Now our manager is terribly worried. He’s never “worked” for a living. He’s
not strong enough to dig ditches and since he’s been working for the rich…
he’s ashamed to have to beg for a living.
4 I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management
people will welcome me into their homes.’
“A-Ha,” the manager says, “I know what I shall do.” He decides that the
proper action, in order to protect himself and his position for his future,
is to lower the debt owed to the rich man to ingratiate himself to the
debtors and he would be welcomed by them (perhaps in a new managerial
relationship).
THE UNRIGHTEOUS MANAGER’S ACTIONS
5 And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to
the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘A hundred
measures of oil.’ And 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?’ And
he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill,
and write eighty.’
So our manager goes and halves one debtor’s debt and cuts a second one’s
debt by 20 percent, thus placing himself in their favor. Notice his skill
and speed in using his worldly knowledge in order to ingratiate himself to
his master’s debtors.
THE RICH MAN FINDS OUT EVERYTHING
8 And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted
shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own
kind than the sons of light.
The shrewd manager
lowered the amounts owed to the rich man and they paid that amount – thus,
the manager was able to mark his master’s books as their debts being paid.
This made the debtors happy. He fully expected that his master would not
notice that he had “cooked the books.”
But,
he didn’t get away with it. His master had been warned about his unrighteous
financial activities which benefited himself at his master’s expense.
Then, unexpectantly, the rich man praises the actions of the manager for
being shrewd (having or showing sharp powers of judgment; astute) in making
his way forward towards acquiring his next employment by wining favor with
his former bosses’ debtors.
So here we have to stop and process this parable as it has gone thus far.
This is a story about a man (the manager) who was unrighteous in dealing
with his master’s money in order to benefit himself. He was caught at it,
and then acting unrighteous he paved the way to continue benefiting himself
after his master fires him.
In
Luke 16:8b
- The key to this parable is found in this line, “the
sons of this age are more shrewd
(having or showing sharp powers of judgment –
Astute) in relation to their own kind than
the sons of light.”
Jesus is giving us an
example of how people in the world look out for themselves and their
endeavors in a way that God’s people often neglect.
Unless we see the positive side of this story so far… we will not understand
Jesus’ parable. A man acted in such a way that his goals were going to be
met when his current job came to an end.
Jesus is saying that it is true that the children of this world are more
shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the
light (His children).
“Jugglers and fiddlers, and circus-riders and dancers, criminals, purely
worldly men and women of business, and people of that sort spend far more
time upon efforts to perfect themselves in their profession, than
ninety-nine out of every hundred professing Christians do to make themselves
true and mature followers of Jesus Christ. In their world they know that
nothing is to be got without working for it, and there is nothing to be got
in the Christian life without working for it any more than in any other.”
[2]
THE MASTER ADVISES
Jesus then turns to the crowd and says:
9 And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of
unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the
(their) eternal dwellings.
This is the hard verse for us to understand.
We need to understand that neither the rich man
nor the manager are identified as being righteous. This parable is not about
who they
are. It is about
what they did.
Let me offer a quick paraphrase of verse 9 that will help us understand
what’s being said here:
And I say to you, Christian, or at the time righteous Jew, make friends for
yourselves in this world of unrighteousness (leading them to Christ, or back
to God’s Word for the Jew) by using that which is most valuable (valuable
righteous knowledge and skills) in this world that is full of
unrighteousness... so that when the unrighteousness fails, they (those who
have turned to Christ, returned to God’s Word) will receive you into their
eternal dwellings.
Arm yourself with that which is of the high biblical standards, and then
don’t separate yourself from those around you because of their
unrighteousness! Make friends with the unrighteous around you so that you
can minister to them. When their un-righteousness fails them… you and the
Gospel will be there to bring them to belief, and then they will receive you
and because of that reception you will be welcomed into their righteous
eternal dwellings.
WHY?
10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and
he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
Jesus is speaking about shrewdness. It is a quality in this parable.
The shrewd one who is faithful in a very little unrighteous
thing will also be faithful in the very big unrighteous thing.
Unsaid is the opposite of these things. The shrewd one who is
faithful in a very little righteous thing will also be U in very
big righteous thing. It is a pattern that is always followed. If an
unrighteous person becomes saved, and they are a shrewd person, they will
become a shrewd saved person. They will think and act according to their
natural nature. A shrewd unsaved person will be a shrewd saved person. A
lazy unsaved person will be a lazy saved person.
11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth,
who will entrust the true riches to you? 12 And if you have not been
faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which
is your own?
Jesus goes on and speaks about the lack of shrewdness. Who would trust you
with great riches is you are unfaithful. Then Jesus asks the really big
question, “and if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is
another’s, who will give you that which is your own?”
Consider this: A young man grows up in a wealthy family. He’s not shrewd in
using his money to better himself or save for his future, or help others.
His parents write him out of their will, and when they are gone, he will
have nothing, and no one will help him, for he would not help others.
And then consider this: A young saved man grows up in a wealthy family. He’s
shrewd in using His money to better himself and save for his future, and he
uses his money to help others, he suffers a financial failure (no fault of
his own). He has his savings, help from his family, and help from all his
friends whom he has helped along the way.
The story will be very much the same for anyone regardless of their original
financial condition. A person’s nature, is a person’s nature.
13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and
love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You
cannot serve God and wealth.”
In the background of our current world is the seeming truth that, “It’s all
about the power or the money!” For the Christian, it should all be about who
is in the Lamb’s “Book of Life,” and how can I help get them, during their
lifetime, into the Kingdom of God.
Just after this parable comes, “The Rich man and Lazarus” (Luke 16:19-31),
Jesus encourages good stewardship – especially in the division between
living a Christian life for Jesus, or living for money, power, and material
things. As believers we have no excuse for not knowing what God expects of
us, basically the same bottom line as this current study.
I see two important threads in these parables. One is about the dangers of
serving the god of wealth. So much about those who serve wealth are steeped
in selfishness, materialism, and self-importance. Do you remember the
stories from the great stock market crash in the late 1930s? Do you remember
those who took their own lives when they lost everything? It still happens
today. Serving money and things can make you happy – but not forever.
The second thread is all about being “shrewd” as a Christian, where the
center of your attention is being prepared for entering God’s kingdom. The
shrewd Christian will spend their time in the Word of God, focusing upon
Jesus Christ, as He is the focus of the Scriptures.
YOUR SHREWDNESS
- Are you spending the same energy, in your occupation, your work, those
secular things that you so love, as you spend your energy and shrewdness for
Christ. Which is more important to you?... Your self-interest or the
ministry of Christ. Is it the studying, teaching, and telling the world
around you about Jesus or do you spend your time and energy towards your
career, occupation, and money? Will many who have found Jesus through some
element of your love for them come to meet you in God’s kingdom, welcoming
you joyfully, receiving you into “their
eternal dwellings?”
Jesus promises to reward us for being shrewd – for
Him. The Lord isn’t above encouraging us to do the right thing for reasons
that will ultimately benefit ourselves. This is why He talks so often about
the kind of behavior that God rewards:
1.
“But when you give
to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is
done in secret, will reward you (Matthew
6:3-4).
2.
“Give, and it will
be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running
over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be
measured to you (Luke 6:38).
A final example: If someone gives you a $20 bill… will you use it to buy
something that will make you happy for a moment or invest it in something
that will please the Lord. Using what the Lord has given freely to you for
the benefit of others, even if you get rewarded for it… is the kind of
self-serving behavior that Jesus actually encourages.
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS
WITHOUT ANSWERS
1.
What is the difference between a bible story and a parable?
2.
Why is Jesus telling this parable?
3.
Verses 10-13 teach an important lesson, what is it?
FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
1. What is the
difference between a bible story and a parable?
A Bible story usually contains names of individuals
that are related to the surrounding text. A story is about a subject that,
in most instances, has actually happened.
A
parable is “a story cast alongside” as an Illustration that will teach a
certain lesson to a set of people in the audience of the teller. In Jesus’
parables, quite often there are more than one audience group that is
listening and the formulation of the parable will speak a different message
to each group – for instance, what the faithful followers of Jesus hear will
be a message concerning the importance in their lives for the gospel. Then
there are the general followers of Jesus who will hear a “general”
interpretation of what Jesus is telling them, and finally there are those in
the audience who have been sent to catch Jesus violating either the Law of
God, or the Traditions of the elders (the Talmud). They will be listening
with the intention of catching Him. So they are not listening for His deeper
message, but listening for that which may violate their laws and traditions.
2.
Why is Jesus telling this parable?
Jesus is talking about how people of the world react
to troubling situations. In this case a rich man and his financial manager.
Jesus tells us that the manager is basically stealing money from the rich
man for his own use. The rich man find out that this is the case and intends
to fire his financial manager. The manage then uses his worldly skills to
ensure that he will be received for another job position.
He
wants us to see that people react with skill and motivation in order to
preserve their money and power. He goes on to say that generally righteous
people rarely respond with the kind of motivation that an unrighteous person
uses to advance their own position. In our story, the rich man praises the
unrighteous actions that the manager uses to protect himself and his
interests. Jesus then makes the connection that wouldn’t it be great if
believers used as much ingenuity in keeping their ministries and gospel
endeavors productive during difficulties.
3.
Verses 10-13 teach an important lesson, what is it?
If you are
an unfaithful person – who will trust you? If you are unfaithful in little
things, then you will be unfaithful in the big things of life as well. If
you are faithful in the little things, then
you will be faithful in the big things of life as well – you are who
you are. You decide where your faithfulness resides. Faithfulness should be
at or near the top of your qualities and make that faithfulness count for
serving your Master, Jesus. You can’t serve the Power and Money of this
world as your master... and be faithful to the Lord Jesus. You can only
serve One Master - let it be Jesus.
