Our Guide Published by the Protestant Reformed Sunday School Association Writer: Don Doezema Artist: Connie Meyer Designers: Judi Doezema & Brenda Brands for little ones IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL Luke 16:1-14 Parable of the Unjust Steward When Jesus finished the parable of the prodigal son, He went right on teaching. He will teach the people what their life must be like something that they could not learn from the scribes and Pharisees, either by listening to what they taught or by watching how they lived. We can learn from Jesus instruction too. Let s listen, now, to His parable of the unjust steward. Jesus story begins with a certain rich man. He was a business man. He had other people working for him. In fact, he even hired someone to run the business for him. This man was the steward. The steward was in charge of everything. If something had to be bought or sold, it was the steward who Lesson 29 did it. If someone had to be hired or fired, it was the steward who did it. The rich man in Jesus parable must have thought that he had hired a good man to be his steward. But he was disappointed. For after awhile someone came to him and told him that his steward had wasted his goods. The rich man therefore right away called his steward to him and said, Gather all the records of the business and give them to me, for you may no longer be steward. That was bad news for the steward. Note to Parents: These papers are intended for the younger Sunday School students grade 3 and below. Vocabulary and concepts are such that children in this age group, even the 3rd graders, will profit most if the stories are read to them, not by them. Most lessons have two stories, for two sittings if that proves to be beneficial. Our hope is that parents will find these lessons to be useful tools in the teaching of Bible stories and Bible truths to their children in the off season.
Lesson 29 2 What can I do? he wondered. Nobody will want to hire me now as a manager. I m not strong enough to work in the fields. And I don t want to be a beggar. So what s left? Ah, he thought, I know what I will do. Before I turn in the records, I ll do some big favors for people, so that when I lose my job they will help me like I helped them. So that s what the steward did. One by one he called to him all those who owed something to his master. To the first one he said, How much owest thou unto my lord? And when the man answered, A hundred measures of oil, the steward said, I ll settle for fifty. And when the next man came and said, A hundred measures of wheat, the steward said, I ll settle for eighty. One by one his master s debtors came. And one by one they left with big smiles on their faces. The steward had saved them a lot of money that day. And it didn t cost the steward himself a penny. It was his master s goods; it was his master s money. The unjust steward was using, for his own good, what belonged to his master. Right up to the last minute he was wasting his master s goods. Then he turned over all the business records to his master. His master right away saw that he had lost a lot of money, and that there wasn t really anything that he could do about it. You re pretty clever, he said to the steward. You sure do know how to take care of yourself! And that was the point of Jesus parable. The children of this world, Jesus said, are wiser than the children of God. The people who were listening to Jesus must have pricked up their ears. What does Jesus mean by that, they must have wondered. How are wicked people smarter than the people of God? That s a good question: How, in what way, are wicked people smarter than God s people? This is not an easy parable. But let s see if we can understand what Jesus meant. The story is about a steward. It s about somebody who was put in charge of somebody else s property. The steward didn t own it; he had to use it. Do you see how that s like us? What do we own? We like to think, sometimes, that this bicycle is mine, these toys are mine, this money is mine, or even this is my house. But are they really yours? No, they belong to God. Whether we are old people, young people, or children, nothing we have is ours, to be used as we please, for our good. Not even our time. All belongs to God. Everything we have must be used to serve Him. But what does that mean? Does that mean that you may use your bicycle only to ride to catechism class? Does that mean that the only way you may use
your dolls is to play church? No, not at all. Serving God is, first of all, a matter of the heart and the mind. Is your heart set on these earthly things? Are these the things you have in your mind? Or is your heart set on spiritual things? Do you think about God, about His Word, about obeying Him, about learning more about Him in church and in catechism class and in Sunday School? Do you remember that this world is not really your home, but that you are just passing through, on your way to your heavenly home? Do you thank God for the things He has given you in this life, and pray to Him for wisdom to use them in a right way? Walking with God is our life. Heaven is our goal. Can you imagine anything greater than that? How important, then, are mere dollar bills, or toys, or other stuff? Surely we would not set our hearts on them, would we? Ah, yes, that s where the struggle is for every child of God. The things of this world tug at us. We like them. We think about them. We want them. We seek them. And that s what Jesus parable was about. The steward in Jesus parable was worldly. He had no other goal than the treasures and the pleasures of this life. He set his heart on them. He stopped at nothing to get them. He would steal from his master in order to have them. His mind did not wander off to think about other things. The people of God, Jesus said, should be more like that. Their goal is heavenly. Their treasures are so much 3 richer. But yet, they let their minds wander off to other things. Mammon that s what Jesus calls these other, worldly things. Too easily, too often, mammon becomes too important in our lives. Jesus therefore ended His instruction with this warning. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. People who love the things of this world may say that they love God too. But it s not true. It s either God or mammon. Only one of these masters will have their hearts. What did the people of God think when they heard that parable? The same thing that we think when we hear it: Mammon is in my heart too. I cannot keep this master out. If there is not a Savior, I am lost. How Well Did You Listen? 1. In Jesus parable, there was a man who ran a rich man s business. What was this man called? 2. What did the rich man do when he found out that the steward was wasting his goods? 3. The steward had to use things that did not belong to him. How are we like that? 4. What is mammon? Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16:19-31 There were scribes and Pharisees listening to Jesus when He told the parable of the unjust steward. The Bible tells us that they were covetous. They had their hearts set on things, and they
did not use their possessions as good stewards of what really belonged to God. So when they heard the parable, they mocked Him, they poked fun at Him. Jesus answered them with another parable. This one is the well-known parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Again Jesus begins His story with a certain rich man. This man, Jesus said, was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. Purple and fine linen were expensive. Kings wore purple and fine linen. This rich man did to, in order to show off how rich he was. Every day his table was loaded with the finest of food. He wanted to enjoy everything that money could buy. This man s master was mammon. And then there was, in Jesus parable, another man. His name was Lazarus. He was poor. The clothes on his back that s all he had. No money. No food. Oozing sores all over his body. And there he lay at the rich man s gate. Dogs showed pity on this poor man. They came and licked his sores. But the rich man, dressed in his purple finery, looked the other way. Let this beggar be hungry. Let him be cold. Let him die. The rich man didn t care. He was not going to waste his money on beggars. He wanted it for himself. One day the beggar did die. Someone must have noticed that his body 4 Lesson 29 was lying cold and still at the rich man s gate. So he was quickly picked up and put somewhere in a simple grave. Lazarus was a nobody. He didn t count. But angels came, and they carried away his soul to heaven. Then there came a day that the rich man died too. Can you imagine the funeral that there was for this man? Can you imagine the beauty of the coffin, and the monument that was put over his grave? The rich man was somebody! But then, in Jesus parable, the scene changes. The rich man is in hell. And he sees somebody afar off, in a different place. It s Abraham. But how can that be? Had not the Pharisees always boasted, We have Abraham to our father, we are sons of Abraham? Had they not honored Moses, and carefully obeyed every little part of Moses law? Had they not made long prayers on the street corners? Had they not given large gifts to the church when everybody was looking? Ah, yes, they did. But it was all show. The rich man knew it. And now he sees Abraham afar off in a different place. And who s that next to Abraham? Why, it s Lazarus. Lazarus that goodfor-nothing beggar who had for too long been an eyesore at the gate of the rich man s mansion, unworthy even of the leftovers from his table. Lazarus whom God had placed in the rich man s path, so that the rich man could show his love for God by loving and caring for His poor. And now Lazarus is with Abraham in that other place.
In Jesus parable, the rich man was a picture of the Pharisees. In hell, the rich man got exactly what he deserved. Did the Pharisees who were listening to Jesus understand that? Did they know what the rich man had done to deserve so awful a punishment? Jesus would make sure that they did. Listen to the rest of His parable. Father Abraham, the rich man cried, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. Just a little relief that s all that he asked for. But no, said Abraham, you do not deserve even that. In your lifetime you had an abundance of things. How did you use them? Were you a good steward of God s gifts? Did you think about God and His kingdom? Did you use your wealth to help God s people who were poor? Or did you think only about yourself? Here is Lazarus. He is proof of what you did. Well, then, said the rich man, at least send Lazarus to warn my five brothers, so that they do not come into this place of torment. We didn t have enough warning that s what the rich man was saying. If only I had known, I would have repented, and I would not have ended up in hell. Not so, says Abraham. You and your brothers had Moses and the prophets. They had, in other words, God s law. That s Moses. They knew, therefore, what God required of them. And they knew 5 Lesson 29 from God s prophets what God s people are. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and (listen to this) the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Yes, salvation is possible for sinners because God would send a Savior. Proud man says, But I do not need Him. I am a son of Abraham. I can make my own way to heaven. That was the Pharisees. Was it because they didn t get fair warning? Did they need an eyewitness of the torments of hell, someone to come back from the dead to tell them what would happen to them if they did not repent? No, it was wicked unbelief. They did not want a Savior. They clung to their own righteousness. And they despised others. They had no use for publicans and sinners. They would not waste their money on poor beggars. Abraham was exactly right: If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Do you believe? Are you a good steward of God s gifts? Thank God for faith. It is His gift. How Well Did You Listen? 1. How did the rich man in Jesus parable live? 2. How did the rich man treat Lazarus? 3. What happened when Lazarus died? What happened when the rich man died? 4. In hell, whom did the rich man see afar off? 5. What did the rich man first ask of Abraham?
Lesson 29 6 6. Why didn t the rich man deserve a drop of water from Lazarus? 7. What was the second request of the rich man? 8. Why did the rich man s brothers not need to hear from Lazarus? How Well Do You Understand? 1. Why did the rich man in Jesus parable tell his steward that he could no longer be steward? 2. Why did the steward then call his master s debtors to him and make their debts lower? 3. Why did the rich man praise his steward for doing something that was really stealing from his master? 4. The rich man s steward lived only for mammon. How do God s people sometimes try to live for God and mammon? 5. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, why did Jesus put Lazarus right at the rich man s gate? 6. The rich man did not help Lazarus. How does that show that the rich man was not a good steward? 7. Abraham told the rich man that his brothers had Moses and the prophets. What did Jesus mean by that? Memory Verse Luke 16:13b Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Find all the shapes with dots and color them black. Sweeter are thy words to me Than all other good can be.