The Parable of the Unjust Steward
By Jonathan Mitchell
This parable is found in Luke 16:1-14. Verse 9 has raised ethical questions among people who have tried to understand Jesus' words, thinking that they were advice to His followers. We have read this verse differently, as will be shown, below.
We think that a key to understanding this verse is Jesus' points that He develops in vss. 10-14, where in vs. 14, Luke speaks of the Pharisees as being "covetous." With this in mind, I will quote the last statement of the parable (vs. 8a) which gives the final words of the "rich man" (the master) of 16:1. We read 8b as Jesus' words about the wisdom of the children of this age. But then, as you will see, below, I put vs. 9 as a rhetorical question, rather than as advice which Jesus gives to His disciples. We find two more rhetorical questions in vss. 11 and 12, below. The earliest manuscripts had no punctuation marks. Those marks were added to later copies of the NT texts, and were based upon the interpretative readings of those texts, at a later time. We suggest that where the later copies (which added punctuation into those copies) ended vs. 9 with a period, it should have ended with a question mark.
As to the application of the parable, we read this as being about the Judean leadership of that time and place... just as we view the "rich man" in the following parable (16:19-31) as being about these same folks. In 16:3, the steward realizes that the owner would be firing him, and that he would lose his position as being a steward. This recalls Mat. 21:43, where Jesus told the priests and elders that God's kingdom would be taken from them and given to a nation (ethnos -- a people group, like the sheep of Mat. 25) that would bring forth its fruit. Here, in Lu. 16, is the parable's final statement by the owner (8a), and then Jesus' observation of it (8b), followed by Jesus' rhetorical question in vs. 9, and next are His teaching in vss. 10-13.
Luke 16:8. "And so the master (lord; = employer) commended (added praise and applause to) the estate-manager in regard to the disregard for what is right (the injustice; the actions which were not in accord with the way pointed out; the dishonesty), because he acted thoughtfully (or: performed intelligently in considering [the situation]). This is because 'the sons of this age (= the people who have the qualities and display the character of the current age and present period of time)' exist being (or: are) more thoughtful, prudent and intelligent with common sense unto (or: in; respecting; with a view to) their own generation than are 'the sons of the Light (= people of the covenant with revealed knowledge of the Way of the Life).'
The second half of this verse is a critique of the steward's actions and of the ethical dealings of the Judean stewards of that time (of [that] age). Like business dealings in our own day, the employer's responses often seem to be accepting of how employees behave - that's just how it is in business - and the master in this story applauds the steward's prudence and practical wisdom, even though it was what Jas. 3:15 describes as,
"fully earth-oriented (or: earthly; terrestrial; earth-produced; belonging to the earth realm; [cf 1 Cor. 2:4-5; Phil. 3:19b]), pertaining to or proceeding from the soul (soulish; consciousness-related; = natural), demonic (demon-like; pertaining to, or affected by, or having the characteristics of, "demons;" [a Hellenistic term and concept; = influences, in that period and culture, thought of as being animistic, or as personified attitudes or orientations])."
Notice that here, in Jas. 3:15, the three adjectives "earthly," "natural/soulish," and "demonic" are all in the same "realm" - within the natural realm of the heart (Jas. 3:14). Paul Tillich defined the "demonic" as that which is "distorted." We suggest in Lu. 16:8b, above, that Jesus grants the "more thoughtful, prudent and intelligent with common sense" of the people of that current age, but that He is not recommending it. The "sons of the Light" operate in the realm of the new age (new creation - 2 Cor. 5:17) where Love is "the wisdom which is from above," as we observe in Jas. 3:
17. But the Wisdom from above is (constantly exists being) indeed first (or: primarily) pure, thereafter peaceable (or: peaceful; pertaining to peace and harmonious joining), suitable (fair; reasonably lenient; yielding; unassertive; considerate), compliant (easily persuaded; receptive; reasonable; willing to yield), full of mercy (= practical help) and good fruits, non-separating (not discriminatory; undivided in evaluating; unwavering; unprejudiced; impartial), unpretending (or: not hyper-critical; not judging from a low point of view; not focusing on tiny distinctions; not overly judgmental; not under-estimating of reality; [cf 1 Pet. 1:22]).[cf Gal. 5:22-23; 1 Cor. 2:4-7; 13:4-7]
18. Now the fruit of a flowing together of eschatological deliverance (or: fair and equitable dealings which bring rightness, justice and right relationship in accord with the Way pointed out; the condition of being rightwised, or turned in the right direction, with covenant participation) is continuously being sown in Peace and a harmonious Joining by, for and among those habitually performing (making; doing; producing; creating; building; forming; [cf Mat. 5:9]) peace and harmonious joining.
[comment: this is the fruit of the Spirit, or, from the Tree of Life; cf Gal. 5:22-23; 6:7-10; Mat. 5:9]
So now, let us consider Lu. 16:9 as a rhetorical question:
9. "Now am I really [note: emphatic construction in the Greek] now saying to you folks, 'At once make for yourselves friends from out of the midst of the Mammon (Aramaic: wealth and earthly goods; Syrian god of riches) that pertains to and has its source in the inequity (or: this aforementioned mammon of injustice and dishonesty) so that whenever it gives out (fails; falls short; is defaulting) folks can (or: they may, or would) welcome and receive you folks into the lifelong tents that have the qualities and characteristics of [this] age (or: the tabernacles that last for an undetermined duration)'?
[comment: an allusion to the coming judgment of Jerusalem, in AD 70, and the aftermath for the survivors]
11. "Therefore, if you folks do not come to be faithful and trustworthy in connection with the inequitable Mammon (the unjust wealth or unfair material possessions), who will proceed entrusting to you (or: in you) the Real and True?
12. "And if you folks do not come to be faithful and trustworthy in connection with the thing belonging to another, who will continue giving to you (or: for you; in you) the thing that is your own [other MSS: that is ours]? [cf Ps. 24:1]
13. "No domestic (household servant) continues able to habitually perform as a slave for (or: to; with) two owners (masters; lords); you see, he will either proceed treating the one with less preference and disfavor (with ill will; with disapproval and detachment; with hate) and will continue loving the other (urging union with the different one), or, he will continue holding himself instead to (= uphold; be attentive to; stay loyal to; support) [things] pertaining to one and then proceed despising (hold a down-oriented opinion and frame of mind toward) the other (the different one). You folks continue unable to keep on performing as a slave for (or: to) God and also to (or: for) Mammon (= wealth, money, or, the false god of riches)."
Next, we have Luke's observation about some of Jesus' audience:
14. Now the Pharisees, habitually being inherently fond of silver (= money-lovers), were listening to all these things, and so began turning out and up their noses while contemptuously sneering at Him.
The religious leaders (the Pharisees) could not receive Jesus' teaching. Verse 13 sets forth the complete commitment required for a disciple. God's reign cannot have divided loyalties. Consider Mat. 16:
24. At that point Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone continues intending (purposing; willing; wanting) to come on behind Me, let him at once completely say, 'No,' to, deny and disown himself, and then in one move lift up his execution stake (pole for suspending a corpse; cross), and after that proceed to be by habit continuously following after (with) Me!
25. "You see, whoever may intend (or: should purpose; might set his will; happens to want) to keep his soul-life safe (rescue himself; preserve the conscious life that he is living) will continue loosing-away, ruining and destroying it. Yet whoever can loose-away and even destroy his soul-life (the consciousness of self) on My account, he will continue finding it!
26. "For what will a person (or: mankind) proceed being benefited, or in what will he (or: it) continue helped or augmented, if he (it) can or would advantageously procure and gain the whole ordered system of society: government, economy, culture, religion - even the whole universe, yet would be undergoing the loss of, receive damage to, or be made to forfeit, his soul-life (the consciousness which he is; or: its interior self [in its reality])? Or what will a person (or: mankind) proceed giving as a result of a change-instead (or: in exchange) pertaining to his (or: its) soul (or: as an effect corresponding to transformation of the consciousness of, or which is, himself/itself which makes him/it other than he/it is)?
Considering Jesus' teaching in Lu. 16:10-13, corroborated by Mat. 16:24-26, we suggest that the Parable of the Unjust Steward was aimed at the Judean leadership in Jesus' immediate environment, and vs. 9 was put forth on behalf of Jesus' disciples to alert them to His irony: "So don't do what the unjust steward did!"
Jonathan
PS: Peter Hiett has graciously allowed me to bring something, from his insights, to the table on this subject:
"Perhaps, both a period and a question mark work. He's saying make friends with unrighteous mammon (period) but not like the unjust steward (after all he is 'unjust, unrighteous and dishonest'). Perhaps all mammon is unrighteous just because we think that any of it actually belongs to us. So we're all stewards of our masters' things, but the unjust steward was also steward of the stewards - and so he forgave the other stewards at the master's expense. Perhaps, whenever we forgive, we forgive at the Master's expense. After sleeping with Bathsheba and killing Uriah, David said in the Psalms 'Against you and you alone oh Lord have I sinned.' Perhaps it wasn't Uriah's 'life,' or even Bathsheba's 'temple' that had been violated. Perhaps whenever we forgive, God also forgives, for it was his stuff that was stolen and he now wants us to announce his Mercy. So maybe Jesus is saying 'Make friends with all of our Father's stuff'... and everything is his stuff... He loves it when you give it away. And the friends you make by giving away His stuff are actually your brothers and sisters (Dad pays for all the presents on Christmas morning), who are also living stones in the New Jerusalem that is our eternal house and home in which each has a room - the eternal habitations.
"The unjust steward understood as a figure of Judah... Wow that fits! They were blessed to be a blessing and they wouldn't give it away."
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