"Then drew near unto Jesus all the publicans and sinners to hear Him, and the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners, and eats with them." (Luke 15:1-2)
This is the starting point of Jesus parable. It is important to note that the teaching He gives in Luke chapter 15 continues to the beginning of chapter 17. I believe Jesus' parable should be a must read for all believers seeking Jesus, in order that these come to know half-heartedness in our faith, and how being neither hot nor cold grieves our Lord and Saviour.
Jesus' audience here includes the disciples, publicans and sinners, as well as Pharisees and scribes. Essentially, the parable in Luke 16 points to a
dishonest steward who — in managing an estate — was accused of wasting and
squandering the lord’s goods. By definition, steward means “one who manages
another’s property, finances or other affairs,” or “one who is in charge of household affairs.”
Jesus said unto 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. And he 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.” (Luke 16:1-2)
In today’s terms, this situation
would be akin to a manager calling into question an employee’s conduct, before
firing this same employee. The steward here is now concerned because he is
going to be — if we use the analogy above — out of a job. Clearly, the steward
has a problem. To redeem himself, the steward counsels within himself, saying, “What shall I do? For my lord taketh away from me the stewardship. I cannot dig
[and] to beg I am ashamed.” (Luke 1:3)
In other words, the steward stands condemned if he cannot find a way to manage his responsibilities again. So the steward begins to seek options
using his worldly wisdom. But the steward must act quickly because if he
doesn’t, his plight will be found out within the community, and most
particularly among the lord’s friends. So the steward cleverly devises a plan
that will keep him gainfully employed. The steward states, “I am resolved what to do,
that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their
houses.” (Luke 16:4)
Thinking quickly, the steward
hurriedly turns the rich man’s debtors into his friends. In his haste to remain
employed, he calls every one of his lord’s debtors unto him,
asking, “How much owest thou unto my lord?” The first said, “An hundred measures
of oil.” And the steward said, “Take thy bill and sit down quickly and write
fifty.” Then the steward said to another,
“And how much owest thou?” And he said, “An hundred measures of wheat.” And the
steward said unto him, “Take thy bill and write fourscore.” (Luke 16:5-7)
What the steward is doing here is
changing the terms of the relationship between the debtor and the lord. On the surface, the steward who in his job was previously responsible for collecting all outstanding debts is now turning the rich man's debtors into his friends by forgiving some of the debt.
Jesus cites two examples in the parable. In one, the account holder's debt was forgiven by
half. But the steward's negotiating did not just stop at two debtors. In fact, according to the scriptures, the steward called “every single one”
of the lord’s debtors. Not one person was missed in the steward’s determination
to negotiate a new debt with one and all. As a consequence, the total cost — if
we were only looking at monetary terms — would be significant. But obviously, we are not only looking at monetary matters here.
When the lord discovered what the
steward was doing, he commended the unjust steward for using worldly ways to
justify his continued existence. It is here that the real message of the
parable begins to unfold. No longer is the parable focused solely on the
steward wasting the lord’s estate — for which the steward was essentially fired.
“The lord commended the unjust
steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in
their generation wiser than the children of light.” (Luke 16:8-9)
Herein, the lord is commenting on how the
unjust steward found a way — albeit using evil cunning and deviousness —
to increase his reputation among the fold. From the unjust steward’s
perspective, he was able to retain some form of credence within the community as a
whole by arranging a better deal for the debtors. Can you hear them saying,
“Well, he can’t be all bad.”
From the debtor’s perspective, they would be most grateful for a portion of their debts being forgiven.
Normally, for a debt to be forgiven (if you use the agricultural example that
would have been prominent in Biblical times) there would have to be extenuating
circumstances in the farming sector that precipitated making a special request. But note here that forgiveness of the debt
came about without any solicitation by the debtors to the lord. The debts were
seemingly freely given — without a list of conditions — from the debtor’s point
of view. (More on this point
later)
But the key to remember here is that salvation was already bought and paid for -- IN FULL -- ONCE AND FOR ALL -- when Jesus shed His precious holy blood on the cross. He paid the full price of our salvation. He offered the perfect sacrifice, extending His gift of redemption and eternal life to every person that so desires His blessings.
However, it is also critical to
notice that in acknowledging the steward’s deal to the debtors, the lord was
not commending the steward’s dishonesty or behaviour. What the unjust steward
did to further his own self-preservation was still wrong on every level.
However, the unjust steward knew enough about the lord to recognize that the l/Lord would
not go back and collect the difference in the debts owing from the debtors – regardless
of the amount. Why? Because the steward knew the Lord was gracious. The steward
also knew that the Lord had already forgiven the debt in full. He had come to fulfill the law, thereby bringing the law to fruition. It
was this acknowledgement — the ability of even the steward to recognize
the ultimate generosity of the Lord that the Lord commended.
So what does all this mean? First,
the key to understanding this parable is recognizing the true identity of the
characters. The rich man is our Lord God and Saviour, satan is the
steward/manager and the accuser of the brethren, and the debtors represent all of humanity — you and I.
Second, as we know from Genesis,
satan gained authority and rule over the earth when Adam and Eve fell in
the garden. There and then, satan became the prince of this world working
through mankind — evil in every aspect. His objective was to seek and devour
everyone that he could, always luring people to do his bidding. In essence,
satan was always seeking ways to repress God’s people -- and if he couldn't accomplish this objective satisfactorily, at least he could get them to settle into the established traditions of men.
Sadly, in this situation, he turned those whom Jesus had set totally free -- to stand fast in His liberty according to Galatians 5:1 into debtors. Debtors again to the Law and the old covenant that was so prevalent in the old testament. The same Law that our Lord God fully satisfied and brought to an end when He died on the cross.
As Jesus said, "It is finished."
But what satan did not count on was this.
The generosity of our Lord extended from His abundant love for His creation. So
when our Lord God — who created man and woman in the beginning — willingly
became our Saviour, satan lost his stronghold. Indeed, when Jesus’ precious
holy blood was shed on the cross for you and I, the prince of this world stood
condemned. (John 16:11)
Fired. Why? Because when Jesus blood was
shed, the Law was satisfied once and for all. When Jesus died and rose again,
we were forgiven of our sins when we chose to believe in Him by
faith ... and seek His righteousness. This meant that satan could no longer misuse
the Law in order to repress God’s chosen people.
Neither could the prince of this
world accuse those who seek Jesus and all His righteousness because in salvation -- which God gave us as a gift -- we are
totally forgiven by His grace and mercy. 100% forgiven of our past, present and future sins -- covered by the precious blood of Jesus -- so although our sins were crimson, they are now white as snow.
“For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves — it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
As a consequence, satan — like the
unjust steward in the parable — recognized that in order to retain his worldly
status, he would have to act quickly. Call in IOU’s — even if one has to make them up, and thus, lure us through
deceitful negotiation into making a deal. A different deal for every person. A
varying discount depending on the spiritual situation. Nevertheless, the
ultimate objective being to make one and all debtors.
This is why he said, “I am resolved what to do, that, when
I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.” (Luke
16:4)
The intent then was for satan to
ensure that we remain as debtors — with at least one foot in the world. Half-hearted in our love for Jesus. Giving
only a little bit of our life to being free in Jesus — with one foot in the Law, citing the ten
commandments as critical in our daily living, while only half-heartedly
acknowledging God's grace and mercy that set us free -- standing in His liberty. Sprinkling the gospel in our life while immersing ourselves in the labour of this world.
Going to church just enough
to show the Lord that we are willing to participate — at least to
some extent but never really experiencing His awesome freedom and grace. Conforming to the traditions of men, rather than worshiping our Lord.
As a consequence, we end up serving
two masters rather than wholeheartedly seeking the absolute — the one and only
— Jesus the Christ — the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
The same Jesus who said that we “are
bought with a price” and therefore the reason why we should “glorify God in our body, and in our
spirit, which are God’s.” (I Corinthians 6:20)
Contemplate on this part of the
revelation because this is only the beginning. Indeed, there’s much more to come in the posts ahead. In the
interim, put "yourself" in His offering plate.
