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Luke

About this book
Chapter 16

1 Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets. 2 So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your administration, because you can no longer be my manager.’ 3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m too ashamed to beg. 4 I know what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So he contacted his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 The man replied, ‘100 measures of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write 50.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ The second man replied, ‘100 measures of wheat.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write 80.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries than the people of light.⁠ 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon31,⁠ so that when it runs out, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes.⁠ 10 “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. 11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches?⁠ 12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters,⁠ for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”⁠ 14 The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him. 15 But Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight. 16 “The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. 17 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. 18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. 19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.⁠ 20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.⁠ The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side.⁠ 24 So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in anguish in this fire.’⁠ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’⁠ 27 So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father—send Lazarus to my father’s house 28 (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’ 30 Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Texts in conversation

Compare Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13 and Gospel of Thomas 47

New Testament · Nag Hammadi

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Summary

In Matthew and Luke, Jesus says the two masters are God and money. In the Gospel of Thomas, they are unnamed, and serving both is compared to riding two horses, so the rejection of divided loyalties no longer refers specifically to wealth.

Passages

Matthew 6:24

New Testament
23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing?
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Luke 16:13

New Testament
12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” 14 The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him.
75–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Luke

Gospel of Thomas 47

Nag Hammadi
46 Jesus said, “From Adam to John the Baptist, among those born of women, no one is greater than John the Baptist so that his eyes should not be averted. Yet I have said that whoever among you will become a child will know the kingdom and will become greater than John.” 47 Jesus said, “It is impossible for a man to mount two horses or to stretch two bows; and it is impossible for a servant to serve two masters, for he will honor the one and treat the other contemptuously. No person drinks old wine and immediately desires to drink new wine. New wine is not put into old wineskins, or they might burst; and old wine is not put into a new wineskin, or it might spoil. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, because it would tear.” 48 Jesus said, “If two make peace with each other in a single house, they will say to the mountain, ‘Move from here,’ and it will move.”
135–200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Thomas

References

“... Parallel to this interpretation is a tendency to expand the text. It was often made possible with v. 24 by quoting only the “proverb” of v. 24a-c and omitting the application to mammon in v. 24d. It happened as early as Gos. Thom. 47, where it is preceded by two other images (no one can mount two horses; no one can bend two bows) and the saying about old and new wine is added (Mark 2:21-22 pars.). No explanation is given: the initiate applies the saying to the incompatibility of gnosis and the material world. Then in the second century the hostile Celsus indicates that the saying was applied to the Christian faith’s claim to exclusivity against heathen religions. ...”
Ulrich Luz, Matthew 1–7: A Commentary, ed. Helmut Koester, trans. James E. Crouch, rev. ed., Herm (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007), 336.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13 and Gospel of Thomas 47

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