The parable of the unjust steward in Luke 16:1-13 follows Jesus’ parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32),who had wasted the early inheritance he had received from his father. Continuing the theme of being wasteful with one’s life, Jesus tells His disciples about a steward who worked for a rich man, but was wasting the resources which had been given to him (16:1). When the rich man heard of it, he called the wasteful steward to him saying, “What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward” (16:2). Knowing he was now in danger of losing his job, the steward thought, “What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses” (16:3-4). Basically, the wasteful steward was attempting to ensure his own stability in the future if he was to be fired. In order to guarantee that he would have a place to stay, he summoned all of the people who owed his boss money and collected the debt at a discounted rate (16:5-7). By giving these men a lower debt to pay, he bought their friendship and they would now feel obligated to take him in if he was fired. When the rich man heard about the shrewdness of this wasteful steward, he actually commended him for using money to buy friends (16:8a). After telling this story Jesus says, “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light” (16:8b). This a weird twist in Jesus’ teaching because although He does not endorse the wasteful steward’s actions, He sanctions the use of earthly money to do whatever it takes to get the news of hope and salvation to all people (16:9). Jesus then instructed the disciples that if they were faithful with a little bit of money, they would be given more to be used toward the greater good (16:10-12). Knowing that the Pharisees were nearby and would misunderstand His teachings, Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money]” (16:13). Money was not to be acquired for selfish purposes, as the Pharisees believed (see Luke 16:14), but it was to be used in doing God’s will. In essence, Jesus was teaching that the issue with money is not how much a person has, but how a person uses it. The Pharisees immediately reacted to Jesus’ words and mocked Him (16:14), but Jesus said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (16:15). The Pharisees believed that their riches proved that God had shown them favor, but Jesus was quick to dispel their thinking by reminding them that they did not care about God, but only about impressing people with their money and possessions.
Even though the Pharisees believed themselves to be experts in the teachings of the law, Jesus exposed their complete ignorance of Him as the promised Messiah. The Old Testament prophets, including John the Baptist, had declared that this Messiah was coming, but when Jesus came, they denied that He was the one (16:16-17). Rather than accept Jesus’ teachings as well as His identity as the Messiah, the Pharisees chose to continue in their own ways. Jesus even provided an example of their misinterpretation of the law saying, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery” (16:18). The religious leaders, including the Pharisees, taught that divorce was acceptable in all circumstances (see Matthew 5:31-32; 19:3-9), but Jesus corrected their thinking in this matter. Ultimately, Jesus wanted the Pharisees to recognize that they were only justifying their own actions while ignoring the true condition of their heart. God is not attentive to those who seek to impress Him (and others) through external works, but He listens to those who come before for Him in humility and with a repentant heart seeking His forgiveness.
Dear God, make my motives pure and my heart humble.
