The Parable Of The Unjust Steward

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Luke 16:1-31

The Parable of the Unjust Steward
1 He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.
2 So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’
3 “Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.
4 I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’
5 “So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
8 So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.
9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.
10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

The Law, the Prophets, and the Kingdom
14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.
15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.
17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.
18 “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.
20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,
21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, 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.’
25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house,
28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’
29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’
30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”

In this parable, Jesus shared with His disciples what true wealth was:

Once there was a rich man. He had a manager to take care of his business. Later, the rich man learned that his manager was cheating him.

So he called the manager in and said to him, "I have heard bad things about you. Give me a report of what you have done with my money. You can’t be my manager any longer!"

Later after he was sacked, the manager thought to himself, “What will I do? My master is taking my job away from me! I am not strong enough to dig ditches. I am too proud to beg. I know! I’ll do something so that when I lose my job, people will welcome me into their homes.”

So the manager called in everyone who owed the master any money. He said to the first man, “How much do you owe my master?" The man answered, "I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.” The manager said to him, "Here is your bill; sit down quickly and make the bill less. Write 400 gallons.”

Then the manager said to another man, “How much do you owe my master?” The man answered, “I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat.”

Then the manager said to him, “Here is your bill; you can make it less. Write 800 bushels.”

Later, the master commended the dishonest manager for being shrewd and smart. Yes, worldly people are shrewder and smarter than spiritual people are.

Jesus then said, “I tell you, make friends for yourselves using worldly riches. Then, when those things are gone, you will be welcomed in an everlasting home.”

What is this everlasting home? Heaven or hell? We may find the answer as the parable continues.

Jesus continued, “Whoever can be trusted with small things can also be trusted with large things. Whoever is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in large things too. If you cannot be trusted with worldly riches, then you will not be trusted with the true riches. And if you cannot be trusted with the things that belong to someone else, then you will not be given things of your own. No servant can serve two masters. He will hate one master and love the other. Or he will follow one master and refuse to follow the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

While Jesus was sharing, the Pharisees were listening to all the things He said. They mocked Jesus because all of them loved money.

Jesus said to them, “You make yourselves look good in front of people. But God knows what is really in your hearts. The things that are important to people are worth nothing to God.”

Jesus said, “God wanted the people to live by the laws of Moses and the writings of the prophets. But ever since John came, the Good News about the kingdom of God is being told. Now everyone is trying to enter the kingdom. Even the smallest part of a letter in the law cannot be changed. It would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away than the laws of God to be changed.”

Then Jesus shared about divorce and remarriage, “If a man divorces his wife and marries another woman, he is guilty of adultery. And the man who marries a divorced woman is also guilty of adultery.”

Jesus then told them another parable about a rich man and Lazarus:

There was a rich man who always dressed in the finest clothes. He lived in luxury every day.

There was also a very poor man named Lazarus, whose body was covered with sores. Lazarus was often placed at the rich man’s gate. He wanted to eat only the small pieces of food that fell from the rich man’s table. And the dogs would come and lick his sores!

Later, Lazarus died. The angels took Lazarus and placed him in the arms of Abraham. The rich man died, too, and was buried. But he was sent to where the dead are and had much pain.

The rich man saw Abraham far away with Lazarus in his arms. He called, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to me so that he can dip his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am suffering in this fire!”

But Abraham said, “My child, remember when you are alive. You had all the good things in life, but all the bad things happened to Lazarus. Now Lazarus is comforted here, and you are suffering. Also, there is a big pit between you and us. No one can cross over to help you. And no one can leave there and come here.”

The rich man said, “Then please send Lazarus to my father’s house on earth! I have five brothers. Lazarus could warn my brothers so that they will not come to this place of pain.”

But Abraham said, “They have the laws of Moses and the writings of the prophets to read; let them learn from them!”

The rich man said, “No, father Abraham! If someone came to them from the dead, they would believe and change their hearts and lives.”

But Abraham said to him, “No! If your brothers won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, then they won’t listen to someone who comes back from death.”

Both the rich man and Lazarus went into an everlasting home. One was in hell, and the other in paradise.

Many prosperity gospel pastors and teachers have preached about using worldly wealth to gain friends in order to build the kingdom of God, and enter into an everlasting home. But this idea of using mammon or unrighteous wealth to make friends is totally wrong and incorrect. And what is their everlasting home?

Jesus was not teaching that believers should gain wealth dishonestly, and then make business connections with others by first blessing and befriending them. Jesus was not promoting social networking, helping each other to make business networks and strategic connections, making monetary deals and so on. What we sow, we will reap. If we sow unrighteousness, we will reap the same.

In fact, why did the rich man commend and applaud his unjust steward for being shrewd and smart? It was because he was rich. He might be unrighteous too. He knew how the worldly system worked. He might have done the same things himself! Nevertheless, he was not able to forgive and retain the steward in his home. He had to dismiss and sack him, and chased him out of the home, not desiring to suffer further losses!

It is interesting to note that Jesus was sharing all these parables in the midst of His disciples and also the Pharisees. And the Pharisees were lovers of money.

Luke 19:45-46
45 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it,
46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

The Pharisees, scribes and priests had turned the house of God into a den of robbers. The house of prayer had become a trading post and a business centre where all kinds of goods and services were bought and sold, and all kinds of business transactions were taking place! The Pharisees were delighted to have more buying and selling in the temple as these transactions would earn and produce more monetary incomes and profits for them.

These Pharisees might even have set up their exclusive clubs providing different services and benefits for different classes of people. The status of memberships of whether it was diamond, gold, silver, bronze or ordinary would depend on the annual or monthly subscriptions, and the special money and offerings collected. But Jesus went into the temple, and cleansed it by driving all of these thieves away!

These Pharisees might even have changed the laws of God allowing and permitting adultery, fornication and other immoral sins for the people and themselves. They might even twist and turn the laws of God to suit their own sexual lusts and desires. They would justify their own wrongdoings and sins by appearing to be healthy and wealthy, and looking good before others. But God knew what was in their hearts, looking beyond their deceptive and evil ways! God knew that they worshipped and served money, and not Him! And the laws of God are eternal, and cannot be changed!

If we are only interested in getting more worldly wealth and riches, we may not have any eternal riches. Our everlasting home will be where the certain rich man is.

The unjust people can be shrewd and smarter than the poor people now, but the poor will have an everlasting home better than the certain rich man. The poor will be comforted, and the unjust will be punished.

And this world is not our home, we are just passing through.

If interested, please view: This World Is Not My Home

Written on:
16 August 2024