Luke 16:1-9
1 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions.
2 And he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’
3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What am I to do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.
4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’
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 jugs 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 kors of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
8 And his master complimented 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.
9 And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it is all gone, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
The Parable of the Unrighteous Manager
Background of the parable
This is the most difficult parable to interpret. Why did the master praise the dishonest manager’s actions? First, let us consider the business practices of the time. The Law forbade lending money with interest (Ex. 22:25). So, the Jews devised a way to collect interest without technically violating the Law. “The Law forbids taking interest from the poor. However, if it is for the benefit of the borrower, then it can be considered a share in the profit and charging interest is permissible.” This line of thinking further developed into the following logic. “Everyone, at the very least, possesses oil and wheat. So, lending oil and wheat does not count as lending money to the poor. This is an investment, therefore charging interest is acceptable.” As a result, the money loaned was often converted into amounts of oil or wheat. Moreover, as the total amount of principal and interest was written into the promissory note, the fact that interest had been charged did not surface as a violation of the Law. The dishonest manager cleverly took advantage of this kind of business practice.
The true meaning of the parable
Fearing that his position would be taken away by his master, the manager called each debtor one by one and had them rewrite their promissory notes with new figures. The first debtor owed one hundred “baths (measure)” of oil (about 3,700 liters). The manager had him rewrite it to fifty. This excluded the fifty that had been added as interest. The next debtor owed one hundred kors of wheat (about 37,000 liters). The manager had him rewrite it to eighty, excluding the twenty that had been added as interest. When the master realized the manager’s dishonesty, he was caught in a dilemma. If he stayed silent, he would incur a loss. However, if he exposed the wrongdoing, it would reveal that he himself had been charging interest and his own reputation would be ruined. In the end, the master had no choice but to commend the dishonest manager for acting so shrewdly. Through this parable, Jesus is asking, “The sons of this world know how to use earthly wealth (unrighteous wealth) shrewdly. What about you?” In other words, we who live with the hope of heaven must ask ourselves whether we are using our wealth in a way that stores up treasure in heaven. Verse 9 says, “they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.” Here, “they” is a Hebrew expression referring to God Himself. Is your financial life one that brings joy to God?
Today's prayer
Gracious Heavenly Father, please grant me wisdom to faithfully manage the wealth You have entrusted me and to use it in ways that store up treasure in heaven. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.