Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Similar to several other parables, Jesus starts this one with the phrase 'there was a certain rich man,' which might suggest that it was a true story rather than a fictional one. In this story, the rich man employs a business manager to be responsible for handling his financial transactions, including receiving payments and paying bills.

However, someone reported to the rich man that his manager was squandering his money, which, based on the context of this parable, was likely a truthful accusation.

The rich man was deeply concerned by the accusation and confronted his manager, saying, How is it that I am hearing this about you? Provide me with a detailed account of your management of my finances, for you may no longer continue as my manager. He was unaware of the specifics of the manager's transactions and demanded a thorough report on how his money was being spent.

What am I going to do? I'm about to lose my job, and I'm not strong enough to handle hard physical labor. And on top of that, it would be far too embarrassing to beg for alms on the street like a common beggar. He had to come up with a plan.

I've got a plan. I'll take action to make sure that when I lose this job, other influential people will welcome me into their homes. I won’t remain unemployed.

Do you owe a hundred measures of oil? Write me a payment for fifty and we’ll call it even. How does that sound? Sounds great! Thanks.

Do you owe a hundred measures of wheat? Give me a payment for eighty and we’ll call it even.

Take note of the phrase 'children of this world,' which indicates that this is a worldly individual, not a child of light. It suggests that worldly people are more shrewd in dealing with worldly matters within their own native environment than the children of light.

The man's master commended him, praising his actions despite their unjust and crooked nature. These dubious dealings had earned him favor with those indebted to the rich man. When his employment came to an end, he would have friends ready to offer him work.

Mammon of Unrighteousness

A more accurate rendering of this verse would have to be: Am I advising you to use money dishonestly or unjustly so that when you lose your job, you will find another source of employment? Is that really what Jesus is implying? No, It should be abundantly clear that Jesus would not suggest for His followers to do that. Such behavior would be unrighteous and certainly not the behavior of those who follow Christ. The true message is revealed in the next verse.

Faithful in Little

Here's the point Jesus is making: How we handle the little we have is an accurate reflection of how we will handle greater abundance. The unjust manager acted dishonestly with small matters while serving the rich man, and when faced with a major crisis, he continued his unjust behavior on a larger scale to secure future employment. He was unjust in little and then unjust in much.

If you haven't been faithful with unrighteous mammon, meaning money, which is a minor thing, then who will trust you with the true riches, whether that be referring to significantly larger sums of money or intangible, priceless things?

Moreover, if you haven't been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will trust you with your own? Or better yet, how will you ever have your own? The key to gaining more responsibility over more stuff is by demonstrating faithfulness over the little we have.

It appears that the main takeaway from Jesus' message to His disciples in this parable is that you cannot serve both God and mammon, or wealth, and money, simultaneously.

Whatever we are faithful in doing with the small amount we have, we will do the same with a larger amount. Why is this important? Why is He telling us this? It's so that we will begin to be faithful with the little we have, thus enabling Him to entrust us with more. What a straightforward message!

We sometimes hear people say, if the Lord were to give me a million dollars, then I would definitely give something to help the poor like the Bible says to do. But, if we’re not giving some of the little we have to help the poor, then we will do exactly the same thing if we were to gain a large amount. He that is faithful to do the right thing with little shall be faithful, or do the same thing, with much.

Treasures in Heaven

It is interesting to note that this verse is identical to Mathew 6:24, it is exactly the same verse, word for word, and so the context of Matthew chapter 6 would seem to apply here as well.

In this chapter in Matthew Jesus tells us to lay up treasures in heaven instead of storing them on the earth. This speaks of the giving of alms to help the needy. The analogy is of saving up spiritual blessings for ourselves in heavenly places, blessings that will come back to us when we need them, rather than storing up monetary assets on the earth.

But to do that, to store up treasures in heaven, we must find a way to get past the urges within ourselves to keep everything for ourselves. We must overcome our own natural covetousness so we can obey the Lord and spend money on things that are important to Him.

This parable tells us that if we are faithful to use some of the little we have to bless others and help the hungry, help those in need; if we do it faithfully over time, then we will be given more, and we will do the same thing with the more that we did with the little.

Let us be shrewd in a godly way with the money we have been given. May we manage our money in a right or righteous way, even when we only have a small amount of it. And if we do that over time then a time will come when we have a larger amount of money that we will use in the same way as we did with the little, we will be faithful to use a portion of it to provide food for the hungry, to bless those who are in need, and we will grow steadily in the financial system of the kingdom of heaven.