Luke 16: 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. 10 "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. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? 13 "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." 14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.
Someone stated in the chats that they were having a very difficult time understanding this parable, (I don't know if they want me to reveal their name or not). It is a difficult parable, and I thought I would give it a shot, and see what others thought about it.
What I think Jesus us doing in this parable is contrasting those people in the world, with the Jews (people of the light, v. 8). The people of this world are admired for their abilities to take care of themselves, and build wealth and future security for themselves, by whatever means it takes. In this instance, the manager knew that once the books were audited, that he was going to be out of a job. And so he used the time remaining to provide for his future. The rich man, though unhappy that he had been defrauded, nonetheless admired the man for doing what he himself might have done in the same circumstances.
The people of the light (Jews) however, althought just as incompetent, failed to use the time remaining (their lifetimes) to provide for themselves in heaven. In contrast to the world, instead of defrauding their master (God), they should be providing for themselves by doing righteousness by worshiping God, caring for the poor, setting a good example, and providing for the spiritual needs of the people (Jewish leadership who were listening). Whereas the shrewd manager was providing for his future needs in this world, the Jewish leadership was not providing for their future needs in heaven.
Thus, instead of having worldly goals, the Jewish leadership should have had heavenly goals instead, and been just as intent on acheiving those goals, as the shrewd manager was in fulfilling his worldly goals.
Someone stated in the chats that they were having a very difficult time understanding this parable, (I don't know if they want me to reveal their name or not). It is a difficult parable, and I thought I would give it a shot, and see what others thought about it.
What I think Jesus us doing in this parable is contrasting those people in the world, with the Jews (people of the light, v. 8). The people of this world are admired for their abilities to take care of themselves, and build wealth and future security for themselves, by whatever means it takes. In this instance, the manager knew that once the books were audited, that he was going to be out of a job. And so he used the time remaining to provide for his future. The rich man, though unhappy that he had been defrauded, nonetheless admired the man for doing what he himself might have done in the same circumstances.
The people of the light (Jews) however, althought just as incompetent, failed to use the time remaining (their lifetimes) to provide for themselves in heaven. In contrast to the world, instead of defrauding their master (God), they should be providing for themselves by doing righteousness by worshiping God, caring for the poor, setting a good example, and providing for the spiritual needs of the people (Jewish leadership who were listening). Whereas the shrewd manager was providing for his future needs in this world, the Jewish leadership was not providing for their future needs in heaven.
Thus, instead of having worldly goals, the Jewish leadership should have had heavenly goals instead, and been just as intent on acheiving those goals, as the shrewd manager was in fulfilling his worldly goals.
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