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1 Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’ 3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’ 5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons. 7 “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’ 8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. ~ Luke 16:1-9
The Lord Jesus told 40 different parables recorded in the Gospels. These parables were designed to reveal the truth to the honest and to hide the truth from the dishonest. The parables of the Lord Jesus were confirmation of the religious communities rejection of Christ.
At the same time, His parables were music to those who had come to the end of themselves and, as a result, had ears to hear. One out of three of His parables have something to do with money. The characters in today's story are realistic to mankind's fallen condition.
In v.1 we read, "Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money."
This story is placed here right after the story of the prodigal son because this manager was also a prodigal which means “wasteful.” The son wasted his inheritance and this manager wasted the assets of his boss.
Many people owed this man massive amounts of money, and the manager of the accounts was woefully behind in collecting the money from them. The term “manager” means "law and house." This man had the law of the house. He was the one delegated the authority to act on behalf of the boss. He managed the land and the crops. He managed the assets.
Well, this manager had been irresponsible with his bosses business, as noted at the end of v.1. He was "wasting his employer's money.” This word "wasting" is the very same word used to describe the prodigal back in Luke 15:13. This was not some kind of shrewd scheme to embezzle money, he was just being irresponsible.
In v.2 we read, "So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired." The word “report” is the word from which we get the word “diabolical.” The report included a serious and legitimate slander against the man. Diabolos is the biblical name for Satan, who is the slanderer of mankind. This report of this man’s diabolical nature in the position of manager is being exposed. So, the boss calls him into the office.
Then the boss does a foolish thing. After telling him, “You're fired,” the boss wants an accurate record of this man's irresponsibility. He wants to know exactly what he’s done and he allows the diabolical man to finish the job and provide the report.
After we fire someone, it is a good idea to let somebody else figure out the mess because if you put them back in the position, they’re not going to do you right. And, that is exactly what this manager did.
So, in v.3-4 we read, "The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.”
This man is thinking of how to manipulate things so that he gets his due. So, he contacts all of the people who owed his boss money, and he decides to discount their debts to his boss. As a result, the boss is out of money and the manager has gained people who owe him favors.
The discounts are huge. In fact, in v.5-7, we have the specifics. One man owed 800 gallons of olive oil, he got a 50% reduction. Another owed 1,000 bushels of wheat, he paid with 800 bushels of wheat.
This is purely a shrewd way to hurt his boss in such a way that secures the obligation of all these people to this manager. The Lord Jesus is merely telling a story which is consistent to the way it really was. In the real world this is the way it really is, and the Lord Jesus is trying to convey reality. The manager is representative of the religious leaders.
In v.8 we read, "The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light."
The Lord Jesus points out that this is a well-devised scheme. He points out that this manager took advantage of his opportunity. He worked the situation to secure his future on earth.
Sinful people act to secure their own future in very clever and ingenious ways. They use the resources they have with shrewdness, whether honest or dishonest to secure the best future they can secure for themselves. This is how the world operates, this is descriptive of the religious leaders who had the most opulent houses in the neighborhood.
In v.9 we read, “Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.”
Translation? This manager used what he had, his assets, the wealth to purchase dwellings for his future, his temporal future. That’s what the world does. Even though the religious leaders were wrong in their greed and irresponsibility, we can learn from their shrewdness.
Our life on earth is very short. On the final day when life as we know it is over, we will discover how our lives impacted eternity for others. Endless personal accumulation in this world is meaningless. With regard to eternity, we don’t want to waste our opportunities. We are stewards of all the Lord has given us. God has given us all we have to impact this world with the eternally relevant truth that He is imparting to us now.
As believers in Christ, we are stewards of the gospel message. God has committed His treasure of truth to us. We are wise to actively look for ways to gain a hearing with the unbelieving world, looking for opportunities to share the most important message that they will ever hear. Their eternity, in part, depends on it. Be heavenly minded, my friends, and earthly relevant with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
