Luke 16:1-13 Commentary

This parable is one of the most difficult to get to the bottom of. Why is Jesus seemingly praising a shady businessperson? The ‘hero’ of the story steals from his boss in order to curry favour and ensure his future with other people all too happy to cheat the system!

Though it is not part of the lectionary text, it’s worth noting that according to verse 14, the Pharisees are listening to Jesus tell this story to the disciples. They immediately ridicule Jesus because he’s hit their money-loving nerve. This detail can help us make sense of what Jesus is getting at by praising a ‘shrewd’ manager who cheats his boss only to end up being praised by the same boss for doing so.

News of the manager’s cheating got back to his boss and the boss decides to give the guy notice. Worried about how he will have a comfortable life in the future, the manager decides to make some quick deals with other people who owe his boss money. He thinks that they will return the favour down the road. He knows is that he doesn’t want to be working by the sweat of his brow so he’d rather make some ‘friends’ who will help him out.

I wonder how surprised he was when his boss commends him for his actions. It turns out that they are cut from the same cloth and “game recognizes game.” This sort of cheating the system to get one’s payday is an acceptable way of doing business to a whole group of folks; Jesus refers to them as “children of this age.”

You’re probably familiar with the saying that “there is no honour among thieves” but the saying, “honour among thieves” is at least a couple of centuries older. The way that the boss commends his dishonest manager is an example of the latter, and points us to the larger point Jesus is making. Who we are and what we associate ourselves with now reflects what we want for the future. Who you “make friends” with now is who will welcome you in the future. How you are “faithful” with what you have now will be the measure of trust you are given in the future. How you conduct yourself will show who your master is, and this most clearly applies to matters of money and wealth.

The shrewd manager and his shrewd boss serve money; they see the future the same way, they act the same way, and they belong together, are comfortable with this way of being. But the children of the light, those who serve God and are devoted to the things of God, are not driven by what will ensure their own comfort; they do not practice shady business dealings in order to pad their own future. They prove themselves faithful as servants of the God who wants a world of flourishing for all, not just a few. Their character looks more like God’s character than the ultimate thief, the evil one. They are not welcome among thieves because they operate in a totally different mindset and way of life.

Instead of being short-sighted about what really matters, the children of light can be trusted by God with “much” because they have eschatological vision. They have committed themselves to living a future reality that does not match the present times because they want to feel as though they belong in that future when it does arrive. They are already marinating in the new heaven and new earth (see the illustration idea below) as they do their best to only serve and love one master, God.

So it’s less that we are to copy the shrewd manager who cheats and more to realize the lesson about character and who we seek to serve. We are meant to realize that the company we keep, that the people who praise us for how we are conducting ourselves, can clue us into a lot about what we actually believe about God and what’s to come.

Textual Point

Justo González summarizes the point about stewardship in this way in the commentary on Luke in the Belief Series:

This is a parable of stewardship. Whatever we now have is no more than a temporary management. We have all been given notice. And the parable invites us to be like the wise steward, who was ready even to cheat the present order for the sake of the new order he knew was coming.

Illustration Idea

I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw a reel (a video clip) from a podcast interview between two women. They were talking about the environment we put ourselves in and its impact on us. One woman held up three bags of raw chicken, with a different marinade in each bag. She asked the other to identify the flavours that the chicken would taste like: Italian dressing, BBQ, and lemon zest. Then, she made the point that if the chicken marinates for a long time, there is no way to mistake the flavours that it was sitting in for one of the other sauces. Her point: the environment, the people and the way of living that you marinate yourself in, will become what you taste like too.