Then he also said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. 2 He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ 3 The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ 5 He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ 7 Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ 8 And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
The steward was authorized to make binding contracts on behalf of his rich master. The steward’s commission, and his master’s profit were added into the total price of the items purchased so they could not be separately identified. The steward’s job was to make money for his master and there is no evidence that the steward pocketed any his master’s profit. His master, who was an absentee landlord, was told that the steward was squandering his property. The master decided to dismiss the steward without verifying the charges and asked him to provide an accounting of his business dealings. So, before he was fired, the steward decided to gain favor with his master’s tenant farmers by reducing some of the prices charged by his master for supplies. The tenant farmers would then owe him favors. The steward acted with the authority he still had and took practical action to accomplish a specific goal. Jesus was not teaching His disciples to imitate the actions of the dishonest steward.
The steward’s shrewd and decisive action with respect to the use of possessions is what is to be imitated. Christians should be shrewd by using their money to grow spiritually and to further the kingdom. The master praised the steward’s actions as opposed to punishing him. This should not suggest that God is arbitrary in his dispensation of justice. Rather, it is stressing that in God’s kingdom, masters do not ‘get even’. This is in keeping with loving your enemies (Lk. 6:27-35), and not retaliating when you are wronged (Lk. 9:51-55). Christians should not focus on accumulating material wealth in this world but focus on accumulating treasures for the next (Mt. 6:19-20).
Almighty God, we turn to you at all times for the fortitude to follow the teachings of your Son. Our fallen human nature resists loving our neighbor when we are wronged by them. Help us to imitate the actions of our Lord Jesus Christ and to be self-sacrificing as we live up to our moral obligations as Christians. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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