home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
CD ROM Paradise Collection 4
/
CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso
/
edu
/
para21.zip
/
27.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1994-11-15
|
8KB
|
147 lines
PART VII: THE PARABLES ON WEALTH
CHAPTER 27
THE DISHONEST MANAGER
Introduction
The Parable of the Dishonest Manager is found only in
Luke 16:1-9. We will also include Luke 16:10-14 for teaching
purposes.
The Story
Jesus told his disciples: "There was
a rich man whose manager was accused of
wasting his possessions. So he called
him in and asked him, `What is this I
hear about you? Give an account of your
management, because you cannot be manager
any longer.'
"The manager said to himself, `What
shall I do now? My master is taking away
my job. I'm not strong enough to dig,
and I'm ashamed to beg--I know what I'll
do so that, when I lose may job here,
people will welcome me into their
houses.'
"So he called in each one of his
master's debtors. He asked the first,
`How much do you owe my master?'
"`Eight hundred gallons of olive
oil,' he replied.
"The manager told him, `Take your
bill, sit down quickly, and make it four
hundred.'
Then he asked the second, `And how
much do you owe?'
"`A thousand bushels of wheat,' he
replied.
"He told him, `Take your bill and
make it eight hundred.'
"The master commended the dishonest
manager because he had acted shrewdly.
For the people of this world are more
shrewd in dealing with their own kind
than are the people of the light. I tell
you, use worldly wealth to gain friends
for yourselves, so that when it is gone,
you will be welcomed into eternal
dwellings.
"Whoever can be trusted with very
little can also be trusted with much, and
whoever is dishonest with very little
will also be dishonest with much. So if
you have not been trustworthy in handling
worldly wealth, who will trust you with
true riches? And if you have not been
trustworthy with someone else's property,
who will give you property of your own?
"No servant can serve two masters.
Either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to the one
and despise the other, You cannot serve
both God and Money."
The Pharisees, who loved money,
heard all this and were sneering at
Jesus. He said to them, "You are the
ones who justify yourselves in the eyes
of men, but God knows your hearts. What
is highly valued among men is detestable
in God's sight." (Luke 16:1-14, New
International Version).
The dishonest manager was discovered by his employer and
was terminated. However, he purchased some "insurance" with
his employer's wealth before he left. He simply reduced some
debts of his employer's debtors in order to buy some favors
in his unknown future. Hebrew letters were used as numerals,
and since Hebrew letters differ slightly from each other, a
small change with a pen would represent a great difference.
(Carr, CAMBRIDGE GREEK TESTAMENT FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES,
LUKE, by F. W. Farrar, p. 312).
The Interpretation
Jesus told this parable to his disciples in the plain
hearing of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were covetous of
money and had "sold their souls" for money. Jesus wanted his
disciples to avoid this trap. The sin of covetousness is
actually idolatry:
Put to death, therefore, whatever
belongs to your earthly nature: sexual
immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires
and greed [covetousness], which is
idolatry. (Colossians 3:5, New
International Version).
An idol is someone or something that takes the place of God.
Idolatry is at once the violation of the first and tenth
commandments:
[1] "You shall have no other gods before
me."
[10] "You shall not covet...." (Exodus
20:3, 17, New International Version).
In the final analysis, those who love money more than
God, love themselves more than God--they have become their
own gods. Jesus said that we cannot serve both God and
money.
In verse nine, Jesus exposed the Pharisee's faulty
logic: (1) Use worldly wealth to buy friends. Then (2) when
it runs out [at death] (Earle, WESLEYAN BIBLE COMMENTARY,
Luke, pp. 297 ff.), your dead sinner friends will "welcome"
you to live with them forever.
Conversely, Jesus teaches his disciples to be
good stewards of worldly wealth and spiritual riches. They
will be truly welcomed into heaven by those whom they have
led to Christ.
Notice that wealth is not intrinsically evil. Money is
amoral--it does not have a moral nature. People make either
moral or immoral decisions. The LOVE of money is the root of
all kinds of evil.
Central Truth
WE MUST LOVE GOD MORE THAN MONEY.
Conclusion
When we received Christ as our Lord and Savior, we chose
to love God more that anyone or anything. Each day we must
reaffirm that eternal decision by decisions we make.
Today, let us consciously and deliberately choose to
love God more than money.
END