User:This lousy T-shirt/Parable of the Unjust Steward
The Parable of the Unjust Steward (also called the Shrewd Manager) is a well known parable of Jesus. However, it appears in only one of the Canonical gospels of the New Testament. According to Luke 16:1-13 a steward who is about to be fired curries favor with his master's debtors by forgiving some of their debts.
Passage
[change | change source]He also said to his disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions. He called him, and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.'
"The manager said within himself, 'What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don't have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.' Calling each one of his lord's debtors to him, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe to my lord?' He said, 'A hundred batos of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' Then he said to another, 'How much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred cors of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'
"His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light. I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents. He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? If you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will 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 one, and despise the other. You aren't able to serve God and mammon."
— Luke 16:1-13, World English Bible
Interpretation
[change | change source]The parable has caused difficulty, since on the face of it Jesus appears to be commending dishonest behaviour.[1] This issue is sometimes addressed by suggesting that the manager is forgoing a commission due to him personally, but this explanation "is not a plausible one."[2] However, although the master has "a certain grudging admiration"[3] for the manager's "shrewdness," Jesus labels the manager "dishonest."[2]
The manager in the parable is probably a slave or freedman acting as his master's agent in business affairs.[2] As his master's representative, the agreements he signs with the debtors are therefore binding.[2]
The parable shares the theme of other passages where "Jesus counsels the disposition of possessions (and hospitality) on behalf of the poor with the understanding that, while mammon will vanish, eternal treasure will have thus been secured."[2] When death comes, "the power we have to do good with our money ceases, so we should do good with it now"[3] so that the friends we have made on earth will be waiting for us in heaven.[3] This interpretation was also espoused by early church writers, such as Asterius of Amasia:
When, therefore, any one anticipating his end and his removal to the next world, lightens the burden of his sins by good deeds, either by canceling the obligations of debtors, or by supplying the poor with abundance, by giving what belongs to the Lord, he gains many friends, who will attest his goodness before the Judge, and secure him by their testimony a place of happiness.[4]
English Reformer William Tyndale was at pains to emphasise the consistency of this parable with the doctrine of justification by faith, writing a booklet on the parable called The Parable of the Wicked Mammon (1528),[5] based on an exposition by Martin Luther.[6] Tyndale saw "good works" as the result of faith.[5] Tyndale also pointed out that the steward was not praised by Jesus for his conduct, but merely provided as an example of wisdom and diligence, so that "we with righteousness should be as diligent to provide for our souls, as he with unrighteousness provided for his body."[5]
The Anglican theologian J. C. Ryle, writing in 1859, rejected a number of allegorical interpretations of the parable, and gave an interpretation similar to that of Tyndale:
Let us contend earnestly for the glorious doctrines of salvation by grace, and justification by faith. But let us never allow ourselves to suppose that true religion sanctions any trifling with the second table of the law. Let us never forget for a moment, that true faith will always be known by its fruits. We may be very sure that where there is no honesty, there is no grace.[7]
References
[change | change source]
- ↑ Daryl Koehn, "Integrity as a Business Asset", Journal of Business Ethics, (2005) 58: 125–136
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, 1997, ISBN 0802823157, pp. 590-595.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Luke: An expository commentary, Kregel Publications, 2005, ISBN 0825433770, pp. 216-217.
- ↑ Asterius of Amasia, Sermon 2: The Unjust Steward, Sermons (1904) pp. 45-71.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 William Tyndale, The Parable of the Wicked Mammon (1528), also printed in The Works of the English reformers: William Tyndale and John Frith, Volume 1 (1831), pp. 83–161.
- ↑ Mike Pincombe and Cathy Shrank, The Oxford Handbook of Tudor Literature, Oxford University Press, 2009, ISBN 0199205884, p. 109.
- ↑ J. C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on the Gospels, with the text complete, London: Wertheim, Macintosh, and Hunt, 1859, p. 199.