Obedience from the Heart

Having told the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus tells his disciples about the prodigal steward. Whereas Jesus uses the story of the prodigal son to teach us of the Father's unrestrained love for his lost children, he uses the parable of the prodigal steward to show us how we may love the Father with an undivided heart by living a life of generosity rather than greed and thereby keeping the greatest commandment, which is to love the Lord our God with our whole being. When the Pharisees hear this parable, they mock Jesus because they were lovers of money. Jesus responds by exposing their hypocrisy and affirming that God's Law is unchangeable and inescapable even with the Messiah's coming and the ushering in of the kingdom. He then illustrates this by pointing out that the law against adultery is not circumvented by complying with the laws of the land regarding divorce and remarriage. Both the parable about the steward and the teaching about divorce and remarriage highlight how the only obedience to the Law of God that Jesus is interested in has to be of the heart and such obedience is only possible through the atoning work of the Cross, which Jesus is heading to Jerusalem to accomplish.