The disciples learn about riches

Of the right use of Riches. The unjust Steward.

(The Gospel History, Section 111)

And he said also unto the disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he was wasting his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, What is this that I hear of thee? render the account of thy stewardship; for thou canst be no longer steward. And the steward 
said within himself, What shall I do, seeing that my lord taketh away the stewardship from me? I have not strength to dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. And calling to him each one of his lord’s debtors, he said to the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bond, and sit down quickly and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, A hundred measures of wheat. He saith unto him, Take thy bond, and write fourscore. And his lord commended the unrighteous steward because he had done wisely: for the sons of this world are for their own generation wiser than the sons of the light. And I say unto you. Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles. He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your
 own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold 
to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Commentary by J. R. Dummelow

Lk 16:1–13. Parable of the Unjust Steward (peculiar to Lk). The details of this somewhat difficult parable are probably not significant. It is intended to illustrate the proper use of wealth. Christians should use it so well here on earth, by expending it not selfishly on their own pleasures, but unselfishly for the good of others, and for the advancement of God’s kingdom, that instead of hindering them from reaching heaven, it will help them to enter there. The prudence (foresight) of the steward is commended in this parable, not his dishonesty.

Lk 16:5–7. Tenants in the East pay their rent in kind, not in money. The landlord provides them with seed, and they return him at harvest-time a certain proportion of the yield.

Lk 16:6. An hundred measures] lit. ‘baths,’ the ‘bath’ being a Heb. liquid measure = 9 gallons.

Lk 16:7. Measures] lit. cors, the cor being a Heb. dry measure = 11 bushels.

Lk 16:8. And his lord] i.e. his master. Many readers wrongly imagine that Jesus is the speaker here. Because he had done wisely] i.e. ‘prudently.’ The master praised not the morality of the transaction, but its far-sighted prudence, and it is just this that Jesus holds up for imitation. For the children (sons) of this world (i.e. worldly people) are in their generation (i.e. in dealing with other worldly people) wiser (i.e. more prudent and far-seeing) than the children of light (i.e. than the spiritually enlightened are in making provision for their heavenly welfare).

Lk 16:9. Make to yourselves] i.e. make to yourselves friends in heaven by means of a prudent use of your wealth (viz. by hospitality, alms-deeds; etc.), that when ye fail, i.e. die (or, according to the RV, when ‘it,’ i.e. your wealth, ‘fail’), the angels may receive you into the eternal habitations. Of] RV ‘by means of.’ Friends] i.e. either ‘the poor,’ who by their prayers obtain your admission to heaven, or, more probably, ‘the angels,’ who become the friends of those who give alms, and at the last carry their souls to heaven. The mammon of unrighteousness] A common rabbinical expression. It occurs in the pre-Christian book of Enoch. It does not here mean wealth unrighteously acquired, but simply ‘deceitful wealth.’ So we speak of ‘filthy lucre,’ not meaning unjust gain, but gain in general: see Mt 6:24. So rightly Calvin: ‘By giving this name to riches, he intends to render them an object of our suspicion, because for the most part they involve their possessors in unrighteousness.’

Lk 16:10, 11. V. 11 explains v. 10. If you are unfaithful in such an unimportant matter as money (i.e. if you do not spend your incomes to the glory of God), God will not entrust you with those spiritual gifts, graces, and virtues which are much more important. 12. If you do not spend your money rightly, you will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Money is here called that which is another’s, because Christians are to regard it not as their own, but as a trust for which they must one day give account. That which is your own is the joy of heaven, ‘the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’

Lk 16:13. > Mt 6:24. Two masters] It is a common idea that virtue shades off into vice by imperceptible gradations, and that the majority of men are neither bad nor good. Our Lord pronounces absolutely that in the last resort there are only two classes of men, those who are serving God, and those who are serving the world. Mammon ] Not a proper name as readers of Milton would naturally suppose, but an Aramaic word for ‘riches’. Here it stands for ‘worldliness,’ which finds its chief expression in the love of money.

The disciples learn about riches

(The Saviour of the World, Vol VII Book I Poem I)

To His disciples spake the Lord
Surely, an unexpected word!
Poor men were they and had withal
The needs of one day to forestal;
And now their Lord whose burning words
Constrain men as with unseen cords,
Instructs their riches to employ
In ways should bring them to annoy.

They heard the lot of that rich man
Whose vast estates in ordered plan
Were by the steward ministered
To whom his cares the lord transferred:
“Now, what to us things high and great?
The Master sure forgets our state!”
But as the tale proceeds, they find
Words that disclose their inmost mind.

What if each served a Master, great,
Of mighty wealth and vast estate
What if each were a steward set
Some ample rents of His to get
Secure into His treasury?
This steward was a rascal; he
Then profit at his master’s cost
Who knew the sum for men had lost.

A clever rascal was the knave
Who used his wits, dear life to save:
Knowing his lord to judgment come,
Knowing he’d forfeited his home
And all the good to him accrued
What did he? Went and humbly sued
His lord for pardon? Not a whit
His trust was in his native wit!

All knew the tale; ’twas common talk;
How the shrewd villain knew to balk
His master’s natural wish that he
Should for his crime taste penury.
Full many sharers in his blame
He called together to their shame.
“Thou ow’st the master this and this?
To call it half were not amiss!”

And thus secured full many a friend
Prepared to house him in the end;
Else would he make their secret known;
Sure he should reap as he had sown!
The master was aware and said
“A clever knave but sore misled!
Had he his ingenuity
Spent in my service, happy he!”

·····

The health of time, the wealth of friends,
God’s property used for their ends,
Reproached the man; What should they do?
Perceiving that Christ all things knew?
‘It is too hard,’ and ‘What’s the good?’
They murmured in their wayward mood;
‘Best throw it up and make the most
Of th’ world we’ve served at heavy cost!’

St. Luke xvi. 1-13

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