The Shrewd Manager

The Point of the Gospel

 

Parables con’t

The Shrewd Manager {Luke}

Jesus said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who heard accusations of mismanagement about his property manager. He called the man before him and told him to finish accounts of the business he’d done for him, for he was fired as his manager. The man wondered what to do. Not strong enough for manual labor and ashamed to beg, he decided to ensure that people would welcome him in their homes after being dismissed.

“The manager called in those who owed his master, asked what they owed, and lowered each person’s debt—eight hundred gallons of olive oil to four hundred, one thousand bushels of wheat to eight hundred. The master praised the dishonest man’s shrewdness.

“People of this world are more cunning in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. Use worldly wealth to gain friends who, when that wealth is gone, will welcome you in eternal dwellings.

“If you are trustworthy in little things, you will be trustworthy in greater things, just as when dishonest people are untrustworthy in small things, they are untrustworthy in greater things. When you have been deceitful in handling worldly wealth or someone else’s property, why would someone trust you with true riches or your own property?

“No one can work for or honor two masters. He will hate and despise the one he does not love, as he is devoted to the one he does love. You cannot honor both God and money.”

The Pharisees, who loved money, sneered at Jesus. He said, “You justify yourselves to men, but God knows your hearts. What men highly value is detestable in God’s sight.”