25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Luke 16:1-13, The Servant of the Word¹

The parable is difficult in that some translations would make it look as if the actions of a lying and cheating steward is used by the Lord as an example for those who would like to win for themselves a part of heaven. The passage which makes the parable most difficult is the following:

For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

It would seem that the parable points out that the shrewdness of the people of this world should be imitated by children of the light since this latter work for something that is more noble and more lasting. How should this "shrewdness" be exercised? Verse 9 seems to be the answer: Use your wealth (that wealth which most often is dishonest) to gain friends. In other words, the parable of the wily steward acquires the character of a moral lesson in shrewdness that is exercised for the benefit of another.

Preachers have explained the problem in a fashion similar to the above. There is however another way of understanding the parable. The key however is provided by an understanding of verse 8a: The Kyrios commended the servant because he had acted shrewdly. Question: To whom does KurioV refer here? Is it to the LORD Jesus or to the MASTER of the house? To read it as referring to "the Lord (Jesus)" would lead one to the interpretation outlined above; 8b is a reinterpretation of the parable that assumes KurioV to mean "Lord". To read it however as referring to the Master/Owner of the house would help one understand why the steward, at the end, is praised for his shrewdness.

So why did the master praise the steward at the end of the story? The steward is a mirror of his own master to their clients. When the steward was discovered to be dishonest with the goods of his master, that put the master in a bad light. To his business colleagues, the master would have appeared careless -- not a good reputation for a businessman. When the steward cut the debts of creditors, he projected an image of his master as generous, and even wealthy. The steward therefore, saved the face of his master and by that act righted the wrong he has done to his master.

Verse 9 as well as the following 10-11 is best understood as a later reinterpretation of the parable in an environment where the Middle Eastern virtue of "saving one's or someone else's reputation" was no longer understood. Verse 12 is a reinterpretation of verses 10-11, no longer that of the main parable. The saying on God and Mammon (v. 13) was placed here by Luke because the context provided by the Wily Steward lended itself well to it.

The choice to include verse 13 in the reading is due to the First Reading for Year C (Amos 8:4-7). This is also the reason for the title we have above.

   So as to make the parable and the following wisdom sayings more understandable, one should take them separately, dividing them in the following way:

• vv. 1-8a:the Parable of the Quick Thinking Steward;
• vv. 8b-12:Various Sayings On Trustworthiness (triggered by the Craftiness of the Dishonest Steward);
• vv.13-[14]: The Teaching On God and Mammon and the Reaction of the Lovers of Money

In any worldly affair, whether business or otherwise, the Christian should always know which Master (KurioV) he/she is serving. Discernment (=prudence) should precede all decisions made so that our very acts become mirrors of the Lord's presence among men.