(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 everyone 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.
I differ from all writers who class this account here given, of an unjust steward, among the parables of Christ. To me, I confess, it differs altogether from the plan and design of all our Lord's parables, and cannot, I think, be explained upon any principles whatever in relation to God, as the certain rich man here spoken of, or any of the Lord's stewards. I am led to conclude, that it is a real history, which Jesus knew, and from which the Lord took occasion to raise instructions of profit to his people.
The certain rich man cannot mean God, for though he, and he only is rich; and all mankind are, in a certain sense his stewards; yet his servants, who are the stewards of the mysteries, are anointed with the Holy Ghost, and as such, are faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2. And although it may be said that Judas is an exception, yet none of the characters given in the history of this unjust steward, answer to him. But it is highly probable, that both the rich man and this unjust steward, were men of this world; for the servant, acting with the worldly policy he did, and the master commending that policy, very strongly prove that they were both under the sole influence of worldly motives; but Christ's stewards are not of this world. John 17:16
The mistake in supposing that God is the rich man intended to be set forth, perhaps arose from the general scope of our Lord's parables on this ground; and also from supposing, that when Jesus said the Lord commended the unjust steward, he meant God the Father, or himself the Lord Jesus Christ. But not to observe how impossible this could be, from causes too plain to insist upon, if the Reader will read the whole attentively, he will find that it is the steward's Lord which commended him for his worldly wisdom, in providing an home to go to, when he was turned out of his, and not the Lord Jesus. What shall I do? (said the steward), for my Lord taketh away from me the stewardship. It is the same Lord Which is said to commend him, and that for his policy.
And that this is the case, is still farther evident from our Lord's words which follow, where Jesus speaks to his disciples by way of making improvement from this history. He speaks in the first person when speaking of himself; but when speaking of the Lord of this steward, he speaks of him in the third person. I say unto you (saith Christ) make to yourself friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, etc. Whereas, when Jesus summed up the close of this man's history, he said of him: And the Lord (that is the Lord of this unworthy servant) commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely. And here ends the relation of the history; for the next words are Christ's first observation upon it: For the children of this world are, in their generation, wiser than the children of light. A strong, but melancholy truth: and the children of light, to their sorrow, but too fully know it; for while men of the world are up and alive to every worldly artifice and contrivance, like this unjust steward, the children of God are cold, and lifeless, and barren in their grand concerns. And the reason is plain. Instead of walking by faith, we are too much engaged by sight. We are more flesh than spirit; have more of nature than grace. Lord, increase our faith!
But the most difficult part of this subject remains yet to be considered; for when our Lord adds, 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. Certainly it requires much wisdom from the Lord, and much attention to Christ's expressions, to have a clear apprehension of his meaning. Some have supposed our Lord recommends, that by being generous to the poor, in the wise use of riches, which is the mammon of this world, that we should make to ourselves friends from those acts of mercy. But this would be like the Pharisees indeed, to seek God's favor by good deeds, and to bolster up the mind with pride, instead of lowering the soul in humility. Christ never preached a doctrine of this kind, but the reverse. Neither are the friends which Jesus exhorts his disciples to make, the poor whom they relieved by their bounty; for their good wishes go but a little way towards the soul's salvation; and they have no habitations, much less everlasting habitations, to receive their benefactors into, when they need them. I am free to confess, that no small difficulty lies in our way to enter into the full sense of our Lord's meaning; while I venture to believe, that the friends the Lord Jesus recommends his disciples to make, in order that they may be received, when they themselves fail, into everlasting habitations, cannot possibly mean that their wise use of riches will procure them. But amidst all the difficulty in explaining this passage, I conceive some light may be thrown upon it, from considering the drift of our Lord in the whole discourse.
It should be considered, that our Lord had been shewing how an unjust man, by worldly policy, contrived to get some men like himself to take him into their houses, when his Lord turned him out of his. Now (saith Jesus) as this man made himself friends of a worldly nature, do you seek to make to yourselves friends in grace. And as none but God can provide you with a perfect security of this kind, seek the Lord's friendship, detached from (for so the word may be rendered), that is, while you are in the midst of the mammon of un righteousness; and from the body of sin and death you carry about with you, and from the remains of indwelling sin which is in you, and in all the world around you, that when ye fail, as that all things out of Christ must shortly fail, they may receive you; that is, God, in covenant in Christ, may receive you into everlasting habitations. If this sense be admitted, the doctrine is agreeable to the whole tenor of the Gospel. And then, from the same kind of reasoning, the proverbial expressions which follow in the succeeding verses, may be explained on the same principles.