Blog Archives
The Letter or the Intent of the Law (Luke 16:12)
“And if in what belongs to another, you have not been faithful, who will give you something of your own?”
(Luke 16:12)
As we have been discussing, the Pharisees, for all of their zeal toward protecting the letter of the law, had missed the point of why the law was given and what the law meant. They, in fact, had added series upon series of lists and rules to the law with the intention of aiding their understanding of how to obey the law, but that had rapidly degenerated into a legalistic set of rules that was an unwieldy burden for most men and women.
With that in mind, we must not miss the parallel that Jesus is making between the things of this world and the things that belong to the next. This steward is called a steward of unrighteousness, using the language of unrighteousness almost metaphorically to refer to the wealth of this world. Yet, parables also contain a deeper meaning as they apply to the kingdom of God. Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees, ones who were entrusted not only to steward the word of God, but also the righteousness of God, as they were one of God’s representatives to the people. Not only did they fail to demonstrate God’s righteousness, keeping it honored amongst the people, they were often guilty of defaming God’s righteous name because of their hypocrisy. Thus, Jesus writes, if you are not faithful with keeping that which belongs to another, how can you expect anyone to give you anything of your own. Or, more specifically, if you have proven yourself unfaithful in protecting and stewarding the righteousness of God, how is it that you expect God to impute righteousness to you?
This language of imputed righteousness is essential in our understanding of Christ’s redemptive work. Men and women before God’s throne are judged on the basis of righteous actions; hence, we all deserve utter damnation. Yet, Jesus, having lived a perfect and sinless life and having borne the guilt of our sin upon the cross, imputes his righteousness to his people. This does not mean that we inherently become righteous and it does not mean that Jesus’ righteousness mixes with our righteousness, kind of blending it into something that might be acceptable to God. No! God cannot accept sin in his presence and even the most righteous amongst us has all of his righteous actions tainted by sin and sin’s motives. Both the Apostle Paul and the prophet Isaiah described their own righteousness in the most lowly and despicable ways (Isaiah 64:6, Philippians 3:8). No, it is imputed to us, credited to our account. When we stand in judgment, we stand not clothed in our own rags plus the garment of Christ, but we stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ as if a clean, white robe were placed over our filthy and wretched selves.
Now, please understand, this imputed righteousness is not something that you earned by your actions in any way. It is not a reward that is given to you as a result of your faithful honoring of God’s name, His Word, or His righteousness. In fact, you cannot even begin to honor God’s name, Word, or righteousness until you have been born again by the blood of Jesus Christ and have Christ’s righteousness imputed to you—your new clothing will shape the way you live and behave. But let us talk honestly with each other. Though we have received this gift, all too often we who have been re-clothed in Christ live as if we were only wearing our own filthy rags. All too often, we take the gift of grace all too casually and live like the pagans do. Beloved, let us turn away from the temptations of our own pride and treasure the unsurpassed gift of Christ, living like Christ’s sacrifice has made a difference to us in this world as well as the next—living in such a way that others see the change that Christ has wrought within us and come to see what Christ might do in their life.
All to Jesus, I surrender,
All to Him, I freely give.
I will ever love and trust him,
In His presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all.
All to Jesus, I surrender, I surrender all.
-Judson Van de Venter
What Can I do? (Luke 16:3)
“Now the steward said to himself, ‘What can I do since my lord is cutting off the responsibility to manage from me? To dig, I am not strong enough. To beg, I am ashamed.’”
(Luke 16:3)
The steward realizes that his dilemma is severe. Note that as of yet, the role of management has not been totally removed from his hands. The verb used here, ajfairew (afaireo), which speaks of the man’s removal from his position, is in the present tense, which implies that it is happening, but still in the process of going on at this point in the story. The fact that the steward can bring the debtors in and has the authority to collect the debts he collects echoes this fact. The verb itself is also in what is called the “middle” voice, which reflects one doing something for oneself. The statement, “I picked myself up,” would use a middle voice with the verb, for example. In this case, it implies that the rich man himself is in the process of divesting the steward of his responsibilities. Why is this significant? It is significant because it means that there are no criminal charges being leveled at the steward. Had the steward been truly guilty of squandering the man’s wealth, then the rich man would have been within his rights to have the steward arrested and thrown into prison. Yet, that is clearly not the case with this man. The rich man is personally removing the steward from his duties, which seems to imply that this incident has more to do with the rich man’s honor than with the skillfulness of the steward in fulfilling his task.
The steward continues his line of thinking, recognizing that he does not have the physical strength to dig and that he is ashamed to beg. The language of digging is normally used in the context of agricultural work, implying that what is being talked about would be hiring on as a common laborer, working in the fields tilling and planting. For this kind of labor, the man simply does not have the strength. He has been a steward for his career and has gotten accustomed to a comfortable lifestyle. In modern terms, we might say that his hands have grown soft and is not equipped to do manual labor for a living.
In addition, he says that he is ashamed to beg. The term that is used here is the word aijscu/nw (aischuno), which refers to being embarrassed or humiliated by something. The question that we must ask ourselves is whether this shame is a result of him being too prideful to ask for help or whether it is because he is too honorable to live at the expense of others in the community. Part of the answer is found in the word that we translate as “to beg.” This is the word ejpaite/w (epaiteo), which speaks of a lifestyle of begging, not seeking temporary assistance. It is used in only one other place in the New Testament, to speak of the blind beggar in Luke 18:35, but it is also found in the Septuagint, the Greek Translation of the Old Testament, in Psalm 109:10, which speaks of begging in terms of being a curse to those who are the enemies of God. We also must consider the statement he makes about digging. If he considered menial labor in the first place, it seems that we can safely say that this man is willing to work, and, if given the liberty to extend the argument to its logical end, would rather work than to beg, living off of the earnings of others.
I am reminded of what Paul teaches us in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 in regards to this principle. In that community, they were plagued by many Christians who would be content to live off of the charity of their brothers and sisters in faith. Now, we must not forget that there was active persecution against Christians in many places of the Roman world by this point, and often, when a person would come to faith, they would lose their jobs because they would no longer make offerings to the patron deity of the particular trade guild to which they belonged. Thus, there was a need for believers who had wealth to assist believers who were struggling. Yet Paul does not allow that to give one an excuse for laziness. The rule he set down then is that if you are unwilling to work, it demonstrates that you have a lazy spirit—something that is never seen in scripture as a godly character trait—and should not be allowed to eat. Paul is not saying that charity and assistance is not to be given—on the contrary, it should be given—but only to those who would genuinely seek to work. It seems to me that this particular steward’s heart is in the right place when it comes to this later teaching by Paul. The man recognizes that he will need to work to earn his own support, but is in an awkward position—his reputation has been besmirched, so he cannot be a steward, he is not strong enough to labor in the fields, and he will not beg because he is an honorable man.
There is one other question that one must ask. If this steward is genuinely guilty of squandering his master’s wealth, he certainly has not done so in such a way that would line his own pockets. Were he embezzling money from his master, he certainly would not need to worry about begging. Once again, it would seem that this man has done honorably what he was hired to do—even if , in others eyes, he has not done it well. We will revisit this again, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself just yet.
Beloved, sometimes our presuppositions about what a particular passage means cloud our vision, not allowing us to see the truth behind what Jesus is saying or teaching. Take time with this parable (and other passages as well), and take the time to think through the questions that you might have. God has given us the ability to reason and we ought to use it. What a wonderful gift that God has given us in his word—it is rich and deep, and teaches abundantly about His nature and his will. Treasure it and drink deeply of its riches.
No Longer My Steward… (Luke 16:2)
“And he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I have heard concerning you? Return your declaration of stewardship, for you are no longer able to be my steward.’”
(Luke 16:2)
This is one reason why we are not to take parables and make them into allegories. Here you have this wealthy man, he has a steward that has dealt honestly with him in the past, and now when malicious accusations begin to fly, he believes the accusations and calls for his steward’s resignation. God does not behave in this way, he cannot be snookered by false educations and he does not summarily dismiss those who he has called into his service. Yet, as a parable, the analogy is accurate because the only point of this action by the rich man is to set the stage for what is to come. The parable is thus not so much about this man’s poor stewardship, but what he does when accused of squandering his employer’s money. Does this not strike a note of similarity with the parable of the Prodigal Son? Is that parable not one about forgiveness? Is not that parable less about the son’s actual squandering and more about what the son does when he comes to see his sin? I think that we will continue to see these similarities as we continue on through this parable, but for now, let us be content to put out the puzzle pieces where they can be clearly examined.
Note very closely the statement of this rich man. He never actually accuses the steward of mismanaging his wealth. He simply brings up these accusations and says that as a result of the accusations, the steward must return to him his declaration of stewardship. There is some degree of uncertainty about this declaration of stewardship. It may reflect a statement of accounts that the steward would have kept, much like a corporate accountant keeps the company books, but it also may be the document that gave this man public authority to manage the rich man’s affairs. Either way, his position has been removed.
Why would the rich man remove the steward as a result of accusations—false or true—without an investigation. One might assume that the man investigated the accusations before summoning his manager, but how would the rich man make such an investigation without having access to the accounts? Indeed, we see as we continue down the parable, that the steward still held on to the books so that he might put them in order before he stepped down. Thus, it seems that the steward was called before his employer shortly after these accusations were waged. The rich man simply says, as a result of these accusations, that the steward is no longer able—du/namai (dunamai), no longer has the power—to be his steward.
Why might this steward be unable to continue managing the rich man’s money upon the accusation of wrongdoing? Could perhaps the rich man’s honor and reputation be such that his household could not be effectively managed by one who gave even a hint of impropriety? Remember, that a steward was responsible for more than just making wise investments for the master, but he carried with him the authority of the master and represented the master in all areas of community life. The word we translate as “steward” is the word oijkono/moß (oikonomos), and is the word we get “economy” from. It is combination of the word oi™koß (oikos), meaning “house” and no/moß (nomos), which means “law or ordering.” Thus, you have the idea of a oijkono/moß (oikonomos) as being one who orders the affairs of the house—something that would be especially focused on, though not always limited to, financial dealings. Thus, this man represented his master in all things—whether the accusations were right or wrong, if this man was discredited in the community, his master would have had his reputation harmed as well.
Though we will revisit this question a bit later in the parable, I find it interesting that the first thing that the Apostle Paul lists as being a requirement for someone who is to be an elder in the church is that they must be above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:6). The two words that he uses in their respective passages are ajnepi/lhmptoß (anepilamptos) and ajne/gklhtoß (anegklatos), and they both mean to be blameless, irreproachable, or without guilt. In other words, the way that preachers are to conduct themselves is in such a manner that even their enemies respect their integrity. I wonder how many preachers live up to that standard?
Amazingly, this is what the scriptures say of believers when we stand before God’s throne of judgment—that we will be found blameless in that day (Colossians 1:22)! Why is this? It won’t have anything to do with our own “righteous” works, but it has everything to do with Jesus Christ’s perfect righteousness. When we stand before God’s judgment seat, we will be judged according to Christ’s righteousness and not our own. Indeed, for the Christian, it is Jesus who is our oijkono/moß (oikonomos) of righteousness! Hallelujah for that and Amen!
The Preacher's Study 