The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Introduction

It is generally accepted that, due to the nature of the Bible, together with its age and the difficulty of carrying out accurate translation, it is brimming over with hard to understand passages and difficult to explain concepts. And then there is the Shrewd Manager…

Because this short parable so complex and open to misinterpretation, it is the parable people usually avoid, and even though it immediately follows one of the most well-known and well-loved of all Jesus’ parables (the Prodigal Son) most Christians are only even vaguely aware of the existence of the Shrewd Manager. However, the fact that this is part of God’s Word and is therefore of enormous value for our lives, these words of Jesus are surely worth the time and effort involved in working out what Jesus is teaching us. 

Before we begin, here is an example of the challenge we are facing, and remember that these are the words of Jesus Himself: “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”

Can Jesus really be saying we should use wealth to buy ourselves friends? 

Can Jesus really be saying that these friends will then be saved so they can welcome us into heaven?

Can Jesus really be saying that by using worldly wealth in this way we can also be assured of our own salvation?

Well, in this short Bible study we will seek to work through these and other challenges that are raised by this parable. The parable in question is found in Luke 16:1-13.

“Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 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.’

“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 - I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ 

“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 

“‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’ 

“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.’ 

“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. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? 

“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”