Here is the passage in question from Luke 16. 1-14:
And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward [i.e. "You're Fired!]. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; [and] to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, 100 measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write 50. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, 100 measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write 80. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.
This passage has puzzled many an Evangelical. I have been to what seems countless Bible studies where the question has arisen, “How could Jesus commend a man who was admittedly unjust, [seemingly] for doing what is unjust, using money obtained unlawfully for the purpose of buying off other people?
Commenatators often stumble at this saying, not knowing what to do with it either. And the pharisees have not been the only people to deride Jesus for this saying. You can almost hear them saying, “This man has commended what is evil!” And, of course, Jesus did nothing of the kind. So, what to do with this passage? We’ll start by unpacking the context.
First, we will start with the end and work backwards, so that it becomes clear exactly what Jesus was commending, and what he was not commending. Here is the punchline again: “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely.” What had he done that was wise? He had FORGIVEN debts, effectively reducing what those beholden to the ‘lord’ [who clearly represents Christ] owed. By doing this, the unjust steward had used “unrighteous mammon” to acquire friends, because everyone needs friends, especially in times of personal trouble.
This shows a clear CHANGE IN PRIORITIES on the part of the steward. The lord fired this steward because he was unjust already; he had been ‘wasting his master’s goods,” most likely for his own personal pleasures. He cared nothing for others. And although the unjust steward had not yet stopped stealing, he had clearly changed THE GOAL of his theft from “acquiring things” to “acquiring friends.” The unjust steward, therefore, was commended by Jesus for this: UNLIKE THE PHARISEES who derided Jesus (for they were covetous), the wise steward had learned this simple lesson: One ought to use money to gain people (‘friends’), and OUGHT NOT use people to gain money. Men are made in God’s image, money merely bears the image of Caesar, not God. Therefore, people are FAR MORE VALUABLE THAN MONEY. In exchanging money for people, this steward was “trading UP,” in effect acquiring great treasure for mere pennies. He thus showed himself a shrewd business man.
The commended steward in the parable the Jewish person in the crowd who had been sinning, but repented, adopting a new set of priorities. His heart was changed. He was no longer bound by money as his highest priority. The pharisees were trying to serve two masters, and in the end, they only ended up serving mammon. The wise steward, however, had exchanged money (albeit ill-gotten money) in order to win friends by forgiving debts. He, in effect, gave up on mammon, trading it for friends AND (unbeknownst to him) for the Lord’s praise.
How do we know that the “wise steward” had quit being a thief? Simple — he did not offer to split half the “forgiven debt’ with the one whose debt he has reduced. He could have “bribed them for money,” but did not. By getting fired, he had learned that “unjust money” will get you nowhere. So he made one last go of theft, but only in order to aquire friends, not to acquire friends AND KEEP SOME UNJUST MONEY TOO.
He said to Mammon, “You got me fired, so I quit!” Jesus, the Messiah, was on the scene of redemptive history. He was about to do away with the entire Temple complex and everything with it that was mere “type and shadow.” The Jewish leaders were on the way out; they were about to be replaced by something far better. In opposing the Messiah, the Jewish leadership was fired. But many among the Jewish people turned from them to Christ. The repentant people like Zacchaeus, who gave up on unrighteous mammon to serve the Lord by doing what the law commands — in the case of the stealing of sheep, the law required the thief to pay back four-fold — and this is just what Zacchaeus did.
And the Lord commended Zacchaeus, the ex-thief, calling him a “true son of Abraham” whose house was a house of “salvation.” Luke 19, only 3 chapters ahead (vv. 5-9 reads):
And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” And Jesus said unto him, “This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”
Zacchaeus was free from the love of mammon. He gave half of his goods to the poor. This fulfills the saying, “You shall love your neighbor AS YOURSELF.” The split was 50-50. The poor obtained from Zacchaeus only what Zacchaeus kept — an exact economic match. But first, he did what the law commands. Apparently, Zack had been doing some sheep-stealing, since the law required that a man -pay back four-fold in the case of stolen sheep. Sheep [like Oxen] were animals used in sacrifices to God, so they were holy, and required double the repayment for common goods — a mere 200%.
IN the presence of Christ, All Zacchaeus really cared about was receiving praise from the Lord, and having fellowship with Christ in his house. Zacchaeus may well have been in the crowd when Luke 16 was preached. If so, he was not among those asking, “WHY did Jesus commend an unjust steward, I don’t get it!” He said only in his heart, “Praise the Lord, there is hope even for a thief like me!” Zacchaeus got the point. Zacchaeus WAS the [formerly] unjust steward who had behaved wisely. And there were many other Zacchaeuses. By A.D. 45, the Zacchaeuses were called “Christians.” Christians have only ONE Master.
Carson Day has written some 1.3 gazillion articles and essays that aim to help others live wisely and well. You can visit his websites at http://ophirgold.blogspot.com (The Omniblog) and http://extremeprofit.blogspot.com (Carson’s Day Trading Outpost)
