Many scholars understand the Parable of the Unjust Steward to be one that is very difficult to interpret. After all, it is often claimed that Jesus seems to commend the unjust steward for his dishonesty (Luke 16:8-9). Such a thing doesn’t seem to fit the context of Jesus’ character. Nevertheless, if one takes the whole of what Jesus claims, before and after this parable, its true senses seems to unfold. Rather, Jesus pointed to what the unjust steward was able to accomplish by influencing the folks in his generation. In other words, he made his wasted (G1287) life benefit him (Luke 16:1, 4) for goals he had set in this world (cf. Luke 16:8).
What Jesus wanted his disciples to understand was that they needed to influence folks through their own wasted (G1287) lives in such a manner that benefited them in the Kingdom of God. By the time we come to Luke 16:1, we find that Jesus’ attention has turned to his disciples, but the Pharisees were listening, as well (Luke 16:14). He spoke a parable to the Apostles that concerned the relationship of a rich man and his steward (Luke 16:1). Apparently, the rich man is supposed to represent God, while the steward is supposed to depict a man whom his Lord had set in authority over the rich man’s affairs. Since the rich man is supposed to be God, the steward must represent one or more of the Jewish authorities, who at least appear to conduct their affairs in his service.
In the parable the steward was accused of wasting his goods (Luke 16:1), but what were the goods that the steward wasted (G1287), because the text doesn’t say? I believe the steward wasted what he had been given, just as the prodigal son wasted his inheritance that his father gave him (Luke 15:12-13). In the context of Jesus describing the relationship between God and the Jewish authorities centuries before Jesus was born, Eli’s sons corrupted their office as priests (1Samuel 2:12-17) and their inheritance (1Samuel 2:27-29). Additionally, their doing so caused the people to abhor or despise their obligation to the Lord (1Samuel 2:17). Therefore, since Eli cared more for his unrighteous sons than for the Lord (1Samuel 2:29), the Lord rejected Eli as high priest. He told him that he (i.e. Eli and his descendants) would be put out of his stewardship as priest and would be replaced (someday) by a faithful priest (1Samuel 2:27-36). In the context of the New Testament this faithful priest is Jesus.
So, whether the goods that were wasted in the context of Luke 16:1 and Luke 15:13 was the office the Lord had given his steward or the inheritance he received (1Samuel 2:27-29; cf. Luke 15:5-7), the Lord rejected him and said he would be put out of the office of steward / priest. The problem was, the steward (Eli, the high priest) had abused what the Lord had given him. He misrepresented the Lord in executing his office as steward (priest), because he didn’t hold his sons responsible for their public sinfulness (cf. 1Samuel 2:12-16, 29). Therefore, he caused the people to look upon their obligation to God (the rich man in the parable) as a detestable matter (1Samuel 2:17). In other words, the people probably assumed what they gave the steward (Eli and his sons) in lieu of their obligation to the rich man (God, viz. Luke 16:5-7), might have been better used, if it hadn’t been offered to the Lord in the first place.
Therefore, the rich man (God) said the steward was being put out of his office (Luke 16:2; cf. 1Samuel 2:35-36). Notice that the steward responded by devising a plan, whereby, even though he was put out of his office as steward, he would still be able to enjoy the benefits of his office (Luke 16:3-4). That is, the debtors of the rich man would continue to support him. Unlike Eli’s sons, however, who extorted more from the people than what God required (cf. 1Samuel 2:12-17), the steward’s plan was to forgive some of the debt that the rich man’s debtors owed him (Luke 16:4-9). What a New Testament thing to do! Or was it? I’ll speak more of this in my next blogpost that concerns the sins of the unjust steward.
Smoodock's Blog 