“And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. Luke 16:8-9 NASB
Randy and I have been struggling through this parable for the last few days. It seems simple enough…right up to where the master praises the unrighteous steward! What? Did I miss something? Haven’t I read that lying and stealing is wrong? In verses 6 & 7 the steward has his master’s debtors lie about how much they owe, so they don’t have to pay what they owe, that would be stealing. There are some translations that translate verse 8 “And his master” as “And the Lord” or “And our Lord”, giving rise to the discussion; who is talking? Jesus or the rich man? To me it doesn’t matter which one is praising the unrighteous steward, if it is Jesus, then He would be contradicting Himself and the Law/Torah. If it is the master, he would be praising his steward for stealing even more from him! It just doesn’t make sense to me…so I keep reading to find the answer, but then verse 9 is even more perplexing.
When I read further I see that we are to be trustworthy with what we are given, whether a very little or very much. A good steward. In the rest of the discussion of the parable Jesus goes back to what He’s been saying since He began His ministry…you can’t serve two masters! It’s God or the world—choose!
So, I’m wondering…when Jesus says to “make friends for yourselves by means of the ‘wealth of unrighteousness'”, and I put that with what He said about being a laborer of the “harvest” in Matthew, Luke and John, I hear Him saying that when He looks out over the ‘unrighteous’ He sees God’s ‘wealth’. Peter tells us the “The Lord is not…willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
I believe Jesus sees the people, the lost, the unrighteous, as a plentiful harvest, true riches, everlasting wealth. He wants us to go out into the harvest as shrewd serpents (Mat 10:16) and bring in that wealth, so when this world and it’s riches fail, the true wealth of God, that’s us folks, and those that we have labored to harvest, we will all be rejoicing in ” an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for us…” 1 Peter 1:4
Matthew 9:36-37 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. (37) Then He *said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Luke 10:2-3 And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. (3) “Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
John 4:35 “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.
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