The Parable of The Astute Steward (16:1-13).
Jesus now tells a parable about an astute but careless estate manager who is failing to do his job properly. It is reported that he is ‘wasting' his lord's goods by his carelessness, not misappropriating them. When he is told that he is to be replaced, and must render up his stewardship accounts, he hits on a scheme which will put him in a good light in the eyes of others who might employ him, and at the same time will impress his lord. He will clear off some of the longstanding debts by means of what in modern times we call a Deed of Voluntary Arrangement. This will please the debtors and at the same time bring the money flowing in.
Under such a scheme both parties benefit. It is achieved by giving the equivalent of a large discount on condition of immediate payment. By giving the large discounts he will win the favour of possible future employers, and at the same time persuade them to pay up, and by clearing the debts, which might possibly never otherwise have been paid, he will at the same time please his lord, for it will reduce amounts owing to him in his balance sheet to reasonable proportions and will mean that he does actually receive some of what was due. To the debtors the manager and his lord will appear generous (although they will recognise to whom they really owe the benefit), to the lord he will appear efficient because unexpectedly the money is rolling in. It was a skilful piece of financial management, but at the same time may only have been necessary because of his previous failure to be efficient. That is partly why he is called an ‘unrighteous' steward, not because of blatant dishonesty, but because of the margins he charges, the penalties he imposes and because of his carelessness and laziness in collecting debts. It is true that outwardly this has caused his lord ‘a loss', that is a lower profit than he would otherwise have received. But it would ensure that the cash was rolling in and the lord would not be aware of the whole situation. Indeed he was rather impressed by his estate manager's efficiency. (But not sufficiently to retain him in his job).
Coming to such an arrangement may well have been easier because of the margins the estate manager was making on the sale of the produce, especially if payment was being made late and large penalties were being imposed in lieu of ‘interest'. Such large penalties were a feature of ancient trade. He is thus cutting his lord's profits, not actually making a loss. The lord may not even have been aware of this. All he would know was what was ‘in stock', what in general had been owed last time accounts had been rendered, and how much money was rolling in. And the sudden increase in the latter had clearly impressed him. Another alternative suggested is that the estate manager had built a commission into the prices and was foregoing his commission.
One of these explanations is required because of the unlikelihood of the lord commending someone who had blatantly swindled him.
Analysis.
a He said also to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man, who had a steward, and the same was accused to him that he was wasting his goods” (Luke 16:1).
b He called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Render the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward' (Luke 16:2).
c The steward said within himself, What shall I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the stewardship from me? I do not have the strength to dig, to beg I am ashamed” (Luke 16:3).
d “I am resolved what to do, so that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses” (Luke 16:4).
e Calling to him each one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first, “How much do you owe to my lord?” And he said, “A hundred measures of oil.” And he said to him, “Take your bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty” (Luke 16:5-6).
e Then he said to another, “And how much do you owe?” And he said, “A hundred measures of wheat.” He says to him, Take your bond, and write fourscore” (Luke 16:7).
d And his lord commended the unrighteous steward because he had done wisely, for the sons of this world are for their own generation wiser than the sons of the light (Luke 16:8).
c And I say to you, “Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness, that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings (tabernacles)” (Luke 16:9).
b
“He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much,
And he who is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much.
If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon,
Who will commit to your trust the true riches,
And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's,
Who will give you that which is your own?”(Luke 16:10-12).
a “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 cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13).
In ‘a' the steward professed to be serving his master but was serving mammon, and in the parallel Jesus declares that it is not possible to serve two masters. In ‘b' the steward is called to render his account, and in the parallel it is by his account that a man's faithfulness will be tested. In ‘c' the steward asks himself what he should do, and in the parallel a good steward should use his wealth to make friends in the right place, in the eternal dwellings/tabernacles. In ‘d' the steward decides what course he will take and in the parallel his lord commends him for it. In ‘e' we have the steward's solution, get the debts in by giving big discounts which will please everyone.