Day 76

Luke 16:1–9 (NIV)

¹ Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. ² So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

³ “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— ⁴ I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ ⁵ “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ “ ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’ ⁷ “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

⁸ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. ⁹ I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Pray for God to show you something to use from the passage

Read the Passage

Who is in the passage?

What action verbs do you see?

What other words stick out in your mind

Questions

Why does Jesus use an example of a dishonest person? What is the point he is trying to make?

Do you plan for your future in heaven more than your future on earth?

Why do we have a hard time thinking the way Jesus wants us to in this parable?

Notes

This parable actually starts a conversation about using your earthly treasures in the right way. Invest in things that last!

This parable can be confusing at first light. It can seem Jesus is praising a man for a dishonest action. That is not Jesus' intent. Rather it is to make the point of vs 8b. People of this age (world) care more about their future than people of the light (believers) . They focus on something that brings temporary benefit and work hard at it. Believers ought to realize what they can do to bring eternal relationships and rewards and work hard at it.

vs 1-2 the rich man would have been well off based on the two examples of debt owed to him we see in the parable. The manager was hired to watch over the business. The rich man hears (he doesn't know for himself) that the manger is at least not doing his job well. He asks him to put all the accounts in order and he will be let go. (pretty dumb for the rich man to let the manager straighten things out)

vs3-4 Manager figures he can't do manual labor and he can't beg so what will he do? He comes up with a scheme to make him accepted by those who owe money to the rich man. He reduces what they owe so that they will be indebted to him and be willing to take care of him because of the favoritism his shows them.

5-7- The manager does just that. The two examples show that this was a big operation. One was an olive grove that would have been 25 times the normal size. The manager would have done the resettling of debt for all the accounts and would have been enforceable because the manager was still acting on the behalf of the rich man.

8 The rich man would be ticked off but also makes the comment of how shrewd the man was in preparing for his future. The manager had been dishonest but had taken care of his future needs.

Again Jesus' point isn't about being dishonest. It is about preparing for your future.

vs 9- Jesus further illustrates his point about believers (note that is who he is addressing (vs 1- disciples) ) when he tells them and us to use your worldly wealth to gain friends for yourself that make a difference in eternity. (think back to what Jesus told people to do in 12:33, and 14:13.) What is being implied is if a worldly manger cares about his future that is here today and gone tomorrow; shouldn’t believers care for a future that last for an eternity? Shouldn't your resources be used to build something that last?