Introduction
This parable is probably one of the most difficult passages in Luke's Gospel. The problem is that the dishonest steward is commended by his master for acting shrewdly. Why would Jesus use a dishonest man as a role model to be copied?
The parable is only found in Luke’s Gospel, and lies in the wider context of the travel narrative, after Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem (9:51). It follows immediately after the three ‘lost’ parables in chapter 15. These were addressed to the Pharisees and scribes who were complaining that Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them (15:1).
This parable, however, is addressed to his disciples (16:1), where Jesus continues the instruction of his disciples, often using parables with a particular focus on finances and prayer.
Notes about the parable
The manager squandering the property of his master (v1)
A rich man had a steward or manager who managed the affairs of his master (v1), rather like an estate manager. Someone reported to the rich man that his steward was wasting his possessions. He was not being a good steward. The master does not accuse him or punish him for being dishonest (yet), but for being wasteful. He is not described as dishonest (or unrighteous) until later (v8).
Just as the prodigal son squandered or wasted his father's money, this man was wasting his master's money. The prodigal son squandered his property in dissolute living (15:13), in this parable, the steward was squandering his master's property (16:1). The squandering of property links the two parables together, and may explain why they follow each other in the Gospel.
Called to account (v2)
The rich man summoned the steward to give an account of his management (v2). This means he would have to give an exact statement of the condition of the property he was responsible for, rather like an audit. This would expose the extent of the wastefulness and disorder the steward had brought into his master's business. As a result, the steward was sacked.
A difficult situation (v3-4)
The steward prepares himself for his future unemployment (v3). He is not strong enough to work as a labourer, and is ashamed to beg. So he decides to make friends with his master's debtors, “so that when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes” (v4). He will need people who will help him when he is unemployed. He did them a favour, so hopefully they will do him a favour when he needs it.
Reducing debts to make friends (v5-7)
To do this, he reduces the bills to the debtors, to make friends (v4). For the first debtor he reduces the bill from 100 jugs of oil to 50 (v5-6), a reduction of 50%. One jug, or bath, translates the Greek ‘batos’, which thought to be between 22 - 35 litres, so the debt would be between 2,200 and 3,500 litres. It is estimated that it would take the fruit from nearly 150 olive trees to make this much oil.
For the second debtor he reduces the bill from 100 measures of wheat to 80, a reduction by 20%. The word translated as ‘measure’ or ‘containers’ is the Greek ‘koros’, or ‘cor’. This was a unit of volume used to measure dry goods, such as wheat. One cor is estimated to be around 220 litres, so the debt was around 22,000 litres, which would weigh around 3,000 tons. It is estimated that a farmer would need around 40 hectares (100 acres) to grow the much wheat.
We can wonder whether making these reductions implied that he was stealing his masters money. He was not condemned for making these reductions. Perhaps his master did not know, until later. There are two different possibilities. One is that the master may have allowed the steward to keep a commission, which he was now giving away to gain friends. This would not have been dishonest. The other is that he was changing his master's bills without permission, and effectively stealing from his master. The debtors would not necessarily know that he was about to lose his job, and if he was going to be sacked anyway, he would not mind being even more dishonest.
The surprising statement (v8)
“His master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly”. This statement is what makes this parable so difficult to interpret and apply. The master admired the ingenuity of his sacked steward. We are left with the question of why would Jesus tell a story which commended someone who was dishonest, and then go on and tell his disciples to follow his example? (v9)
A reason is given, “for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light” (v8b). The disciples were not told to copy the steward's dishonesty, but to copy his foresight and shrewdness. Jesus used the parable to bring attention to the shrewd way unbelievers behave towards their others in their business relationships in order to achieve their own selfish ends.
The application is both immediate and eschatological. The immediate application is that Jesus challenged his followers to be as shrewd as the sacked manager. They should use their money for the sake of others, so that they might gain God's favour. On an eschatological level, his hearers (and us) face a far more major crisis than just losing employment. We face the coming of the Kingdom and the time of judgement.
Conclusion and application (v9)
Jesus concluded this parable with a message of application to his audience, his disciples (v1). “Make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth, so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes”. The dishonest wealth, or unrighteous mammon, probably referring to all material possessions, not just money. Jesus never says that material possessions are sinful and unclean. But injustice is so often involved in the accumulation and use of these possessions. It is peoples’ sinful attitudes to them that make them unrighteous.
We should notice the repeated phrase, “May welcome you into their homes, or eternal homes” (v4, 9). The steward (v4) used money to make friends so that he would be welcomed into (earthly) homes, a temporary welcome by fellow sinners. The disciples (v9) should use money to make friends so they would be welcomed into eternal homes, an eternal welcome into glory.
Jesus says his followers need to be free from the selfish covetous motives of the unrighteous steward and many unbelievers. We should use our worldly goods entrusted to us to bring blessing to others. This will bring us treasure in heaven, which is a welcome into the eternal homes.
We are like the steward. We are stewards of our master's (God) possessions. Everything belongs to him. We brought nothing into the world, and will take nothing out of it (1 Tim 6:7). We are called to make friends with the material possessions we are temporarily responsible for, not temporary friends through dishonesty, but eternal friends through shrewdly investing our money and material possessions in the Kingdom. These eternal friends will then give us a great welcome in to our eternal home in glory.
For example, instead of spending money on some personal luxury, a believer could sacrificially give money so copies of John’s Gospel could be given to an unreached people-group, so they came to faith in Christ. They would show you an eternal gratitude - you would have friends in heaven.
Teaching on wealth (v10-13)
Jesus continued with teaching on wealth. We should notice the repeated words, ‘dishonest wealth’ and ‘true riches’. Because our character does not depend on the quantity of material possessions we have, but on our hearts, it demonstrates that our faithfulness or unfaithfulness in small things shows our faithfulness or unfaithfulness in the bigger things of life (v10). There is a challenge to be faithful to what is entrusted to us, whether it belongs to us or not (v11). Our faithfulness in our use of earthly riches shows up our attitude to spiritual riches. The phrase ‘what belongs to another’ (v12) shows that God is the true owner of ‘our’ possessions. If we cannot be faithful with these ‘borrowed’ goods, how can God entrust us with our eternal possessions. If our life is controlled by the love of material possessions, we are not truly free to serve God. (v13). You cannot serve God and wealth (mammon).
The challenge is whether we use our worldly possessions in such a way that there will be people in eternity who will be glad to receive us? Or otherwise, will there be people in glory who will accuse us because we injured or neglected them through our selfish and unfaithful use of our worldly possessions?