This week, we continue our study of Luke’s gospel with Luke 15:1-17:10. You can join us any time on our journey. These readings contain Jesus’s teachings on faithfulness and stewardship.
Parable of the Shrewd Manager: (vv. 16:1-9)
This parable is the oddest parable found in the gospels. A rich man (who is usually the bad guy in Luke’s gospel) hires a manager. He is going to fire the manager for malfeasance, and the manager goes out and reduces the debts owed to the rich man so that the debtors will take him in once he’s terminated. The rich man praises the manager’s shrewdness (and apparently retains his employment). Jesus upholds the manager for his shrewdness in using dishonest wealth to be welcomed into an eternal home. (We discussed this parable about ten years ago.)
There are various interpretations given, such as the steward only forgave illegal interest or his commission and not the master’s actual principal. We can also understand the parable that the steward, like the younger son in the immediately preceding parable, is essentially dead and unrespectable, and only by hitting rock bottom can he be resurrected and restored. We can also understand that parable as simply an example that Jesus uses to illustrate his teachings on repentance (see, Luke 13) and that the day of the Lord is quickly coming and that we all need a plan – the manager’s plan was to make a deal with debtors and so we too should take care of the least of these.
Read the parable and its context a few times and see where you see the lesson.
Faithfulness: (vv. 10-18)
Going back to the Creation Story, humans are given “dominion.” The classical idea of dominion carries with it a responsibility commensurate with the power given. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the ideal king rules with wisdom and understanding in the service of righteousness and equity, particularly towards those who are the least in society. Isa. 11:3-4. This is the teaching that forms the foundations of Jesus’ statement on wealth. We are merely trustees of any wealth that is given to us, and therefore, we are charged with using that wealth in the service of others.
Luke, like Paul, sees the coming of Jesus as a break with the past. Paul tells us the Law is good, and before Jesus, the Law was our custodian. But, like a custodian for a minor, once that minor reaches the age of majority, the custodian no longer has jurisdiction, so too the Law after Christ has no more power. Gal. 3:24. However, as we have read throughout Paul’s letters, particularly in the second half of Ephesians, the underlying, Spirit-filled ethical demands that underlie the Law remain.
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus: (vv.19-31)
The parable itself follows up on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Shrewd Manager, and the teachings on wealth. In both these three parables, the generosity of the protagonist (the Father and the Manager) provides them with the benefit of regaining the son and regaining his employment. The Rich Man, however, is wholly unfaithful and hoards his wealth (not unlike the older brother) and, therefore, is kept out of the Kingdom.
What we also see in this parable is an example of the Beatitudes and Woes in Luke 6:20-26. Lazarus exhibits the characteristics of spiritual poverty, and the Rich Man does not. As you read through the parable, list each man’s characteristics (for example, humility, entitlement, pride, etc). The Rich Man allows himself to be ruled by his wealth and thereby necessarily suffers accordingly.
Faithfulness (part 2): (vv. 17:1-10)
As a follow-up on the Parable of Lazarus, Luke gives us a series of short teachings by Jesus on faithfulness within interpersonal relationships. Being faithful to God means being faithful to others as well. First, Jesus admonishes us not to lead others into sin. Jesus reminds his disciples that temptations will come; however, temptations should not come from the disciples. vv.1-3.
Next, Jesus tells his disciples that they must forgive always. vv. 3-4. Like the Father in the Prodigal Son, we must be ready to forgive, even seven times a day. This teaching also follows up on Jesus’ previous teaching from the Sermon on the Plain that only the forgiving can be forgiven. Luke 6:37-38.
Finally, Jesus reminds the disciples of their station within the divine order. vv.5-10. He reminds them that they lack the faith to accomplish everything that he has instructed them to do. Jesus knows that we will fail.
Jesus also reminds his disciples that they are slaves to God. See, Rom. 6:22. Like a slave, when they do what they are required to do, they are merely fulfilling their duties and not somehow placing God in their debt. We are not the center of the universe, and we do not deserve a reward for simply fulfilling our duties. In the words of Alec Hill (Christianity Today “Inside My Slavery Aug. 2014), this teaching means that we must (1) cede control to God, (2) do our duty to God, and (3) serve our one and only Master.
- A fun Lenten Devotional is the saintly brackets of Lent Madness.
Dinner is at 6. The menu is Italian beef vegetable soup. Discussion about 6:45. Compline at 8. Please join us!
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9