Luke 16:1-13

Butler's Comments

SECTION 1

Be Shrewd (Luke 16:1-13)

16 He also said to the disciples, There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. 2And he called him and said to him, -What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship for you can no longer be steward.-' 3And the steward said to himself, -What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.-' 5So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, -How much do you owe my master?-' 6He said, -A hundred measures of oil.-' And he said to him, -Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.-' -Then he said to another, -And how much do you owe?-' He said, -A hundred measures of wheat.-' He said to him, -Take your bill, and write eighty.-' 8The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations.

10 He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12And if you have not been faithful in that which is another'S, who will give you that which is your own? 13No servant can serve two masters; for 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 God and mammon.

Luke 16:1-3 Wastefulness: Someone has wisely pointed out that money is merely a medium of exchange for a man's life. Man spends his time, talent and energy at a vocation and receives in exchange some mediumusually money. By spending that money a man exchanges his life for whatever he considers worthy of his life. If a man hoards his money or spends it all indulging himself it manifests a selfish, uncaring heart.

Jesus spoke the two stories of this chapter to His disciples but mainly for the benefit of the Pharisees who were lovers of money. The parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin and Lost Sons struck a smarting blow to their selfishness and uncaring hearts. The two stories of this chapter continue to strike at this careless attitude the Pharisees had toward their fellowmen. The scoffing reaction of the Pharisees (Luke 16:14) shows clearly that Jesus had hit His target.

These stories were spoken in Perea, beyond the Jordan River, during the climax of Jesus-' last year of public ministry. He was engaged in a great evangelistic campaign teaching the nature of the kingdom of God and discipleship, calling on all who would to become citizens of God's kingdom. It is significant that Jesus made citizenship in God's kingdom relevant to even such an everyday affair as what a man does with his money. The first story shows how to use your money to get to heaven or to send it on ahead in a different form; the second story shows how to use your money to get to hell!

A certain rich man (Gr. plousios, plutocrat) had a steward (Gr. oikonomon, lit. house-ruler, house-manager) who had been accused of wasting (Gr. diaskorpizon, squandering, same word used for Prodigal Son) his master's possessions. He could not get away with his sinsomeone told on him. The master of the house called the accused steward before him and demanded an accounting. The steward was guilty and the master dismissed him from his job. This steward was: (a) extravagantwasteful; (b) lazyhe wouldn-'t dig; (c) proudhe would not beg; (d) dishonest-cheated his master when later taking only partial payment for his master's debts. Apparently, before the steward left the employ of this master he would have occasion to settle outstanding accounts owed. He devised a scheme by which he could use his stewardship to make friends! A steward was a trusted care-taker of a rich man's household (cf. Genesis 43:19; Matthew 20:8; Luke 8:3; Luke 12:42). He was an employee-of-sorts (sometimes a slave) who often became almost like one of the family (cf. Genesis 15:1-3). But a steward was never an ownerhe was always simply using his master's goods for the benefit of the master. He was held accountable to the master for the way he used whatever was temporarily put under his administration.

Luke 16:4-9 Wisdom: Jesus is not condoning dishonesty! He is simply holding the steward's sagacity up for emulation. There are character traits worth imitating in the worst of men and the wise will see them and copy them. God never condoned the faults of Abraham but He holds the man up in His Word for emulation as the father of the faithful. Jesus wants His followers to be both honest and prudent. The one good thing in this steward's nature was his shrewdnessthis is the only lesson Jesus wishes to teach in this story. Jesus is not holding this man up as a believerHe is simply saying that worldly people (like this steward) are farsighted and astute in their endeavors for material ends. The Lord desires forethought, preparation and wisdom of His followers for spiritual ends. This steward was wiser than most church members (sons-of-light). There is a great lack of common sense in spiritual matters in the kingdom of God today. Some Christians do not have the courage of their convictionsthey are afraid to give the self-discipline and sacrifice necessary to attain the spiritual profits promised by Christ. This parable is like a sharp thunder-clap, rousing us from our spiritual dozing. God will not let us get by with stupidity in our stewardship. He expects us to invest everything in our charge (money, time, talents) to produce spiritual gain as intelligently as most worldly-minded people invest their holdings to make material gain.

One of the first things we notice in this parable is the sharp division of humanity. Christ divides all humanity into sons of this world and sons of light. There are only two classes of humanity in all the Biblebelievers and unbelievers, obedient and disobedient, gatherers and scatterers, saved and lost, wise and foolish. Men make multiple categories of goodness and evil, but for Jesus, when the final test comes, every man gives allegiance to either Him or the devil. If you are not a son of light, you are a son of this world. There are only two destiniesheaven or hell; only two repositories for your unrighteous mammonheaven or rust and destruction, and only two roadsthe narrow and difficult that leads to salvation, or the broad and easy that leads to death.
The sons of this world are not wiser in what they choose! They choose what is temporal. This world and all its substance is doomed to destruction. Every dollar, every monument to fame, every work of art, every thing will perish. None of this world can be transferred as it is to heavennot even the human body. Things must be exchanged for a different kind of currencythat currency is people, (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20) transformed into the image of God's dear Son. The sons of this world choose what is vain. Things of the worldof the fleshcannot satisfy the deepest and ultimate needs of the spiritual man. Men need grace, truth, forgiveness, hope, peace, love and identity. These cannot be obtained by the accumulation of things. Spiritual satisfaction comes from self-giving. Sons of this world also choose what forever must remain the Creator'S. A man who is worth only the worldly goods he seems to have accumulated is poor indeed! None of these worldly goods really belong to himthey belong to God. True wealth is the spiritual investments a man has made.

What Jesus is emphasizing is that the sons of this world may be wiser than most children of the light in how they conduct their business! Notice how candid this steward was in facing the facts about his situation. He did not lie to himself or fantasizehe did not hide his head in the sand like an ostrich. Business people know they must be brutally honest with themselves about, their profit-loss ledgers. They must not lie to themselves about whether business is good or bad. They either learn to be realists or they go under. Christians are too prone to construct a fool's paradise for themselves in the business of stewardship. They fantasize that their spiritual life must be good if they have an abundance of worldly possessions. They are prone to forget that not one thing in their charge belongs to them. Their worst fantasy is that as long as they dedicate ten percent to the Master, they may do as they please with the other ninety percent in their charge, This steward of the parable faced the reality that these things were not his; that he had them only for a short time to use; that he could use them to show mercy on people and make friends. He did not day-dream or procrastinate about the future and he did not pout about the pasthe made the most of the present.

This worldly-minded steward was keen in the way he planned. He did not allow his emotions to take away his reason. He did not run away with his master's money and waste it like the Prodigal did. He didn-'t stash it away like the foolish farmer (Luke 12:1-59). He didn-'t throw up his hands in despair and mental paralysis. He logically and deliberately reasoned out a plan. He decided to invest what was in his charge in helping people in order to help himself. Shakespeare said: All life is a preparation for death. Jesus urges His followers to make all this life a preparation for the next life. Cold, lifeless money can be turned into a warm handshake, a smile of gratitude or a cheerful word from someone helped for Jesus-' sake. Of course, friendship cannot be bought with crass mercenarism. Money genuinely used to help others will be rewarded, if not in this life then in the next. But fair-minded people are able soon enough to discern whether an offering of help is genuine or not. If Christians only dared to believe Jesus when He says, Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me (Matthew 25:40), they might be wiser in the use of their stewardship.

The steward of this parable was shrewd in the execution of his plan. He made straight for his goal. He allowed no obstacle to hinder him. He accepted no compromise, no alternatives. He demonstrated self-control and dedication. This steward had to sacrifice time, effort, pride and money. He paid the price without hesitation. Tragically, even athletes exhibit more dedication than most Christians! This worldly-minded house-manager evaluated worldly things as supreme and let no sacrifice stand in his way. Christians say heavenly things are most importantbut too many let everything else stand in their way.

Luke 16:10-13 Warning: It is an incontrovertible axiom of the business world that the man who can be trusted in small things can be promoted to large responsibilities. The man who will be dishonest and steals small amounts will almost inevitably embezzle large amounts. Jesus is using the parable to illustrate this startling warning: If you have not been faithful (wise and prudent) in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches? If Christians cannot use money and earthly possessions wisely (to prepare for the next life), how shall God entrust to them the true riches of the next life? In other words, what the Christian does here on earth as a steward, determines whether he shall ever get to be a steward in the next life or not!

No steward can obey two bosses. No man can live a life filled with contradictions. It is logically and psychologically impossible. It is unacceptable to the Lord and impossible for the Christian to endure such a dichotomy. No soldier on service gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to satisfy the one who enlisted him (2 Timothy 2:4). Men who do not believe God keep on trying to serve the world, the flesh and the devil while also professing to serve the Creator. That is why the Christian's responsibility toward God in money matters is not completed with giving ten percent of his wages. The Christian is accountable to God for every cent. That does not mean every cent must be given into the treasury of a local congregation for disbursement. It does mean that whatever the Christian uses his money for it must in some ultimate way serve God (through providing for his family, helping those in need, assisting in personal witnessing, supporting civic governments and institutions which are promoting social order and welfare, etc.). The important point is that God must be our Master, and not Money. Our money must be used to serve God.