161 And he said also unto his disciples, 'A certain man was rich, who had a steward, and he was accused to him as scattering his goods; 2 and having called him, he said to him, What 'is' this I hear about thee? render the account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest not any longer be steward. 3 'And the steward said in himself, What shall I do, because my lord doth take away the stewardship from me? to dig I am not able, to beg I am ashamed:— 4 I have known what I shall do, that, when I may be removed from the stewardship, they may receive me to their houses. 5 'And having called near each one of his lord's debtors, he said to the first, How much dost thou owe to my lord? 6 and he said, A hundred baths of oil; and he said to him, Take thy bill, and having sat down write fifty. 7 'Afterward to another he said, And thou, how much dost thou owe? and he said, A hundred cors of wheat; and he saith to him, Take thy bill, and write eighty. 8 'And the lord commended the unrighteous steward that he did prudently, because the sons of this age are more prudent than the sons of the light, in respect to their generation. 9 and I say to you, Make to yourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye may fail, they may receive you to the age-during tabernacles. 10 'He who is faithful in the least, 'is' also faithful in much; and he who in the least 'is' unrighteous, is also unrighteous in much; 11 if, then, in the unrighteous mammon ye became not faithful—the true who will entrust to you? 12 and if in the other's ye became not faithful—your own, who shall give to you? 13 'No domestic is able to serve two lords, for either the one he will hate, and the other he will love; or one he will hold to, and of the other he will be heedless; ye are not able to serve God and mammon.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 16:1-13
Commentary on Luke 16:1-12
(Read Luke 16:1-12)
Whatever we have, the property of it is God's; we have only the use of it, according to the direction of our great Lord, and for his honour. This steward wasted his lord's goods. And we are all liable to the same charge; we have not made due improvement of what God has trusted us with. The steward cannot deny it; he must make up his accounts, and be gone. This may teach us that death will come, and deprive us of the opportunities we now have. The steward will make friends of his lord's debtors or tenants, by striking off a considerable part of their debt to his lord. The lord referred to in this parable commended not the fraud, but the policy of the steward. In that respect alone is it so noticed. Worldly men, in the choice of their object, are foolish; but in their activity, and perseverance, they are often wiser than believers. The unjust steward is not set before us as an example in cheating his master, or to justify any dishonesty, but to point out the careful ways of worldly men. It would be well if the children of light would learn wisdom from the men of the world, and would as earnestly pursue their better object. The true riches signify spiritual blessings; and if a man spends upon himself, or hoards up what God has trusted to him, as to outward things, what evidence can he have, that he is an heir of God through Christ? The riches of this world are deceitful and uncertain. Let us be convinced that those are truly rich, and very rich, who are rich in faith, and rich toward God, rich in Christ, in the promises; let us then lay up our treasure in heaven, and expect our portion from thence.
Commentary on Luke 16:13-18
(Read Luke 16:13-18)
To this parable our Lord added a solemn warning. Ye cannot serve God and the world, so divided are the two interests. When our Lord spoke thus, the covetous Pharisees treated his instructions with contempt. But he warned them, that what they contended for as the law, was a wresting of its meaning: this our Lord showed in a case respecting divorce. There are many covetous sticklers for the forms of godliness, who are the bitterest enemies to its power, and try to set others against the truth.