Parable of the Unjust Steward

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Let me first say that I do not consider myself an expert on scripture. I do read the dialy mass reading and try to do some research into commentaries and explanations by various experts as long as they are Catholic, which is how I originally discovered this forum. No offense to my protestant brothers and sisters intended. That said…I have always found this particular parabel vexing. The commentaries and explanations that I have found have always left me feeling unsatisfied in my level of understanding. However, today’s meditation I think helped to break thru, a bit.

I guess the part that gets me (because I’m human) is that the steward is basically a dishonets agent that practiced usury. I think that’s a pretty well settled understanding. It seems logical, from the telling, that either his fellow stewards or the debtors had compalined to the Master because he opens by saying just that. “What is this I hear about you?” The steward, quite cravenly IMHO, decides that he’s too lazy to dig and too proud to beg. Okay, lazy may not be right but that’s the feeling it illicits in me–be it right or wrong. So, his solution is to reduce the debts of the subjects in order to curry favor that he might leach off them after his stewardship has been taken away. It seems to me that’s how he got into the position in the first place!! So, I guess that’s my human and worldly side showing. This always botherted me and I just couldn’t get my head around that the end result is that his Master (which I take to represent God) has mercy on him because he acted prudently.

Prudence is one of the four Cardinal Virtues. As I understand it, prudence is essentially judging well and rightly I might add. If our judgement is proven wrong then we have failed to practice good jdgement and is thus imprudent. So, in the case of the unjust steward, he did indeed act prudently because he judged that by showing mercy on the subjects he was by proxy demonstrating the generosity of his master. In turn the master showed mercy on him. So, basically those who would seek mercy must give mercy.

The best part that I took away from the meditation is that by showing mercy and generosity we show God’s grace and mercy to the world. That’s beautiful man!!!

What say you?

Peace be with you
 
This parable has always confused me as well. I just read it again recently and it made a little bit more sense. It seemed like since the dishonest steward was able to make friends with the debtors, the master was OK with that. But he cheated his master. So I’m definitely eager for someone to explain what the steward did right.
 
Well, I tell ya, I have always felt the same. I go to the www.nfcmusa.org to get the daily mass readings. I read the meditation before I read the actual readings. I know probably backwards, but it works for me. 🤷 It really helped to better understand. I’ve read numerous explanations and commentaries about it and never felt satisfied.

I think you’ll find the meditations take on it helpful.
 
Based on some things I have read, here is how I interpret it. First things first. Here is the parable from Luke 16:1-15:"Then he also said to his disciples, "A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, 'What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.

The steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.

He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, 'How much do you owe my master? He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, 'Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ He said to him, 'Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.

And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. "For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him."
Before we start to understand this, we have to look at the Parable in context. Remember, the books of the Bible never had chapters until we put them in. Looking back, we see that Jesus is teaching the people, and not only His disciples but also the Pharisees and scribes: The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.So to them he addressed this parable. Luke 15:1-3.

Then Jesus teaches the parables of the lost sheep, the found coin and the the prodigal son (Luke 15:4-32).
So, our pattern is:Jesus is teaching disciples, Pharisees, scribes and sinners. Jesus teaches about God finding any of His lost, God rejoicing when a fallen son comes home to the faith, then he continues by teaching about the dishonest steward.

So now we have the steward who is called upon to give an accounting of his actions and knows that he will not be employed once the master audits the books. The steward reducing the amount owed from the debtors is best understood by knowing that the steward has full authority to make monetary arrangements for the master and that the steward probably drew no salary but was paid out of commission on the sale. So, rather than cheating the master out of what was owed him, the steward trades in his monetary profits (the amount subtracted is his commission) in order to build up non-monetary wealth and set him up for the future.

When the master commends him, it is not for being dishonest, it is for facing adversity and using his material wealth (which will not save him) to “buy” wealth which will last (the friendship of the debtors).

This is best understood if you keep in mind Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and scribes. He tells them that “the children of this world” **(Pharisees and scribes) ** are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light (those who follow Jesus).

Jesus then says “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” Who is the “you” Jesus is talking to? The scribes and Pharisees. He is telling them to that give back and to use their ill-gotten gains to help ease the burden of the poor so that when their wealth is gone (i.e. they die), the good that they have done, the charity they have shown, will be a repentance for their entrance into Heaven.

The parable is a call for those who have made their wealth at the expense of others or to the determent of God (the master) to repent and use that wealth for the debtors (the poor) so that when the master executes judgment, the bad they have done will be seen in light of the subsequent good they have done. See the last line at Luke 16:15 about the Pharisees who loved money and how they responded to the parable.

The rest of the parable seems self-explanatory
 
Big_Ro said:
Let me first say that I do not consider myself an expert on scripture. I do read the dialy mass reading and try to do some research into commentaries and explanations by various experts as long as they are Catholic, which is how I originally discovered this forum. No offense to my protestant brothers and sisters intended. That said…I have always found this particular parabel vexing. The commentaries and explanations that I have found have always left me feeling unsatisfied in my level of understanding. However, today’s meditation I think helped to break thru, a bit.
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Personally I think you did a very wise thing. To learn the Scripture it is always good to hear others comment on the interested pasage. Commentaries do not have the last word on Scripture though and which you rightly think so. Not even Catholic commentaries though it is always better to go for them rather than Protestant’s simply because if it should involve doctrine.

It is good to go for more than one commentaries so that one can compare. In any case after going through them for the understanding it is now for you to reflect on the verses. For personal Bible study and prayer the method taught by the late Pope JP II as in **Lectio Divina **is one effective way to do it.
Big_Ro said:
I guess the part that gets me (because I’m human) is that the steward is basically a dishonets agent that practiced usury. I think that’s a pretty well settled understanding. It seems logical, from the telling, that either his fellow stewards or the debtors had compalined to the Master because he opens by saying just that. “What is this I hear about you?” The steward, quite cravenly IMHO, decides that he’s too lazy to dig and too proud to beg. Okay, lazy may not be right but that’s the feeling it illicits in me–be it right or wrong. So, his solution is to reduce the debts of the subjects in order to curry favor that he might leach off them after his stewardship has been taken away. It seems to me that’s how he got into the position in the first place!! So, I guess that’s my human and worldly side showing. This always botherted me and I just couldn’t get my head around that the end result is that his Master (which I take to represent God) has mercy on him because he acted prudently.

Prudence is one of the four Cardinal Virtues. As I understand it, prudence is essentially judging well and rightly I might add. If our judgement is proven wrong then we have failed to practice good jdgement and is thus imprudent. So, in the case of the unjust steward, he did indeed act prudently because he judged that by showing mercy on the subjects he was by proxy demonstrating the generosity of his master. In turn the master showed mercy on him. So, basically those who would seek mercy must give mercy.

The best part that I took away from the meditation is that by showing mercy and generosity we show God’s grace and mercy to the world. That’s beautiful man!!!

What say you?

Peace be with you
Click to expand...
Well generally I have to agree with you. 🙂

However you can look at the parable other way too from a differnt perspective to help you in your spiritual walk. Jesus was talking about the steward, a totally different profession unrelated to God’s way. People in the world do things differently than how Christians would do them. Jesus used this parable to demonstrate that even in their own world, there are people who employ shrewdness of thought and wisdom in investment. They plan, invest and prepare for their future in ways that they understand and appropriate for them. They would use any resources and power at their disposal. This was what the steward did to prepare for his own future and to save himself for his own interest. Of course you might not agree with what he did, but then again you are Christian, a follower of Christ and he was not.

So by the parable Jesus was also implying that as Christians we should be shrewd and wise in our investment of our future - the eternal life. We have to make use of all the resources and the power that are available from the Lord today for our future. Like the steward in the parable who was able to take care for himself when the crunch came and so are we; except that we do it differently than him, of course.

God bless.
 
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