The Parable of the Dishonest Manager is found only in Luke 16:1-9. We will also include Luke 16:10-14 for teaching purposes.
The Story
Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, `What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
"The manager said to himself, `What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg—I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose may job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
"So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?’
"`Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied."The manager told him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’Then he asked the second, `And how much do you owe?’"`A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
"He told him, `Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’ "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
"No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money." The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at
Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What
is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight." (Luke 16:1-14, New International Version).
The dishonest manager was discovered by his employer and was terminated. However, he purchased some "insurance" with his employer’s wealth before he left. He simply reduced some debts of his employer’s debtors in order to buy some favors in his unknown future. Hebrew letters were used as numerals, and since Hebrew letters differ slightly from each other, a small change with a pen would represent a great difference. (Carr, CAMBRIDGE GREEK TESTAMENT FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES, LUKE, by F. W. Farrar, p. 312).
The Interpretation
Jesus told this parable to his disciples in the plain hearing of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were covetous of money and had "sold their souls" for money. Jesus wanted his disciples to avoid this trap. The sin of covetousness is actually idolatry:
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed [covetousness], which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5, New International Version).An idol is someone or something that takes the place of God. Idolatry is at once the violation of the first and tenth commandments:
[1] "You shall have no other gods before me."
[10] "You shall not covet...." (Exodus 20:3, 17, New International Version).
In the final analysis, those who love money more than God, love themselves more than God—they have become their own gods. Jesus said that we cannot serve both God and money.
In verse nine, Jesus exposed the Pharisee’s faulty logic: (1) Use worldly wealth to buy friends. Then (2) when it runs out [at death] (Earle, WESLEYAN BIBLE COMMENTARY, Luke, pp. 297 ff.), your dead sinner friends will "welcome" you to live with them forever.
Conversely, Jesus teaches his disciples to be good stewards of worldly wealth and spiritual riches. They will be truly welcomed into heaven by those whom they have led to Christ.
Notice that wealth is not intrinsically evil. Money is amoral—it does not have a moral nature. People make either moral or immoral decisions. The LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
Central Truth
WE MUST LOVE GOD MORE THAN MONEY.
Conclusion
When we received Christ as our Lord and Savior, we chose to love God more that anyone or anything. Each day we must reaffirm that eternal decision by decisions we make.
Today, let us consciously and deliberately choose to love God more than money.
END