Chewing on the shrewd manager

on

Reflection

Luke 16:9
Wealth of unrighteousness/Mammon
- Greek mamona, from Aram mammon; signifying riches, wealth, etc, personified as an object of worship. money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord.

Make friends for yourselves for eternity by means of the wealth of unrighteousness
- Use material resources as a way to further the work of God.

Luke 16:6
It is possible that the manager was releasing the debtors from unlawful interest he was charging them.

Luke 16:1-9 Amplified Bible (AMP)
The Unjust Steward (Manager)
16 Now Jesus was also saying to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager [of his estate], and accusations [against this man] were brought to him, that this man was squandering his[master’s] possessions.  2 So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management [of my affairs], for you can no longer be [my] manager.’ 3 The manager [of the estate] said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig [for a living], and I am ashamed to beg.  4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management, people [who are my master’s debtors] will welcome me into their homes.’  5 So he summoned his master’s debtors one by one, and he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’  6 He said, ‘A hundred [a]measures of [olive] oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write [b]fifty.’  7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred [c]measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his master commended the unjust manager [not for his misdeeds, but] because he had acted shrewdly [by preparing for his future unemployment]; for the sons of this age [the non-believers] are shrewder in relation to their own kind [that is, to the ways of the secular world] than are the sons of light [the believers].  9 And I tell you [learn from this], make friends for yourselves [for eternity] by means of the [d]wealth of unrighteousness [that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God], so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.
Footnotes:
Luke 16:6 Gr baths, a Hebrew unit of measure equaling about 7-8 gal.
Luke 16:6 It is possible that the manager was releasing the debtors from unlawful interest he was charging them (cf v 2)
Luke 16:7 Gr kors, one kor equals 10-12 bushels.
Luke 16:9 Gr mamona, from Aram mammon, signifying riches, wealth, etc., personified as an object of worship.

Cf Matthew 6:24 Amplified Bible (AMP)
Fasting, The True Treasure, Wealth (Mammon)
24 “No one can serve two masters; for 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 God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].

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