Parable · Luke 16:1-13

The Shrewd Manager

A manager about to be fired slashes his master’s debtors’ bills to make friends.

Also called The Dishonest Steward, The Unjust Steward

The point

The hardest parable to preach. The dishonest man is commended, and not for his honesty.

1Jesus also said to His disciples, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.

2So he called him in to ask, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in an account of your management, for you cannot be manager any longer.’

3The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my position? I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg.

4I know what I will do, so that after my removal from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

5And he called in each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first.

6‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he answered. ‘Take your bill,’ said the manager. ‘Sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

7Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ ‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he replied. ‘Take your bill and write eighty,’ he told him.

8The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.

9I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.

10Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

11So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

12And if you have not been faithful with the belongings of another, who will give you belongings of your own?

13No 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.”

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Read the whole chapter

Using this at church

Read in church on

Lectionary 25 Year CGospel, Luke 16:1-13

For a newsletter or sermon notes

The parable of the Shrewd Manager, explained in plain words. A manager about to be fired cuts debts to make friends. https://freescripture.org/parables/shrewd-manager/

Lines for the next eight Sundays, on Digital Lutheran Church