Luke 16:1-13
When we listen to the parables of Jesus it can be easy to forget the urgency in his preaching. A new age is dawning and Jesus himself is the embodiment of the Kingdom he preaches. This Kingdom offers both promise and challenge.
These past weeks we have listened to Luke outlining his theology of the kingdom and the cost of discipleship. This week Jesus addresses his own disciples. The mood shifts and what unfolds is a parable that seems to raise more questions than it answers. When a steward is accused of being wasteful with his master’s property, he hatches a plan to save his own skin and preserve his master’s honour too. He calls his master’s debtors together and reduces the amount of oil and grain that are owed. The debtors are relieved, the steward keeps his job and even the master is pleased with the way things were handled. The master praises his dishonest steward for his astuteness.
Some scholars suggest that this difficult parable is best understood in the light of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. There is one clear linguistic parallel and some structural parallels too. The prodigal son ‘squanders’ his inheritance, the steward is accused of being ‘wasteful’ with his master’s property. It is the same word in Greek. Both talk to themselves and work out a plan. The prodigal son plans to return home and hopes to be treated as one of his father’s hired men. The steward hopes his plan will ensure that there will be people to welcome him into their homes. For the prodigal son his modest hope is met with an outpouring of compassion and a lavish homecoming. For the steward it’s his own ‘forgiving’ of debts which earns him his master’s praise.
Both parables challenge me to draw closer to a God whose ways I can’t fully understand. Both parables contain a promise of mercy in what might seem to be the most complicated of circumstances. If I can remain open to both the challenge and the promise, then the parables have done their work. I am living in the light of the kingdom.
Where is Christ calling you to live in the light of the Kingdom?