cool
water while the rich man suffers.

Begging that this message
be told to his wealthy brothers,

the rich man is told that the Law and
the Prophets are clear enough.

If they’ve refused to listen to
God’s Word about the poor,

even a man rising from the dead
would not convince them otherwise.

The Pharisees’ lives revealed
that they served money and not God.

This is why Jesus
mentions John the Baptist.

Remember, the Pharisees
refused when John told them

to be baptized, repent for their sins,
and give their away possessions.

The poor in Israel were being sacrificed
on the altar of the Pharisees’ greed.

Jesus is warning them that if they do not
stop serving money, they can expect to be

more like the rich man in Hades
than the poor man in paradise.

Jesus had come to preach
good news to the poor.

That’s why in previous parables, he urgently
called the poor, lame and blind to banquets.

Jesus was urging every poor and
sick person to inherit God’s kingdom.

And like the loving Father urged the angry
older brother to join his prodigal brother’s feast,

Jesus is now revealing to the Pharisees that
his message is good news for them, too.

It’s not just the financially poor and
physically sick that Jesus has come to save.

Everyone who recognizes their poverty and
lostness can enter into God’s kingdom, too.

The Law and the Prophets
and Jesus all agree—

material prosperity doesn’t save;
it damns.

The only good news the Pharisees
have is that God is generous to the poor.

And the Pharisees will see that again when
Jesus dies on the cross and rises from the dead.

Jesus had and would become poor so that
Pharisees through his poverty might become rich.

That’s why, if they don’t accept the Prophets,
they would never believe Jesus’ resurrection.

May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to see
the God who comes to make the poor truly rich.

And may you see Jesus, his Son, who became
poor so that all who believe in him could be saved.