Luke 16:1-13
Use temporary wealth with eternal wisdom, because money is a servant to steward, not a master to serve.
1 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.
2 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.’
3 “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.
4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.’
5 Calling each one of his lord’s debtors to him, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe to my lord?’
6 He said, ‘A hundred batos of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
7 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.’
8 “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.
9 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.
10 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.
11 If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12 If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will 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 one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and Mammon.”
Use temporary wealth with eternal wisdom, because money is a servant to steward, not a master to serve.
Luke records Jesus teaching his disciples through the difficult parable of the shrewd manager, urging them to use temporary worldly wealth with eternal foresight, to prove faithful in little before receiving true riches, and to recognize that divided loyalty between God and money is impossible.
Following Luke 15’s focus on repentance and restoration, Jesus now addresses disciples about responsible stewardship. The Pharisees, described later as lovers of money (16:14), become indirect targets.
Jesus addresses his disciples after the parables of lostness and restoration in Luke 15. He tells of a rich man whose manager is accused of wasting his possessions. The manager is summoned to give an account and faces dismissal. Knowing he is not strong enough to dig and too ashamed to beg, he quickly reduces the debts of his master’s debtors so that they will welcome him into their houses after he loses his position. The master commends the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly. Jesus then teaches that the people of this age are often more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the people of light. He instructs disciples to use worldly wealth in a way that bears eternal consequence, teaches that faithfulness in little reveals trustworthiness for much, contrasts worldly wealth with true riches, and concludes that no servant can serve two masters: one cannot serve both God and money.
Faithful Stewardship, the Danger of Wealth, and the Finality of Judgment
Kingdom disciples must steward wealth under God’s coming judgment, because money reveals allegiance, Scripture exposes the heart, and eternity reverses every merciless illusion of earthly security.