The Parable of the Unjust Steward or Parable of the Penitent Steward is a parable of Jesus which appears in. In it, a steward who is about to be fired curries favor with his master's debtors by remitting some of their debts.
Passage
Interpretation
The parable, on the face of it, appears to be commending dishonest behaviour. This issue is sometimes addressed by suggesting that the manager is forgoing a commission due to him personally, but some scholars disagree with this interpretation. However, although the master has "a certain grudging admiration" for the manager's "shrewdness," Jesus labels the manager "dishonest." To add to the interpretations, several different sayings about money were attached to the parable here. A verbal thread or leitwortstil links the parable proper to the following sayings about wealth. For example, the word “dishonest” in Luke 16:8a reoccurs in 16:9, in 16:10, and in 16:11. It is a matter of debate whether sayings about trust or serving two masters apply to this parable. The manager in the parable is probably a slave or freedman acting as his master's agent in business affairs. As his master's representative, the agreements he signs with the debtors are therefore binding. The parable shares the theme of other passages where "Jesus counsels the disposition of possessions on behalf of the poor with the understanding that, while mammon will vanish, eternal treasure will have thus been secured." When death comes, "the power we have to do good with our money ceases, so we should do good with it now" so that the friends we have made on earth will be waiting for us in heaven. This interpretation was also espoused by early church writers, such as Asterius of Amasia:
When, therefore, any one anticipating his end and his removal to the next world, lightens the burden of his sins by good deeds, either by canceling the obligations of debtors, or by supplying the poor with abundance, by giving what belongs to the Lord, he gains many friends, who will attest his goodness before the Judge, and secure him by their testimony a place of happiness.
English Reformer William Tyndale emphasises the consistency of this parable with the doctrine of justification by faith, writing a booklet on the parable called The Parable of the Wicked Mammon, based on an exposition by Martin Luther. Tyndale saw "good works" as the result of faith. Tyndale also pointed out that the steward was not praised by Jesus for his conduct, but merely provided as an example of wisdom and diligence, so that "we with righteousness should be as diligent to provide for our souls, as he with unrighteousness provided for his body." Anglican Charles Daubuz was among those who saw in the "eternal habitations" promised to the unjust steward a negative prediction of the grave, not a promise of heaven. The Anglican theologian J. C. Ryle, writing in 1859, rejected a number of allegorical interpretations of the parable, and gave an interpretation similar to that of Tyndale:
Let us contend earnestly for the glorious doctrines of salvation by grace, and justification by faith. But let us never allow ourselves to suppose that true religion sanctions any trifling with the second table of the law. Let us never forget for a moment, that true faith will always be known by its fruits. We may be very sure that where there is no honesty, there is no grace.
Jesus' parable of the unjust manager is one of the most striking in all the Gospels. Obviously, it would be pressing the parable beyond the point of comparison to interpret it as an endorsement of dishonest business practices. Jesus' point is simply to show us what money is really for. Typically we think of ourselves first when we answer that question. But Jesus invites us to realize that, first, our money isn't really ours -- we're simply managing it for its real owner, God. Second, even "filthy lucre" can be pressed into the service of God and our neighbor. When it is, the benefits will last beyond this life -- which the things we buy for ourselves won't. For example, money can be used to spread the Gospel, through which the Holy Spirit will gather believers into Christ's church. We will enjoy blessed fellowship with these believers forever, long after the money itself is gone.
Catholic interpretation
According to the commentators of the New American Bible Revised Edition, the parable is about an agent who, knowing he is about to be fired for usury, repents of his sin, asking the debtors to only pay what they owe his master -- rather than pay him as well. This is in line with what John the Baptist tells the tax collectors and soldiers about exploiting tax payers and debtors earlier in the gospel.
