Parable of the Unjust Steward

Text

"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."

Interpretation

Perhaps no parable in the gospels has been the subject of so much controversy as this. One popular line of interpretation explains that the manager is forgoing a commission due to him personally, but many scholars disagree with this reading. Although the master has "a certain grudging admiration" for the manager's "shrewdness", Jesus labels the manager "dishonest". To add to the interpretations, several different sayings about money were attached to the parable here. It is a matter of debate whether sayings about trust or serving two masters apply to this parable.

The manager in the parable was probably a slave or freedman acting as his master's agent in business affairs. As his master's representative, the agreements he signs with the debtors were therefore binding.

The parable shares the theme of other passages where "Jesus counsels the disposition of possessions (and hospitality) on behalf of the poor with the understanding that, while mammon will vanish, eternal treasure will have thus been secured." When death comes, "the power we have to do good with our money ceases, so we should do good with it now" so that the friends we have made on earth will be waiting for us in heaven. This interpretation was also espoused by early Church writers, such as Asterius of Amasia:

When, therefore, any one anticipating his end and his removal to the next world, lightens the burden of his sins by good deeds, either by canceling the obligations of debtors, or by supplying the poor with abundance, by giving what belongs to the Lord, he gains many friends, who will attest his goodness before the Judge, and secure him by their testimony a place of happiness.|source= }}

English Reformer William Tyndale emphasises the consistency of this parable with the doctrine of justification by faith, writing a booklet on the parable called The Parable of the Wicked Mammon (1528), based on an exposition by Martin Luther. Tyndale saw "good works" as the result of faith. Tyndale also pointed out that the steward was not praised by Jesus for his conduct, but merely provided as an example of wisdom and diligence, so that "we with righteousness should be as diligent to provide for our souls, as he with unrighteousness provided for his body". Anglican Charles Daubuz (1720) was among those who saw in the "eternal habitations" promised to the unjust steward a negative prediction of the grave, not a promise of heaven.

The Anglican theologian J. C. Ryle, writing in 1859, rejected a number of allegorical interpretations of the parable, and gave an interpretation similar to that of Tyndale:

Let us contend earnestly for the glorious doctrines of salvation by grace, and justification by faith. But let us never allow ourselves to suppose that true religion sanctions any trifling with the second table of the law. Let us never forget for a moment, that true faith will always be known by its fruits. We may be very sure that where there is no honesty, there is no grace.|source= }}

David Flusser, in a book titled Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, has taken the phrase "sons of light" to mean the Essenes; their closed economic system is contrasted with that of other people who were less strict.

A Confessional Lutheran apologist commented:

LDS Elder James E. Talmage wrote:

Catholic interpretation

According to the commentators of the New American Bible Revised Edition, the parable is about an agent who, knowing he is about to be fired for usury, repents of his sin, asking the debtors to only pay what they owe his master, rather than pay him as well.

References

Citations

Sources

References

1. Rock, A., [https://www.catholicmom.com/daily-gospel/daily-gospel-reflection-for-november-5-2021 Daily Gospel Reflection for November 5, 2021], [[Holy Cross Family Ministries]], accessed 19 January 2022
2. [[BibleGateway.com]], [https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Luke%2016:1 Translations of Luke 16:1], accessed 19 January 2022
3. [[Henry Alford (theologian). Alford, H.]] (1841-1861), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/alford/luke/16.htm Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary - Alford] on Luke 16, accessed 19 January 2022
4. Koehn, Daryl. (2005). "Integrity as a Business Asset". Journal of Business Ethics.
5. [http://www.usccb.org/bible/lk/16:8 The Catholic Study Bible, Oxford University Press, 1990, footnote to Luke 16 v 1-8a]
6. John Phillips. (2005). "Exploring the Gospel of Luke: An Expository Commentary". Kregel Academic.
7. Mathewson, Dave L.. (March 1995). "The Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-13): A Reexamination of the Traditional View in Light of Recent Challenges". Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society.
8. Troxler, J. Allen. (2007). "Doing Justice to the Unjust Steward: An Exegetical Examination of Luke 16: 1-13 and Its Context". Peter Lang Publisher.
9. Green, Joel B.. (1997). "The Gospel of Luke". Wm. B. Eerdmans.
10. [[William Tyndale]], [http://www.theologynetwork.org/unquenchable-flame/the-reformation-in-britain/going-on/the-parable-of-the-wicked-mammon.htm ''The Parable of the Wicked Mammon''] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-07-28 (1528), also printed in ''[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_8qoMAAAAIAAJ/page/n98 The Works of the English reformers: William Tyndale and John Frith, Volume 1]'' (1831), pp. 83–161.)
11. (2009). "The Oxford Handbook of Tudor Literature: 1485-1603". University Press.
12. (1992). "Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls". Doubleday.
13. [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090927182708/https://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=813&cuItem_itemID=17890 WELS Topical Q&A: Luke 16:9 - Welcomed Into Eternal Dwellings]
14. "Chapter 18: Luke 15–17".
15. {{bibleref2. Luke. 16:1-8. NABRE Note a