Lenten Tour of the Gospels

Luke 16: Of Two Worlds

"You cannot serve both God and Money."

A story is told about Rabbi Joseph Schneerson, a Hasidic leader during the early days of Russian communism. The rabbi spent much time in jail, persecuted for his faith. One morning in 1927, as he prayed in a Leningrad synagogue, secret police rushed in and arrested him. They took him to a police station and worked him over, demanding that he give up his religious activities. He refused. The interrogator brandished a gun in his face and said, "This little toy has made many a man change his mind." Rabbi Schneerson answered, "This little toy can intimidate only that kind of man who has many gods and but one world. Because I have only one God and two worlds, I am not impressed by this little toy."

The theme of "two worlds," or two kingdoms, emerges often in Jesus' teaching, and a couple of stories in this chapter draw a sharp distinction between the two worlds. "What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight," Jesus says, commenting on his first story (verses 1-15).

The second story, about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus, elaborates on the difference in values between the two worlds. The rich man prospers in this world, yet neglects to make any provision for eternal life and thus suffers the consequences. Meanwhile a half-starved beggar, judged by most standards as a failure in life, receives an eternal reward.

Jesus tells such stories to an audience with a tradition of wealthy patriarchs, strong kings and victorious heroes. He keeps emphasizing the stunning reversal of values in God's kingdom. People who have little value in this world (the poor, the persecuted- people like Lazarus) may, in fact, have great stature before God. Jesus consistently presents the invisisble world as a place to invest in for the future, a place to store up treasure for the life to come.

In a question that brings the two worlds starkly together, Jesus asks: "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" (Matthew 16:26)