Parables Of Jesus Christ

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

Luke 16:1-13
The Parable of the Dishonest Manager
"He also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' And the manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.' So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' He said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' 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.' The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth,so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.: "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No 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 money."
In this parable Jesus indicates he is speaking to His disciples, but there is a suggestion that His audience is mixed, disciples and Pharisees. Luke 16:14 states that the Pharisees "heard all these things and ridiculed ." Jesus says "also" said to the disciples, "also" suggests that this parable is connected to the previous three in Luke 15 and that the audience was a mixed crowd of disciples and Pharisees. I think it is important to know to whom Jesus is addressing this parable. The parable is for the benefit of the disciples, but there is also a not-so-subtle critique of the Pharisees. We can see our Lord condemn their motives. And what was the Pharisees' motivation? They were those who were "lovers of money" and who "justify themselves before men" and who exalted that which was an "abomination before God."
The story is simple, but the setting is unusual. In most of Jesus's parables, the protagonist is either representative of God, Christ, or some other positive character. In this parable the characters are all wicked. The manager and the man whose possessions he manages are both unsavory characters. This should alert us to the fact that Jesus is not exhorting us to emulate the behavior of the characters but is trying to expound on a larger principle. This parable begins with a rich man calling his manager before him to inform him that he will be relieving him of his duties for mismanaging his master's resources. The manager had authority over all of the master's resources and could transact business in his name. This requires the utmost level of trust in the manager. It may not be apparent at this point in the parable (but is made more evident later on), but the master is probably not aware of manager's dishonesty. The manager is being released for apparent mismanagement, not fraud. This explains why he is able to conduct a few more transactions before he is released and why he is not immediately tossed out on the street or executed. As this was the practice in jesus's time. The manager, realizing that he will soon be without a job, makes some shrewd deals behind his master's back by reducing the debt owed by several of the master's debtors in exchange for shelter when he is eventually put out. When the master becomes aware of what the wicked servant had done, he commends him for his "shrewdness." Jesus says "For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light". Jesus is drawing a contrast between the "sons of the world" (i.e., unbelievers) and the "sons of light" (believers). Unbelievers are wiser in the things of this world than believers are about the things of the world to come. The dishonest manager, once he knew he was about to be put out, maneuvered to put others's debt to himself. He did so by cheating his master (who more than likely was cheating the customers) He made friends of his master's debtors who would then be obligated to care for him once he lost his job.This parable i think tell us as believers we are wise about the life to come " And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth,so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings." Jesus is encouraging His followers to be generous with their wealth in this life so that in the life to come their new friends will receive them "into eternal dwellings." This is similar to Jesus's teaching on wealth in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus exhorts His followers to lay up treasures in heaven. A parable i have already covered .Jesus is not saying that believers should gain wealth unrighteously and then be generous with it. "Unrighteous" in reference to wealth can refer to the means in acquiring wealth or the way in which one desires to use the wealth or the corrupting influence wealth can have that often leads people to commit unrighteous acts. Given the way in which Jesus employs the term, the third explanation seems the most likely. Wealth is not inherently evil, but the love of money can lead to all sorts of sin.In my opinion Jesus is trying to convey is one of a honest manager rather than an dishonest one. The dishonest manager saw his master's resources as a means for his own personal enjoyment and advancement. Jesus wants His followers to be honest, just, righteous manager. If we understand the principle that everything we own is a gift from God, then we realize that God is the owner of everything and that we are His managers.As such, we are to use the Master's resources to further the Master's goals. In this specific case, we are to be generous with our wealth and use it for the benefit of others. Even if that wealth is time rather than finanical.
Jesus then goes on to expand. If one is faithful in "little" ( "unrighteous" wealth), then one will be faithful in much. Similarly, if one is dishonest in little, he will also be dishonest in much. If we can't be faithful with earthly wealth, which isn't even ours to begin with, then how can we be entrusted with "true riches"? The "true riches" here is referring to stewardship and responsibility in God's kingdom along with all the accompanying heavenly rewards.The climax of this parable, i just love this teaching from jesus he is so straight to the point. Hard hitting truth. "No 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 money." of God is our Master, then our wealth will be at His disposal. In other words, the faithful and just , honest manager.whose Master is God will employ that wealth in building up the kingdom of God. Wether it is financially, time in missionary, praying, serving god etc as long as it is glorifying god and building the lords kingdom. We can be assured that we will hear. "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." amen .