“The Case for Christ: - Luke 16:1-9 - Introduction”

Jesus linked His healing ministry to His preaching of the Kingdom of God. It was through all that He did and taught that He revealed the nature of this kingdom.

All His words and works made visible and audible the fulfillment of the prophetic promises, the coming of the great era of salvation.

These were things that many prophets and many righteous people were anxious to see and hear but it was never fully opened to their view.

The disciples, however, were given the privilege to see and hear what those people were denied.

And they were given the privilege of stewardship in God’s kingdom.

What were some of the realities Jesus opened to them?

We start briefly with what He showed John the Baptist about the dawning of His Kingdom. 

The imprisoned John the Baptist asked questions about the works and whereabouts of Jesus.     

He heard how Jesus was going around doing good. That puzzled John.

When he was preaching, it was ‘the Kingdom of God is at hand’, ‘repent’, ‘change your ways - or else’ kind of preaching.  

But he got the news that Jesus was not expressing judgment on the people. He was doing exactly the opposite.

So - he appealed to his friends to ask Jesus the question: ‘Are you really the coming One, or should we be looking for someone else?’ (Lu 7:19)

About the time his friends were inquiring for John, Jesus was curing ‘many of their [the people’s] infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind, He gave sight.’ (Lu 7:21)

Thus, Jesus answered John’s friends by telling them to inform John exactly what they saw and heard: ‘’...how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the Gospel is preached.’ (v 22)

And, v 23, ‘Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.’

Or, ‘Blessed is the man who does not find Me a stumbling block or take offense at My claims!’

These were the very things that the prophet, Isaiah, said would happen - these works would publicly identify the Messiah and the coming of His Kingdom.

And a blessing would be pronounced on the one who accepted the credentials and claims of Jesus. 

They are the ones who ‘press’ into His kingdom with a right view, a right evaluation, of Him. 

John was familiar with those signs given by the prophet.

What was Jesus doing that set John’s mind at ease?  

Jesus was applying the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1-2 to Himself: ‘The Spirit of God is upon Me,’ He said, ‘because the Lord has anointed Me to bring the Good News to the poor [or, afflicted]; He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are fettered, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.’
(Lu 4:18-19)

He was following the agenda written down for Him a long time ago.

The Kingdom of God was dawning in Jesus’ words and works!

He was bringing the Good News longed for by so many!

His ministry of teaching and doing was transforming the word of God into reality!

But how did Jesus show some of the realities of His kingdom to His disciples who surrounded Him at the time?

He used parables to illustrate it. One of the most profound of these truths given to His disciples is found in Luke 16.

In its application, it shows what Jesus expected of ‘every man pressing’ into the kingdom. (v 16)  

He looked upon them as those who, when the time of divine judgment came, would be able to give a good account of their stewardship. 

Remember that the Pharisees claimed to be teachers of the moral law, and interpreters of spiritual life to the people.

But they were mastered by a desire for material gain.

They were ‘covetous’, as v 14 says. 

In other words, they were not discharging their obligation to spiritual matters appropriately. 

So - they certainly would not be able to give a worthwhile account of the stewardship of their lives.   

Jesus knew about this natural tendency of man to be caught up with material things.

He knew all about the snares of those allurements.

He knew how easy it is to be unfaithful in a commitment  of stewardship to Him - to worm and squirm out of it. He knew - and still knows - every excuse in the book, and then some!

The purpose of a steward’s life is to be a loyal, responsible, committed steward for his employer so that, when the time to settle the accounts comes, the ‘books will tally’.

In the case of His disciples, they must always have his affections on things above, not on things of the earth.

They cannot afford to be slothful, unsteady, and unfaithful in divinely-given responsibilities and the investment of ‘true riches’. 

So Jesus used this story to teach His disciples the facts of the stewardship, what the service, and what the handling of that which is given to them should be like in His kingdom.

With that as His aim, then, Jesus told them about the unjust steward.

Tonight, let us just catch the sense of the parable and, Lord willing, we will unearth some of its gems as we go on the next week or two.

Turn to Luke, chapter 16, to follow along, if you like.

We start with verse 1: ‘He [Jesus] continued to speak, now to His disciples: There was a certain rich man which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.’

Here is a steward who was employed as a business manager by a very wealthy man. But his employer was made aware of how he was mismanaging the business.

This accountant was squandering, or wasting, the financial assets of his estate.

Whatever the man was doing - whether it was fraud, embezzlement, dishonest bookkeeping, whatever it was - it was grounds to be fired.

Thus - verse 2 goes on: ‘So he [the wealthy man] called him, and said unto him, ‘How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship: for thou mayest be no longer steward.’

The boss called him in to confront him. He asked the man to give an account of his work before he dismissed him. 

The manager knew he had failed in his job. So he asked himself the question: ‘Now - what am I going to do?’ 

Apparently, he was given some time to get his books in order before leaving the job.

He figured he wasn’t strong enough to be a laborer in the fields. And he was too ashamed to beg. (v 3)

In v 4, he came up with a brilliant idea: ‘I have decided what I am going to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’

He went to each one of his master’s debtors, took each one’s bill and reduced it, some as much as fifty percent of what was owed. 

What a deal! (Too bad it was such a shady one!)

He wasted no time in the transactions: he wanted it done quickly! 

Notice it in verse 6: ‘’Here is your agreement’, he said, ‘sit down quickly and write...’.

Of course, the renters could not have been happier! 

With this arrangement, he had made friends for life, friends who would reciprocate his kindness some day when he needed them.  

When the books were in order, he reported back to his boss.

The boss was pleased! He thought the man was pretty sharp - very clever! And, in v 8, commended him for doing wisely!

Now, notice, when Jesus went on with this teaching, He did not compliment the unjust steward at all.

He only used the example of the man’s ‘doing wisely’ to illustrate the necessity of forethought in the service of His kingdom.

Obviously, the man’s moral character was contemptible. He was a cheat, he was slothful in his business dealings, and he was unjustly cunning.

Actually, Jesus used him as a good example of the children of that generation, referring to the Pharisees of the day, who were wiser than the children of light. (v 8)

What made them wiser?

Their only interest centered in the ease and comfort of the one existence they knew. They looked ahead and provided for its future.

In their business dealings, they shrewdly went after the ‘mammon of unrighteousness’ with the whole heart and soul. 

The children of light acted differently.

They saw the kingdom dawning in the works Jesus did. They had a right view of Him and accepted His claims and credentials.

They were hearing the call for a radical commitment to the power of God.

But they lacked in one area of wisdom. And what was that?

The ‘children of this generation’ excelled the ‘children of light’ in making provisions for future needs by pursuing their intentions with energy, perseverance, zeal and a ‘single eye’ to their goal. 

In other words, the steward’s service in the Kingdom of God must make future spiritual investments with the same vigor, force, and ‘single eye’ the world does in making its investments for future times.

How is this to be done?

Jesus went on to say, ‘...Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.’ (v 9)

Let me make a quick comment here about ‘unrighteous mammon’ before we go on.

‘Mammon’ is specifically thought of as referring to money or ‘earthly goods or gain’.

However, in the remaining context, it is contrasted to the ‘spiritual riches in Christ’ which we will see another time.

The ‘forethought’, or ‘planning ahead’, as an investment for a ‘spiritual future’, is what Jesus is here recommending to His disciples.

Whatever His disciples have been given are for ‘doing good’ and making friends with them.

This will be very important when, in the future, the time to give an account of stewardship comes.

For what reason?

It is so that the ‘friends’ made through the use of what has been given to the stewards of the kingdom ‘will receive you into everlasting habitations.’ 

When the time comes, those friends will be the ‘welcoming committee’ at the end of earth’s journey. 

And how will they receive these stewards into everlasting habitations?

They will be welcomed as having been their benefactors, their supporters and helpers through life. 

They will be the witnesses of what was done on earth to and for them by those employed as stewards in Christ’s kingdom.

Now - turn to Mt 25:34-40 for confirmation of that.

There is the Lord’s grand description of the Last Judgment in which Christ Himself as Judge speaks.

And He is speaking as though He is one of those who ‘welcomes into everlasting habitations.’

And Christ spells out exactly what those friends say.

He says, ‘I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat;

I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed Me.

When I had no clothes, you clothed Me. I was sick and you came to help.

I was in prison and you visited Me.’

The stewards of the Kingdom are lauded by the Judge Himself as the benefactors commend them.

As the steward used the forethought to prepare for his future, so the Lord’s stewards use the foresight to prepare for their heavenly future through the wise use of earthly goods.

And they are commended by Christ Himself.

This is the basic truth of His kingdom that Jesus explained it.  

He went on to explain it further in the verses following which, Lord willing, we will take next week.

But I will close for tonight.  

I hope you have the opportunity to prayerfully reread this parable this week; in fact, read all of Luke 16, if you can. 

In the meantime, may the Holy Spirit continue to minister and widen each of us to receive more of Him - to make us good stewards in the administration of all the spiritual riches we have in Christ Jesus.

Amen. Let us pray.