Luk 16:1 | KingComments | STEP | The Lord is going to teach His disciples about management, or better, stewardship [“manager” is “steward”, Darby Translation] and thus about the place that every person has before God. It is in line with what He has shown about sonship in the previous chapter. Sonship is a thing that is enjoyed in the house of the Father on earth. Stewardship suggests another side. A son is a steward outside the house on earth. This teaching connects to the squandering by the younger son of his father’s possessions. There we have seen the grace of God for someone as the younger son. In what follows, we see the responsibility of sons on earth. In the previous chapter the Lord speaks to the Pharisees, for He wants to make clear to them why not they, but sinners share in grace. Here the Lord speaks to His disciples. The rich man is a picture of God. The steward is a picture of each of us because we are all stewards. We also have all been unfaithful to God in the stewardship of what He has entrusted to us. What the younger son did, all people did in general, but the Jews in particular. After all, they have been given the highest privileges and, as a result, greater responsibility. The Jews have been entrusted with more than anyone else, and they are rightly accused of squandering their Master’s goods. What have they done with what God has entrusted to them? They should have been a light on earth, a guide for the blind, a witness of the true God ( ), but they turned their backs on Him. If God reveals Himself to them in Christ, they are in that state. And now they are about to reject God Himself in the Person of the Messiah, His Son, the clearest gracious manifestation of God. Thus, in all respects, they have let the opportunities pass by and squandered the goods of their Master. The squandering behavior of the steward comes to the attention of the rich man. He calls the steward and asks him to account for all his actions, after which he will be removed from his position. The steward sees the seriousness of his situation. He does not protest either, acknowledging that his dismissal is due to himself. In that mind he speaks to himself. He wonders what to do. Two things that would qualify for him in such a situation both are no option. He cannot dig, he is not strong enough to do that. He is not used to physical labor. He doesn’t want to beg either because he is ashamed of that. This means that he is at the mercy of the people around him. The next question then is how to make them his friends. Then a good plan comes to his mind so he can win people for himself, so that they will treat him with compassion when he is dismissed. He wants to assure himself of food and shelter when he has nothing left, by doing deeds of mercy. What he proposes will be the final act of his stewardship. It is a wise act in view of his situation. He summons each one of his master’s debtors individually. He seeks personal contact. He asks the first who comes, how much he owes his master. The man answers that he still has a hundred measures of oil to pay back. The steward has the authority to reduce that quantity. He also knows the means of the man. Because of the urgency, the man must sit down quickly and may reduce his debt by 50%. The steward remits fifty measures of oil. That will have meant an enormous relief for the debtor and how grateful he will be to the steward. Then the next one may come. To the question of what he owes his master, the answer is: hundred measures of wheat. The steward allows this man to apply a 20% discount on his debt. He also knows this debtor. He doesn’t just remit the whole debt and not to everyone the same amount. He acts shrewdly. He deals with his master’s goods with the greatest generosity. That will undoubtedly cost him little or nothing, but that is also not the lesson of the parable. The lesson is that the steward acts with an eye to the future to secure shelter and food. The Lord Jesus is going to explain this.

‏ Luke 16:1

The Unjust Steward3

The Lord is going to teach His disciples about management, or better, stewardship [“manager” is “steward”, Darby Translation] and thus about the place that every person has before God. It is in line with what He has shown about sonship in the previous chapter. Sonship is a thing that is enjoyed in the house of the Father on earth. Stewardship suggests another side. A son is a steward outside the house on earth.

This teaching connects to the squandering by the younger son of his father’s possessions. There we have seen the grace of God for someone as the younger son. In what follows, we see the responsibility of sons on earth. In the previous chapter the Lord speaks to the Pharisees, for He wants to make clear to them why not they, but sinners share in grace. Here the Lord speaks to His disciples.

The rich man is a picture of God. The steward is a picture of each of us because we are all stewards. We also have all been unfaithful to God in the stewardship of what He has entrusted to us. What the younger son did, all people did in general, but the Jews in particular. After all, they have been given the highest privileges and, as a result, greater responsibility. The Jews have been entrusted with more than anyone else, and they are rightly accused of squandering their Master’s goods.

What have they done with what God has entrusted to them? They should have been a light on earth, a guide for the blind, a witness of the true God (Rom 2:17-20), but they turned their backs on Him. If God reveals Himself to them in Christ, they are in that state. And now they are about to reject God Himself in the Person of the Messiah, His Son, the clearest gracious manifestation of God. Thus, in all respects, they have let the opportunities pass by and squandered the goods of their Master.

The squandering behavior of the steward comes to the attention of the rich man. He calls the steward and asks him to account for all his actions, after which he will be removed from his position. The steward sees the seriousness of his situation. He does not protest either, acknowledging that his dismissal is due to himself.

In that mind he speaks to himself. He wonders what to do. Two things that would qualify for him in such a situation both are no option. He cannot dig, he is not strong enough to do that. He is not used to physical labor. He doesn’t want to beg either because he is ashamed of that. This means that he is at the mercy of the people around him.

The next question then is how to make them his friends. Then a good plan comes to his mind so he can win people for himself, so that they will treat him with compassion when he is dismissed. He wants to assure himself of food and shelter when he has nothing left, by doing deeds of mercy. What he proposes will be the final act of his stewardship. It is a wise act in view of his situation. He summons each one of his master’s debtors individually. He seeks personal contact.

He asks the first who comes, how much he owes his master. The man answers that he still has a hundred measures of oil to pay back. The steward has the authority to reduce that quantity. He also knows the means of the man. Because of the urgency, the man must sit down quickly and may reduce his debt by 50%. The steward remits fifty measures of oil. That will have meant an enormous relief for the debtor and how grateful he will be to the steward.

Then the next one may come. To the question of what he owes his master, the answer is: hundred measures of wheat. The steward allows this man to apply a 20% discount on his debt. He also knows this debtor. He doesn’t just remit the whole debt and not to everyone the same amount. He acts shrewdly.

He deals with his master’s goods with the greatest generosity. That will undoubtedly cost him little or nothing, but that is also not the lesson of the parable. The lesson is that the steward acts with an eye to the future to secure shelter and food. The Lord Jesus is going to explain this.