Monday, August 10, 2020

The writings of Luke the physician starting with his version of the gospel - Luke 16:1-18 comments: the parable of the steward






Luke 16:1 ¶  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. 2  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. 3  Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4  I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5  So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6  And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7  Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. 8  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. 9  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. 10  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. 11  If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12  And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? 13  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. 14  And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. 15  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. 16  The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. 17  And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. 18  Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

First, before I give my general thoughts on this passage, let me define a steward and a debt and what they can mean beyond the literal.

The elder, whether it be a pastor/teacher, a bishop, which is what we call a pastor today, a deacon or some other function in the church, is called a steward of the mysteries of God.  They must handle God’s word, not deceitfully, or for gain, to make merchandise of the church, but faithfully.

1Corinthians 4:1 ¶  Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2  Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

In literal terms, a steward is a manager of a house, what we might today call a butler or, if they had more responsibility, even an estate agent, as the one in this parable.

A debt cannot only refer to a financial obligation it can refer to sin debt, the debt one owes God that they can never repay and the debt one owes to a person they’ve sinned against. See the example of prayer Jesus gave on two separate occasions.

Matthew 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Luke 11:4  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.

The steward here had wasted his master’s goods, not stolen them. He is not in prison but being terminated in his employment. The coins that Jesus used were Roman. This passage represents the non-monetary part of this society which we have seen all through the Bible where wealth was measured in goods and produce. Throughout history, from the serfs of the Medieval world to the sharecroppers of the Southern United States rents were often paid at least partly in produce and goods made.

A current Turbotax website makes this pertinent statement regarding taxes; Most landowners contract with farmers under a crop-share arrangement, in which "rent" is paid in crops or livestock produced by the farmer. Form 4835 only recognizes income to a landowner in the year that these crop or livestock shares are converted to cash.”

The master demands that the steward make an accounting, to see the books so to speak. He apparently is not getting the rents he expects and the steward has failed in his job. The steward, being afraid of what will become of him, knowing he’s too old to do common labor and doesn’t want to be reduced to the level of a beggar, thinks to forgive some of his master’s debt to get at least partial rents in, hoping to not only please his master but to perhaps have one of the tenants hire him out of appreciation.

Jesus says in verse 9 to forgive the sin debt to you and to God as this failure of a steward has done. A friend of mammon, the mammon of unrighteousness, or the unrighteous mammon knows how to handle it. Jesus’ Jewish followers under the Law have spiritual wealth to dispense, forgiveness, and to collect, the repentance of the wayward Jew who has not been forthcoming in his responsibilities to the Lord who created him. Those you have forgiven of the sin debt owed to you and to the Lord, and we all know that the person who truly forgives receives less from the debtor than he deserves to receive but is willing to accept what he gets, but those who have been forgiven by the Jew are a currency that prepared the Jew for eternal life. Forgiveness is very important to Christ. In this passage He is starting with a worldly scene and transforming it into a spiritual meaning.

Forgiveness was essential to salvation, as far as Jesus was concerned. How can you be faithful in great spiritual matters when you are faithless in such a basic component to obedience to Christ as forgiveness? There is also a warning here to be diligent in worldly matters. How can a Jew who is careless with worldly wealth be trusted to handle spiritual wealth? Be liberal and free with your money in dispensing it to those in need and do not be covetous. Be faithful in your obligations and handle money wisely. Do not worship mammon but use it rather in the way God would approve.

God doesn’t value the things we do in the way we do. But He does value forgiveness and unjustly divorcing one’s spouse is included in this passage to give us a personal reference. Our representation of Christ, our expression of faith, begins at home. If we cannot be trusted to show Christ in our most intimate relationships we cannot be trusted with His spiritual riches in public. For instance, a man who is cruel at home, unyielding, implacable, unmerciful in speech or deed at home, is a roaring hypocrite when he smiles and shakes hands at church with a pious grin on his face in the love of the brethren.

Think about this when you absentmindedly purchase a pack of gum at the convenience store. Are you as free with God’s spiritual wealth such as forgiveness as you are in how you use money? You think nothing of making an impulse purchase, some doo-dad you want, but how miserly you are with forgiveness and mercy to those closest to you.

Of course, there are many sermons to be made out of this regarding faithfulness with money as all of what you own is God’s etc. etc.

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