Luke 16: The Shrewd Manager

1 Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 2 So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.”

3 Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.”

5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” 6 He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” 7 Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” 8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.

9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. 10 ‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.

11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’

I don’t like to ask people their opinion without first sharing my own but in this case I have to make an exception because I don’t know what to make of this parable.

Where are you getting this from? Book, Chapter?

just wondering

Luke 16:1-13
Not sure what to make of this parable

People in this life are so concerned with money and material wealth. They don't want to be robbed. They don't want to give money to people in need because they are worried it may be spent on drugs or cigarettes or alcohol or prostitutes. Sometimes, we don't want to spend our time on people because we disagree with them politically - these people may believe the Earth is a ball, they may believe the covid-vaxx is not a kill shot, they may be non-Christians, Jews, even Muslims.

Everything we own is given to us by God. And when we die, we will lose everything we own. I see the parable as instruction to ensure we use what God has given us in this life, and not be intending to store it up for a rainy day (forever), because the truth is we are really just managers of what God has loaned to us. The parable talks of these people who have been blessed by us with our dishonest (Earthly) wealth welcoming us into eternal homes, so I believe it is of necessity referring to believers (or those who will believe).

Perhaps I am way off base, but I have always thought of the wealth in most parables as being the faith that is equated to Godly gold. If one is gifted with it, and does nothing , he would be considered a not good steward of the lord's GIFT.

This Parable is all about ---You can't serve 2 Masters -----the unjust steward was serving his own needs not caring about what his Master expected of him ------he did things underhanded and sneaky which is how many people of the world work when it comes to the business of handling finances -----he wants to make sure he is looked after when he looses his job so he plots debt on the workers by giving them a deal and in turn they are to take him in when he is fired so he will have a place to stay and be looked after ------

The Master then commends the Manager for his shrewd dealings as the way he saw it this Manager was planning for his future ------- and looking after his needs for down the road -----

For the believer -----we to need to plan for our Future --------

God is our Mater and we are the Stewards of what belongs to God -----our finances should include investing in our Future Kingdom -----using money wisely so we can advance our Master's Kingdom ----when we are Faithful with little finances we will be faithful with much ------we are to prepare our way for our future in God's Kingdom by investing our resources rightly and by this we are ensuring that we will enjoy our eternal Home where we will be looked after when we leave this world ------

We own nothing ---it all belongs to God our Master ------No Servant can serve 2 Masters at once -----Either God is your Master or Money is your Master ------

Money itself is not the Problem ---it is our LOVE of Money that is the issue ---Making money your god is the big issue ----


Context
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
…12And if you have not been faithful with the belongings of another, who will give you belongings of your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and money.” 14The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.…


Wisdom at it best -----

Since I do not trust the other versions, I am posting what is in the King James Bible, and will comment on that:
1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.
4 I am 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 lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?
6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which 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 hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

It is truly puzzling that the master of this steward commended his steward for what he had done (which was to firstly waste his master's wealth, and then to cheat him out of what was actually owed to him). But what the steward was doing was for his future survival, and the master was generous enough not to begrudge him that.

But the real lesson that Jesus was teaching His disciples (v 9) is that wealth (which is called "unrighteous mammon" because it is generally not used for righteous purposes) should be used to (a) propagate the Gospel. (b) establish sound churches. and (c) propagate the Kingdom of God on earth, through wisely investing in the needs of those who are extremely needy (e.g. widows and orphans, as well as many other needs). There are many Christians around the world who are barely surviving, or who are being seriously persecuted. They need the help of those Christians who are able to assist. This would be service to God, and there would be rewards in Heaven for those who unselfishly shared their wealth with the less fortunate.

F.Y.I.

What is the meaning of the parable of the unjust steward in Luke 16?

and

What is the meaning of the Parable of the Unjust Steward …

@Nehemiah6, that is incredibly awe inspiring and humbling. You hit me with something far more powerful than I was anticipating. Thank you brother for sharing as you have.

I don’t know. 🤷‍♂️

This is the statement that you're having a time reconciling to the context. Correct?
As I read through it, it struck me that the steward was settling everyone's account with the Master, and at a discount. Doing it this way, the debt is considered paid, with an application of both justice for the master, that is paying back the master somewhat, and mercy toward the debtor, that is somewhat alleviating a portion of his burden. This results in satisfaction all around connoted by the master's commendation and assuming the debtors' gratitude.

it helps to look at the contemporary verses to hear what he’s “saying “or trying to teach us

“And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; ( worldly wealth) that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. ( heaven )

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. ( our character now matters)

If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, ( worldly wealth ) who will commit to your trust the true riches? ( heavenly rewards)

No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭16:9-11, 13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

There’s contemporary scriptire to study from Someone who was present being Matthew the apostle That has other details of this concept he’s teaching

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:19-30, 33-34‬ ‭KJV‬‬


Then Also if you read on in luke you see how riches and money are highly valued to Mankind but because it corrupts mans heart it’s an abomination in Gods sight covetous hearts after wealth and more and more

“And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭16:14-16‬ ‭KJV‬‬

greater are the riches of heavens kingdom than any riches we could gain on earth . If we do good with the things we gain on earth help People refuse to be greedy , it’s showing we can handle true rewards and glory later

I hope I'm using the term "debtor" properly, in reference to the one that owes it... I'll check later, as I don't want to lose the train of thought I'm on.

I recall this parable beginning with the steward robbing the debtors, the master, or is it both. Maybe I'm mixing that up too but, his squandering is what procures his 'unrighteous' description here. Looking up antonyms for shrewd, I think that the resultant comparison of him as shrewder in dealing with his generation than the child of light is an allusion to their imprudence, which is not showing concern for the consequences of their actions, rash. Hence, the ensuing exhortation for prudence.

None of the above explanations are correct.

And the story is about forgiveness.

Each of the forgiven debts were equal in value in a commodity based economy....some still owed large debts but some were almost debt free.

The "manager" is the follower of Jesus.
Because we are human we are incapable of Godly forgiveness. We aren't God. Nor should we delude ourselves into thinking we are.

When someone kills our only child....we can't forgive the pain they cause within us....we might claim we do....but it just isn't true. We might blame God or some other fool thing....but that drunk, Thug, or ne'er do well is responsible.

Are you going to give them your deceased son's bedroom?
Not hardly!

An accident of understanding or misspeaking is easy to forgive....no debt remains after apologies are offered....

Stealing money or opportunities are a little tougher to forgive.

We can only forgive so much....and that's what God expects of us. Doing what we can and applying our ability to forgive to everyone.

God can forgive completely and make us a treasured adopted child once again. Even when we killed his only begotten son.