And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they 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.
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of [ ek (G1537 ), rather 'out of'] the mammon of unrighteousness - that is, by the help of it. The word "mammon" х mamoonas (G3126)] - on which see the note at Matthew 6:24 - stands here just for those riches which the children of this world idolize, or live supremely for; and it is called "the mammon of unrighteousness," or "the unrighteous mammon" (Luke 16:11), apparently because of the unrighteous abuse of it which so prevails. The injunction, then, is to this effect: 'Turn to your own highest advantage those riches which the unrighteous so shamefully abuse, in the spirit of that forecasting sagacity which this unjust steward displayed.'
That when ye fail, х hotan (G3752) eklipeete (G1587)] - that is, in respect of life: a remarkable expression, but suggested here, as we think, from a certain analogy which our departure from this world has to the breaking up of the steward's comfortable condition, and his being forced to quit, [Lachmann and Tregelles, retaining the same aoristic tense, adopt the singular eklipee (G1587) - 'when it has failed;' while Tischendorf prefers the present tense, ekleipee (G1587), also in the singular-`when it fails.' Meyer and Alford, too, decide in favour of the singular, for which the authority is perhaps greater than for the plural of the received text. But even if we should have to adopt this reading, the sense must be held the same; we must still understand our Lord to speak, on that supposition, of the failure of mammon solely by our removal from the present scene.]
They may receive you - that is, the "friends" ye make by the mammon of unrighteousness.
Into everlasting habitations - into "mansions" more durable than this steward was welcomed into when turned out of doors. But how are these friends to receive us into everlasting habitations? By rising up as witnesses of what we did in their behalf for Jesus' sake.
Thus, the only difference between this view of the saints' admission to heaven and that in our Lord's grand description of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:34-40) is, that there Christ Himself as Judge speaks for them, in the character of omniscient Spectator of their acts of beneficence to "His brethren;" while here, these brethren of Jesus are supposed to be the speakers in their behalf. There, Christ says, "I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat;" for "inasmuch as ye did it unto the least of these my brethren ye did it unto me." Here, these least of Christ's brethren themselves come forward, one after another, saying, 'I was hungry, and that dear saint gave me bread;' 'and I was naked, and that other saint clothed me;' 'and I was sick, and that saint there laid me such heavenly visits;' 'and I was in prison for Thy name's sake, but that fearless one came unto me, and was not ashamed of my chain.' 'And, they did it unto Thee, Lord!' "Come, then," will the King say unto them, "ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
'Thus, like this steward (so teaches Jesus here), when turned out of one home shall ye secure another; but better than he, a heavenly for an earthly, an everlasting for a temporary habitation.' Money is not here made the key to heaven, more than "the deeds done in the body" in general, according to which, as a test of character-not by the merit of which-men are to be judged (2 Corinthians 5:10). See the notes at Matthew 25:31-40, with the corresponding Remarks at the close of that section.