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Hi,
This is an unusual parable
Luke 16
1And 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.2And 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.
3Then 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.
4I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
5So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?
6And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.
7Then 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.
8And 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.
If he was a steward then he was serving the King.
He was appointed certain responsibilities and powers.
He lost the friendship and employ of his master.
But he kept his place in the kingdom by other means.It seems that the Lord is giving those who fall away another chance.
Surely to allow repayment of debts is to give God's forgiveness as the disciples are given authority to do in Jn20.
So to continue to preach and baptise others into the kingdom seems to ensure our hopes??What do others think?
Nick;
I like this parable for a couple of reasons. It shows that even though we may have failed there is always a way to salvage what remains. It also shows how merciful God is when we try to do what we can with what remains of our lives.
Hi:
What the steward did by comprimising the bills of his master was dishonest and so, he is called an unjust steward.
Quote .Luke 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon F38 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, F39 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. Quote (TimothyVI @ Feb. 20 2008,10:53) Why did the Lord commend him for being unjust? Tim
Hi Tim:Quote John Gill's Exposition of the Bible Luke 16:8
And the Lord commended the unjust steward…
Not the Lord Jesus Christ, who delivered this parable, as the Syriac version seems to suggest, rendering it, “our Lord”; but the Lord of the steward, or “God”, as the Ethiopic version reads: not that he commended him for the fact he did, or the injustice of it for this is contrary to his nature and perfections; but for his craft and cunning in providing himself a maintenance for time to come: for he is on that account branded as an “unjust steward”, as he was, in wasting his Lord's goods; putting false glosses on the Scriptures; doing damage both to the souls and worldly estates of men: and in neglecting and despising lawful and honest ways of living, by digging or begging, asking favours at the hand of God, and doing good works; and in falsifying accounts; breaking the least of the commandments, and teaching men so to do; and in corrupting others, making proselytes twofold more the children of hell than himself; and in being liberal with another's property, to wrong objects, and for a wrong end. It was not therefore because he had done justly to his Lord, or right to others, that he is commended; butbecame he had done wisely
for himself: the wit, and not the goodness of the man is commended; which, in the language and sense of the Jews, may be thus expressed F16:“because a man, (wmuel hbwj hvwe) , “does good” for himself with “mammon” which is not his own.''
For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than
the children of light:
by “the children of this world” may be meant the Israelites, who belonged to the Jewish nation and church, called the “world”, and “this world”, (1 Corinthians 10:11) (2:6,8) especially the princes of it, the ecclesiastical doctors and rulers: and who also were the men of this present world; in general they were such who were, as they were born into the world; in their sins, in the pollution, and under the guilt of them; were carnal, in the flesh, or unregenerate, and in darkness and blindness: they were such as were not only in the world, but of it; they belonged to it, having never been called out of it; and were under the influence of the God of it; and were taken with the things of it, its riches, honours, and pleasures; and had their portion in it, and were of worldly spirits; all which agrees with the Scribes and Pharisees; see (Psalms 17:14) and Aben Ezra on it, who has the very phrase here used: (amled) (synya) , a “man of the world”, is sometimes F17 distinguished from a scholar, or a wise man; but (amle ynb) , “the children of the world”, as they frequently intend the inhabitants of the world F18, are sometimes distinguished from (ytad amle Nb) , “a son of the world to come” F19; and from “the children of faith” F20, the same as “the children of light” here; by whom are meant the children of the Gospel dispensation; or persons enlightened by the Spirit and grace of God, to see the sinfulness of sin, and their wretched state my nature; the insufficiency of their own righteousness to justify them before God; the way of life, righteousness, and salvation by Christ; who see that the several parts of salvation, and the whole, are of grace; have some light into the Scriptures of truth, and doctrines of the Gospel; and some glimpse of heaven, and the unseen glories of another world, though attended with much darkness in the present state: and who shall enjoy the light of glory. Now, the men of the world, or carnal men, are, generally speaking, wiser than these; not in things spiritual, but in things natural, in the affairs of life, in worldly matters. The phrase seems to answer to (twdlwt) , “generations” used in (Genesis 6:9) (Genesis 37:2) “these are the generations of Noah”… and “the generations of Jacob”; by which are meant, not the genealogies of them, but their affairs; what befell them in life: as so the Jewish writers F21 explain the phrase by (twrwqh) , “the things which happened” unto them in this world, in the course of their pilgrimage: or they are wise, (eiv thn genean thn eautwn) , “for their own generation”: for the temporal good of their posterity, than saints are for the spiritual good of theirs: or they are wiser for the time that is to come in this life, than good men are concerning themselves for the time to come in the other world: or they are wiser, and more prudent in disposing of their worldly substance for their own secular good, and that of their offspring, than men of spiritual light and knowledge are, in disposing of their worldly substance for the glory of God, the interest of Christ, the honour of religion, their own spiritual good, and that of their posterity.Hi,
In Lk 12 in response to Peter's question Jesus seems to separate off his brothers and call them stewards and servants.32Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
33Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
34For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
35Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
36And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
37Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
38And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
39And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
40Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
41Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?
42And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
43Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
44Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
45But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
46The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
47And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
48But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
I've tried to understand this one, and I still can't wrap my mind around how it fits with the whole context of scripture. I do believe that it is there for a reason, though.
Luke 16:8-15
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.
He was commended for shrewdness, not what he did?
9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
What does gaining friends by means of worldly wealth have to do with salvation?
? I guess it doesn't say “Paradise” or “Kingdom of Heaven” maybe he is referring to Hell as the eternal dwelling?10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property 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.”
Maybe Jesus was using this as a satire to the Pharisees?
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.
NIVSo we know that dishonesty and selfish gain are detestable… this cannot mean that Jesus encourages the practice of these things!
When I first started reading this I thought that the dishonest manager may represent a Pastor, who comprimises the message for the sake of man's approval… I am not sure, though.
Clarification?
Hi shania,
God has a heart for the poor and this is apparent throughout scripture.
Almsgiving is expressing the same love of God.The poor and those living in the hedgerows will be found despite their sins at the wedding feast.
Those unknown to Christ may find a welcome there too through their charity.But what I understand is that the unrighteous steward cheated his master by comprimising what was due him in order to find favor with the debtor, so that the debtor would favor the unrighteous steward. Is this what you mean by almsgiving? I may misunderstand you.
The master was praising his practicality and wisdom. He was also making the point that the people of “the world” are sometimes wiser in a practical way than we are. He was showing us a good example of why its important to be shrewd and prudent when necessary, especially when concerning our worldly possesions.
Hi DK,
We must prove to make profit from the grace given us as Mt 25 shows.
But openhearted love covers many sins.Quote (Nick Hassan @ June 13 2008,13:53) Hi DK,
We must prove to make profit from the grace given us as Mt 25 shows.
But openhearted love covers many sins.
I agree
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