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Parable of the Unjust Steward

Luke 16:1-14
Budge Currier

What is a parable? Some have said that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. This simple definition is only partly correct. We must remember that although each parable Jesus taught did have a “heavenly” meaning, the parables are meant to be a powerful picture story that is meant to have a spiritual response and application here on earth. This response should increase our knowledge of Jesus Christ and His kingdom and mature us in our walk with Jesus. As we read the parable this morning, allow the Lord to speak to your heart and reveal to you how He wants to change you into His image as a result of this powerful picture story.

A key component to understanding what Jesus wants us to see is to consider the context of the parable. We must consider the immediate context and the broader context. As we take a step back and consider the Parable of the Unjust Steward in its broader context, we will note that Jesus was on the way to the cross. Luke 9-18 highlights this journey. He was giving advice, doctrine and theology to His disciples by telling them vivid stories or parables that He intended them to apply as they served Jesus in the ministry that He was going to entrust to them. Jesus was preparing them for the fact that He was going to die on a Roman cross, be buried, resurrect from the dead and be seated at the right hand of God the Father. We must remember that Jesus was giving them important spiritual truth as He prepared them for service in His kingdom. He was going to give them a tremendous gift, a gift that they would have to be a good steward of if they were to do His will.

As we sit here this morning, you and I are also on a spiritual journey. We are all going to die one day. One of two things will happen. Either:

1)	We have denied Christ and are facing an eternity of torment in the lake of fire, separated from the presence of God, while realizing that He is Lord and Creator of All, the great I AM.
	or
2)	We have responded to that call of God and through Jesus we have been reconciled to the Father and will spend eternity in His presence. In that case we will stand before Him and be judged for what we did with what He gave us.

Each of us has a unique gift or gifts. Each of us has been given worldly things. What type of a steward have you been with what God has given you?

The immediate context of Luke 16 takes us back to Luke 14. Prior to the Parable of the Unjust Steward, Jesus goes into the house of one of the chief Pharisees in order to eat bread on the Sabbath day, Luke 14. Jesus knows the Pharisees are watching Him and He begins his time with them by asking a question, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” The discussion of Jesus with the Pharisees continues as he notices the rooms in the house that they chose as they prepared to spend the Sabbath with the chief Pharisee. He begins to ask them a series of parables. In Chapter 14:25 there is a great multitude that is following Jesus and he addresses them with a parable. Chapter 15:1 speaks of the audience that was with Jesus. The audience contained publicans, sinners, Pharisees, scribes. His disciples as are also present according to Luke 16:1. He spoke parables to this group of people including the parable of the lost coins, the parable of the lost sheep, and the parable of the prodigal son. Jesus was responding to the Pharisees and religious leaders as they judged Him for spending time with the tax collectors and sinners. Following the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus speaks to his disciples the parable of the Unjust Steward. Let us read Luke 16:1-14.

Luke 16:1-14 (KJV)

And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall 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 else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

Jesus has just told the Pharisees three parables concerning restoring that which was lost (The Lost Coin, the Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son) and He now turns His gaze to you and your eyes meet His and He speaks to you the Parable of the Unjust Steward. What is your reaction? When someone reads this parable a couple of things normally trouble them as believers today. Our goal this morning is to get beyond those stumbling blocks and see the truth that Jesus wants us to apply to our lives. The first stumbling block people ask is, Did Jesus really commend the actions of this Unjust Steward? The Second is, what is the Spiritual Truth that Jesus is trying to communicate to us and how can we apply it to your lives?

Luke 16:1

And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

Notice in verse 1, the parable is spoken to His disciples, but Luke 16:14 also indicates that the Pharisees heard the parable as well.

Luke 16:14

And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

We will focus on the reaction and application of the disciples, since each of us is a follower of Jesus Christ.

In verse 1, Jesus identifies a rich man who has a steward. A steward would be a man who manages all the affairs of the rich man and had full legal right and authority to do whatever he wanted with all of his master’s goods. The master entrusted everything in his household to the steward who was expected to manage it properly. The equivalent today would be to give a person a blanket Power of Attorney. Remember, Jesus is speaking to His disciples. What was Jesus about to place in their hands? What about you? What have you been entrusted with? What stewardship have you been given?

However, in verse 1 an accusation is brought against the steward in our story. He has been wasting his master’s goods and in verse 2 the master calls him in to give an account of how he has been managing his stewardship. The master tells the steward that you will no longer be his steward. The steward is then left with a decision, what shall he do and he asks himself that question in verse 3. He knows that his master is taking away his stewardship. He also knows he is not strong enough to do manual labor or to dig nor is he is willing to beg, what shall he do?

In verse 4-8 we see the plan of the steward unfold.

Luke 16:4-8

I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

He decides to take action now, while he still has his position as steward that will ensure he is taken care of later. In verse 4 he clearly states that his actions taken now will set him up for later. Note the phrase, “they may receive me into their houses”. Verse 5 tells us that he calls all his master’s debtors, those who owed something to his master. In verse 5 he asks the first, how much do you owe my lord? The debtor replies in verse 6 that he owed 100 measures of oil, which is over 900 gallons. This is equivalent to about 500 denari, and a denari is equivalent to a day’s labor. If we put this in today’s standard, if you owed someone 2 years of your salary, and they called you in and erased an entire year of that debt, what would your response be? Would you be willing to help that person out in the future? The unjust steward thinks they will and he repeats this process with each of his master’s debtors. Why did the unjust steward take these actions? The unjust steward was taking advantage of what he had; he was being a good steward of what he had now in order to prepare for later.

Some have difficulty with this parable as they struggle with the fact that Jesus uses a steward who practices dishonest behavior in order to get gain. Notice the response of his lord in verse 8

Luke 16:8

And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

He actually commends the steward. The first question is, what is he commending the steward for? Is he being commended for his dishonest practice? No! The name that Jesus uses to refer to the steward is, unjust steward. The name “unjust” indicates that it is not the unjust and dishonest actions of the steward that Jesus is rewarding. If you were going to reward someone and completely endorse all that they had done, you would not use the name, unjust, to describe them. Furthermore in verse 8, Jesus makes a comparison between the “children of the world” and the “children of the light”. The steward is clearly a child of the world, one whose dishonest actions are not to be emulated. If the master is not commending him for his injustice and fraud what then is he being commended for? Why did the steward take the actions he did? Remember in verse 4, he wanted to take actions now that would provide for a time to come. Jesus is using the startling truth that there are those who do not know Jesus, who do not know of His truth and the awesome things that He has to give them stewardship over, and these worldly people are better stewards with worldly wealth than the children of God are with Godly wealth.

In verses 9-13, Jesus is going to amplify the main idea of this parable.

Luke 16:9-13

And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammonc of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammond, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall 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 else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Just as the unjust steward used the things entrusted to him, those things he had stewardship over, you and I as followers of Jesus Christ are to use what God has given us in order to advance the kingdom of God.

Jesus tells His disciples in verse 9, “I say to you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” The phrase “mammon of unrighteousness” can be thought of as worldly wealth. The phrase, when you fail, refers to the end, which for us comes in death. The everlasting habitation is a reference to heaven. In other words, use worldly wealth so that when you are taken home to your everlasting habitation, those who God used your worldly wealth to influence may welcome you into heaven. What impact do you have when you share the things of this world with an unbeliever? What if they end up responding to God and believing? What will be their message to you be when they meet you in heaven? They will likely receive you with thanksgiving for how you were a good steward with what God gave you and your good stewardship was used by God to draw them unto Himself?

Jesus further emphasizes this idea of stewardship in verse 10. Our potential to be faithful with important things is measured by how we handle less important things. Imagine if you just baked a plate of cookies and you ask your child to take the plate and share them with his brothers and sisters. You later learn that he ate 10 of them and gave one each to the others one to share among them. Now later you have a much more important thing to share, how much confidence will you have in that same child sharing the more important thing?

Look at the words of Jesus in verse 11,

Luke 16:11

If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

If we as believers and followers of Jesus Christ cannot properly distribute worldly wealth, why would God entrust us with heavenly treasure? If we cannot properly manage what is someone else’s, how can we be trusted with what belongs to God our Father?

Jesus tells us in verse 12 that we have competing interests, the world and God.

Luke 16:12

And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?

Either we serve God, live for Him and are a good steward with what He gives us, or we serve the world and live with an earthly perspective, rather than keeping our eyes on Jesus.

Remember the context in which this parable is given. Jesus is on His way to the cross and as He is preparing His disciples for ministry and service to God after He departs. He is about to give them the greatest gift of all, eternal life with a command to share that life with others. As He prepares them for the future, He tells them a story about stewardship. The main character is in fact called a steward, but he is an ungodly man who likely lost his position due to unjust and dishonest practices. However before the unjust steward looses his position he takes steps that will provide for his future. Jesus then tells them that the sons of this world, those who do not know Him nor do they honor God, are better stewards with what they have than what those who do know Him are with the things of heaven.

If we were to stop here after listening to the parable Jesus told and perhaps even understanding its meaning we would be missing out on so much. Remember a parable is a vivid picture story that is intended to have a response in the hearer that will help them apply a spiritual perspective to their lives right now that will have a heavenly impact. We must take the time and apply this parable to our own lives as the Lord leads us.

The first question we need to ask is, how can we be good stewards?

What has God given us to be stewards of?
Do you know Jesus Christ as your personnel Lord and Savior?
Are you being a good steward with what God has given you?
Do you realize that He has a path that He wants you to walk?
Do you realize that He is watching you to see what you do now with the earthly things He has given you?
Do you realize that what you do with those earthly things has a heavenly impact?

Application:

1)

Sharing Jesus:

First of all God has given us His Son Jesus Christ. What are you doing with Jesus? Perhaps, the first step is to realize the treasure you have been given:

II Cor. 4:6-7

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

You have the treasure of Jesus Christ living in your heart. Have you taken hold of this treasure? More importantly are you sharing the treasure of Jesus with others? Can other look at you and see Jesus Christ? Are you being a good steward of Jesus Christ? Give yourself fully to God and allow Him to use you to share the Gospel truth with others. We are to be His instruments, let Him use you as His instrument in order to share His peace and love and message of forgiveness with others.

2)

Sharing our worldly wealth:

Perhaps the first thing that comes to mind when we mention sharing our worldly wealth is tithing. Clearly the treasure of Jesus Christ is much more than money. Are you being a good steward with the earthly possessions that God has given you? Are you giving back to the Lord that which He has blessed you with? How much should you give? Some give 10% out of obligation or pay a tithe like they do tax. We are commanded to give not out of obligation, but cheerfully in I Cor 9:7. Ask yourself this question, if everyone else in the congregation was giving what you give, would we have enough to support the ministry? Then ask the Lord, “How much do you want me to give?” I recently heard Dr. David Jeremiah going through an excellent series on being a good steward with what God has given us.

God will show you how much you are to give and He will bless you as you give joyfully to the work that He is doing. I cannot tell you of the unspeakable joy that has come into the life of my family as a result of giving back to the Lord what He has so richly given to me. Do not be like the man who was blessed to the point of abundance and decided to build more barns to store his treasure so that he could spend it on himself. Realize that God has commanded you to be a good steward with what He has given you and He expects you to share it with others because your realize that one day you will be called to give an account for what you have done with what He has given you. Wisely manage your earthly wealth so that it has a heavenly impact. (see Luke 12:16-21 for the Parable of the Barns)

3)

Sharing our time:

Today many of us are busy, sometime it seems too busy, even for the things of God. Remember each of us has been called by God to serve Him. God has given each of us the same allocation of time. God has not called us to do more than He has given us time to do them. This leads to the conclusion that if we do not have enough time to serve God, then we must be mismanaging the time that He has given us. Ask the Lord to show you the things in your life that you are doing that seem good to you, but are not what the Lord wants you to do right now?

Col 4:5

Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

God will show you what things are important and according to His will so that you can redeem the time. Be a good steward with the time that God has given you and seek to use and manage that time so that every moment of each day is spent in earthly actions that have a heaven perspective and a heavenly impact.