Luke 16:2 Kommentar

The scope of Christ's discourse in this chapter is to awaken and quicken us all so to use this world as not to abuse it, so to manage all our possessions and enjoyments here as that they may make for us, and may not make against us in the other world; for they will do either the one or the other, according as we use them now. I. If we do good with them, and lay out what we have in works of piety and charity, we shall reap the benefit of it in the world to come; and this he shows in the parable of the unjust steward, who made so good a hand of his lord's goods that, when he was turned out of his stewardship, he had a comfortable subsistence to betake himself to. The parable itself we have (Luk 16:1-8); the explanation and application of it (Luk 16:9-13); and the contempt which the Pharisees put upon the doctrine Christ preached to them, for which he sharply reproved them, adding some other weighty sayings (Luk 16:14-18). II. It, instead of doing good with our worldly enjoyments, we make them the food and fuel of our lusts, of our luxury and sensuality, and deny relief to the poor, we shall certainly perish eternally, and the things of this world, which were thus abused, will but add to our misery and torment. This he shows in the other parable of the rich man and Lazarus, which has likewise a further intention, and that is, to awaken us all to take the warning given us by the written word, and not to expect immediate messages from the other world (Luk 16:19-31).

And he said also to his disciples,.... The Syriac version adds, "a parable", as the following is; and which is directed to the disciples, as those in the preceding chapter are to the Pharisees; and who also are designed in this; though it is particularly spoken to the disciples, because it might be of some use to them, with respect, to the stewardship they were in. The Persic and Ethiopic versions read, "Jesus", or "the Lord Jesus said": and which is to be understood, though not expressed; for the parable was delivered by him, and is as follows: there was a certain rich man: by whom God is meant, who is rich in the perfections of his nature, in the works of his hands, in his government, and the administration of it, in providential goodness, and in the large revenues of glory due to him from his creatures; for all temporal riches are from him; and so are all the riches of mercy, grace, and glory: which had a steward; by whom is designed, not all mankind; for though all men are, in a sense, stewards under God, and are entrusted with the good things of life, the gifts of nature, endowments of mind, health, strength of body, time, &c. yet all cannot be meant, because some are distinguished from this steward, Luk 16:5 nor are the disciples intended, though the parable is directed to them; and they were stewards of the mysteries and manifold grace of God; and one among them was an unfaithful one, and was turned out of his stewardship; but the character of an unjust man will not suit with them: and besides, this steward was of the children of this world, Luk 16:8 but the Pharisees are meant: for these are taken notice of as gravelled at this parable, Luk 16:14 and to them agrees the character of the men of this world, who were worldly wise men; as also that of a steward; these are the tutors and governors mentioned in Gal 4:2 who had the care of the house of Israel, the family of God, under the legal dispensation; and to whom were committed the oracles of God, the writings of Moses, and the prophets; and whose business it was to open and explain them to the people. And the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods; put false glosses upon the Scriptures; fed the family with bad and unwholesome food, the traditions of the elders, called the leaven of the Pharisees: made havoc of the souls of men; and made the hearts of the righteous sad: and hardened sinners in their wicked ways: and fed themselves, and not the flock; and plundered persons of their temporal substance; of all which they were accused by Moses, in whom they trusted; by his law which they violated; and by their own consciences, which witnessed against them; and by the cries of those whom they abused, which came into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

And he called him,.... By the prophets, sent one after another; by John the Baptist, by Christ himself, and by his apostles: and said unto him, how is it that I hear this of thee? of thy corrupting the word; of thy covetousness, rapine, and theft; of thy adultery and idolatry, and sad violation of the law; see Rom 2:21 give an account of thy stewardship: what improvement is made of thy gifts; what care has been taken of my vineyard, the Jewish church; and where are the fruits that might be expected to have been received at your hands: for thou mayest be no longer steward. This was foretold by the prophets, that God would write a "Loammi" upon the people of the Jews; that he would cut off three shepherds in one month, and particularly lay aside the idol shepherd, by whom the Pharisees may be meant, Zac 11:8 and by John the Baptist, who declared the axe was laid to the root of the tree, and it was just ready to be cut down, Mat 3:10 and by Christ, that the kingdom of God should be taken from them, Mat 21:43 and by the apostles, who turned from them to the Gentiles, Act 13:46.

He told another parable of the steward, who was accused in the presence of his master. The shrewdness of this unjust steward was praised in the presence of his master. He unjustly wasted the initial treasures and then unjustly and cunningly cancelled the later debts. He was praised because he acquired what was to be his by what was not his, namely, his friends and supporters. Through what was not his, Adam got something that was not his, namely, thorns and pains. O children of Adam, buy for yourselves those things that do not pass away, by means of those temporary things that are not yours!

From this we learn then, that we are not ourselves the masters, but rather the stewards of the property of others.

You proposed a little question about the Gospel of Luke (Chapter 16, verse 1 et seq.): Who is the steward of iniquity who is praised by the voice of the Lord? When I wanted to know the reason for this and from which source it came, I examined the volume of the Gospel, and I found among other things that, as the tax collectors and sinners approached the Saviour to hear him, the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, "Why does this one receive sinners and eat with them?" (Luke 15:2). He spoke to them the parable of one hundred sheep, and one that was lost, which was found and carried back on the shoulders of the shepherd. And when it was proposed, he immediately said: "I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need for repentance." He also proposed another parable about ten drachmas lost and found, and he completed it with a similar ending. So I tell you, there will be joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner repenting. He also proposed a third parable about a man who had two sons, and who divided his wealth between them. And when the younger son had lost his faculties and began to eat the pods that the pigs ate, he returned to his father, who accepted him. The envious elder brother, too, was rebuked by his father's voice, and he should have rejoiced because his brother was dead and had come back to life; he was lost, and he has been found. He spoke three parables against the Pharisees and Scribes who did not want to receive the repentance of sinners and the salvation of Publicans. He said also, he said to his disciples (Ibid. 16.1), without doubt, that he used a parable, just as before to the Scribes and Pharisees: by which parable he would exhort the disciples to mercy and would say in other words: Forgive and you shall be forgiven (Luke 6:7), so that you may ask boldly in the Lord's Prayer, Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12). Therefore, what is the parable that urges the disciples towards mercy? There was a certain rich man who had a steward (Luke 16:1), or a manager, for this is what οἰκονόμος means. The steward is properly the governor of the estate, from which he is also called a steward. The οἰκονόμος, however, is a dispenser of both money and fruits and all that the master possesses. Therefore, the most beautiful book of Xenophon's Oeconomica is not about the management of the estate but the management of the entire household (interpreted by Cicero). Therefore, this steward was accused before his master because he was squandering his master's property. When he was called, [the master] said: "What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, for you can no longer be steward." What did he say to himself? "What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg." I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses." He called each one of his master's debtors to him and said to the first, "How much do you owe my master?" He said, "A hundred measures of oil. He said to him: take your bill, and sitting down quickly, write fifty. Then he said to another: And how much do you owe? Who answered: A hundred quarters of wheat. He said to him: take your bill, and write eighty. And the lord commended the unjust steward, forasmuch as he had done wisely: for the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. And I say to you: make unto you friends of the mammon of iniquity; that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings. He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater: and he that is unjust in that which is little, is unjust also in that which is greater. If then you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will trust you with that which is the true? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's; who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Now all these things were heard by the Pharisees, who were greedy, and they ridiculed him. I have put the entire text of this parable so that we do not seek understanding from elsewhere and strive to find certain persons in the parable, but we should interpret it as a parable, that is, a comparison, which is called "parabolē" because it is "thrown beside" or compared, and is like the shadow of the pre-existent truth. Therefore, if the steward of unjust mammon is praised by the voice of the Lord because he has prepared justice for himself from an unjust matter, and the Lord, having suffered losses, praises the prudence of the steward, when he has acted fraudulently towards the Lord but wisely for himself, how much more will Christ, who cannot suffer any loss and is inclined to mercy, praise his disciples if they are merciful towards those who will believe ((or have believed)) in them? Finally, after the parable, he said: And I tell you, make friends for yourselves with unjust mammon. Mammon, however, in the language of the Syriacs, not the Hebrews, means wealth, because it has been collected unjustly. If, therefore, well-dispensed iniquity turns into justice: how much more will divine speech, in which there is no iniquity, and which is entrusted to the apostles, if it is well-dispensed, raise its dispensers to heaven? Therefore it follows: "He who is faithful in the least, that is, in earthly things, will also be faithful in many, that is, in spiritual things. But whoever is unjust in small things, so as not to give to his brothers for their use what has been created by God for all, he will also be unjust in dividing spiritual wealth, so that he may divide the doctrine of the Lord not for necessity, but for persons." But if, he says, you do not manage well the perishable riches of the flesh, who will trust you with the true and eternal riches of the doctrine of God? And if you have been unfaithful in what belongs to someone else (but everything that belongs to this age is someone else’s), who will give you what is yours? That is why he criticizes avarice and says that those who love money cannot love God. Therefore, even the Apostles, if they wish to love God, must hold money in contempt. So the scribes and Pharisees, who were greedy, understanding that the parable was directed at themselves, mocked Him, preferring the carnal things, which are certain and present, to the spiritual and future things, which are uncertain. Theophilus, the seventh Bishop of the Church of Antioch after the Apostle Peter, who compiled the sayings of the four Evangelists into one work, has spoken about this parable in his Commentaries. 'The rich man who had a steward, or manager, is Almighty God, who is richer than anything else. His steward is Paul, who learned the sacred Scriptures at the feet of Gamaliel (Act. 22. 3), and had received the Law of God to be dispensed.' When he had begun to persecute the believers in Christ, to bind them, to kill them, and to plunder all the substance of his Lord, he was rebuked by the Lord: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the pricks. (Acts 9:4-5). And he thought to himself: What should I do? Since I, who was a teacher and a steward, must become a disciple and a worker. I cannot dig. For I see that all the commandments of the Law, which were on the earth, are destroyed; and that the Law and the Prophets were fulfilled up to John the Baptist. I am ashamed to beg, that I, who was a teacher of the Jews, should be compelled to beg for instruction from a gentile and from the disciple Ananias. Therefore, I will do what I think is useful to me: so that after I am dismissed from my position, Christians will receive me into their homes. And those who formerly practiced the law, but had now believed in Christ, began to teach that the law was abolished, and that the prophets had foretold these things. And they taught that what had been done by those who kept the law, was worthy of nothing but contempt (Philippians 3:8). Then he called two of his debtors. The first owed him one hundred measures of oil, that is, those who had been gathered from the Gentiles and were in great need of God's mercy; and he made them write fifty in the document instead of one hundred, which was a special number for those who repented, and based on the Jubilee, and that parable in the Gospel in which one is forgiven five hundred denarii, and another fifty. However, he called the people of the Jews who were nourished on the wheat of God's commandments, and who owed him a hundred denarii, and he forced them to make eighty out of a hundred, that is, to believe in the resurrection of the Lord, which is contained in the number of the eighth day, and is completed in eight decades, so that he might pass from the Sabbath of the Law to the first Sabbath. For this reason, it is preached by the Lord that he did well, and that he was changed from the severity of the Law to the mercy of the Gospel for his salvation. And if you ask why he is called the steward of iniquity in the Law, which is from God, he was an unjust steward who indeed offered well, but did not divide well, believing in the Father, but persecuting the Son; having almighty God, but denying the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Apostle Paul was wiser in transgressing the Law than the once children of light who, engaged in the observation of the Law, lost Christ who is the true light of God the Father. You can read what Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, thought about this place in his comments. I could not find an explanation of this parable in Origen and Didymus, and I am uncertain whether it has been abolished by the antiquity of the times or whether they did not write it themselves. To me, it seems according to my previous interpretation, that we ought to make friends for ourselves from the unjust mammon, not just any poor person, but those who can receive us into their homes and eternal dwellings, so that when we offer them small things, we may receive great things from them, and giving them what belongs to others, we may receive what belongs to us, and sow in blessing, so that we may reap blessings. For he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.

(ut sup.) Meanwhile he is taken and thrust out of his stewardship; for it follows, And he called him, and said unto him, What is this that I hear of thee? give an account of thy stewardship, for thou canst be no longer steward. Day after day by the events which take place our Lord cries aloud to us the same thing, showing us a man at midday rejoicing in health, before the evening cold and lifeless; another expiring in the midst of a meal. And in various ways we go out from our stewardship; but the faithful steward, who has confidence concerning his management, desires with Paul to depart and be with Christ. (Phil. 1:23.)

He also said to his disciples: There was a rich man who had a steward, and this one was accused before him of wasting his goods. And he called him and said to him: What is this that I hear about you? Render an account of your stewardship, for you cannot be steward any longer. Then the steward said to himself: What shall I do? For my lord is taking away the stewardship from me. I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. In this steward whom the Lord cast out from his stewardship and praised him for having looked out for himself in the future, we ought not to take everything for imitation. For we should not in any way deceive our Lord, so as to make alms from this very deception, nor should we consider those, by whom we wish to be received into the eternal tabernacles, to be debtors of God and our Lord, since it is understood in this place that the just and the holy will introduce those into the everlasting tabernacles who have shared their earthly goods with their needs. Of these also He says that whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of them in the name of a disciple, will not lose his reward (Matthew X). But these parables are also contrary, so that we may understand if the one who committed fraud could be praised by the Lord, how much more will those who do works according to His command please the Lord God. Just as He also made a comparison with the unjust judge who was appealed to by the widow, to the Judge God, to whom in no way could the unjust judge be compared. By the term steward, we call those who have money, no longer masters of their own, but rather dispensers of another’s property. If they, following the example of this servant, foresee the time of the end of stewardship and the rendering of accounts diligently, easily stripped of all delight and love for earthly things, will take care to gather more friends for themselves in the future than riches in the present.

Every parable explains the essence of some subject in a concealed and figurative manner, but it is not in all respects similar to the subject for the explanation of which it is employed. Therefore one should not interpret all parts of a parable down to the finest detail, but, having made use of the subject as far as is fitting, the remaining parts should be passed over without attention, as having been added for the completeness of the parable, yet having no correspondence with the subject. So one should proceed with the present parable as well. For if we undertake to explain in minute detail everything — who the steward is, who appointed him to the management, who reported against him, who the debtors are, why one owed oil and another wheat, why it is said that they each owed a hundred, and if we investigate everything else in general with excessive curiosity — then we will make the discourse obscure, and, being forced by the difficulties, will perhaps arrive even at ridiculous explanations. Therefore one should make use of the present parable only as much as one can. I will explain a little. The Lord wishes here to teach us to manage well the wealth entrusted to us. And, first of all, we learn that we are not masters of our possessions, for we have nothing of our own, but that we are stewards of what belongs to another, entrusted to us by the Master so that we may dispose of our possessions well and as He commands. Then we are taught that if we act in the management of wealth not according to the mind of the Master, but squander what has been entrusted to us on our own whims, then we are stewards against whom an accusation has been made. For the will of the Master is that we spend what has been entrusted to us on the needs of our fellow servants, and not on our own pleasures. And when we are accused and are about to be removed from the management of the estate, that is, torn from this present life — namely when we will give an account of our stewardship after our departure from here — then we belatedly perceive what must be done, and "make friends for ourselves by means of unrighteous wealth." That "wealth" is called "unrighteous" which the Lord entrusted to us for use on the needs of our brothers and fellow servants, but which we kept for ourselves. But too late we will realize where to turn, and that on that day we can neither labor, for then is not the time for doing, nor ask for alms, for it is unseemly, since the virgins who asked for them were called foolish (Matt. 25:8). What then remains to be done? To share this estate with our brothers, so that when we depart from here, that is, when we pass from this present life, the poor may "receive us into eternal dwellings." For to the poor in Christ eternal dwellings have been appointed as their inheritance, into which they can receive those who showed them love here through the distribution of wealth, even though that wealth, as belonging to the Master, ought to have been distributed to the poor from the beginning. They are debtors, according to what is said: "he is ever merciful and lends" (Ps. 37:26), and in another place: "He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord" (Prov. 19:17). So then, everything ought to have been distributed beforehand to these good debtors, who repay a hundredfold. Nevertheless, when we prove to be unfaithful stewards, unjustly retaining for ourselves what was designated for others, we must not remain forever in this inhumanity, but must distribute to the poor, so that they may receive us into eternal dwellings. When we explain this parable in this way, the explanation will contain nothing superfluous, nor contrived, nor conjectural. However, the expression "the sons of this age are more shrewd" and what follows seems to mean something else, and nothing incomprehensible or strange. By "sons of this age" He calls those who devise everything that is useful for them on earth, and by "sons of light" those who, out of love for God, ought to impart spiritual riches to others. So what is being said here is that people appointed as stewards of human property make every effort to have comfort after their dismissal from stewardship, while the sons of light, who are appointed, that is, entrusted with the stewardship of spiritual property, give no thought whatsoever to obtaining benefit for themselves afterward. Thus, "the sons of this age" are those to whom the management of human affairs has been entrusted and who "in their generation," that is, in this life, conduct their affairs wisely, while the sons of light are those who have received property in order to manage it in a manner pleasing to God. It turns out that when managing human property, we conduct our affairs wisely and make sure to have some refuge of life even when we are dismissed from this management. But when we manage the property that must be administered according to God's will, we seem not to care that after our departure from this life we might fall under accountability for our management and be left without any consolation. Therefore we are called foolish, because we do not think about what will be beneficial for us after this. But let us acquire friends among the poor, spending on them the unrighteous wealth given to us by God as a weapon of righteousness, but which we have retained for our own benefit and which has therefore turned into unrighteousness. If even wealth obtained by righteous means, when it is managed poorly and not distributed to the poor, is reckoned as unrighteousness and as mammon, then how much more so unrighteous wealth. Let us then use this latter to acquire friends for ourselves, so that when we die and depart from this life, or in another case lose heart from condemnation, "they... may receive us there into everlasting habitations."

The parable of the unjust steward, Luk 16:1-8. Christ applies this to his hearers, Luk 16:9-13. The Pharisees take offense, Luk 16:14. Our Lord reproves them, and shows the immutability of the law, Luk 16:15-17. Counsels against divorce, Luk 16:18. The story of the rich man and the beggar, commonly called Dives and Lazarus, Luk 16:19-31.

Give an account of thy, etc. - Produce thy books of receipts and disbursements, that I may see whether the accusation against thee be true or false. The original may be translated, Give up the business, τον λογον, of the stewardship.

PARABLES OF THE UNJUST STEWARD AND OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS, OR, THE RIGHT USE OF MONEY. (Luke 16:1-31) steward--manager of his estate. accused--informed upon. had wasted--rather, "was wasting."