Luke 16:1-9 - "A Gracious Master"

Luke 16:1-9

"And he said also 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. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And 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. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations."

Though this portion of Scripture often bears the title the unjust steward, the LORD teaches us that it is not about us. Just as with the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, the emphasis is not on the one who is lost, but on the One Who seeks, receives, and shows mercy. In Luke 16, what stands before us is not first an unjust steward, but a gracious Master.

The steward is accused of wasting his lord’s goods, and when called to give an account, he knows the stewardship is being taken away. He says within himself, “What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship” (v.3). That question exposes the heart of every sinner when brought face to face with accountability. Apart from Grace, we do not know what to do. That is the condition of fallen man when stripped of self-confidence and self-righteousness.

The purpose of this parable is not to commend unjust activity. That would be wrong thinking. Rather, the lord commended the steward because “he had done wisely” (v.8). Wisdom here is not moral uprightness, but urgency born out of knowing the end is near. The steward acted when he realized his position was lost. That urgency is what the LORD presses upon us—not to trust ourselves, but to consider our own end before the Holy God.

The steward reduced the debts of others, acting with authority he had been given. He diminished what was owed, not because the debt was small, but because he knew the nature of his master. This points beyond the steward to the faithful Steward, the LORD Jesus Christ, Who did not reduce our debt proportionally, but paid it in full. Where this steward cut the debt, Christ canceled it entirely. Scripture declares, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24).

This is why the master could commend the steward. The master dealt with him in mercy and not in justice. And when we consider how the LORD has dealt with us, can we say it has been otherwise? “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). If He had, who could stand?

The exhortation to “make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness” (v.9) is not a call to compromise, but a call to graciousness. It is a reminder that those in the world are no different than we were—debtors without hope. The steward acted toward others as he would have them act toward him. This reflects the Spirit of Grace taught by our LORD: “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you” (Luke 6:27).

The steward’s wisdom lay in recognizing that nothing he possessed was truly his own. His stewardship could be taken away at any moment. That truth humbles us. Our health, our resources, our position, even our breath, are not ours. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). When the rug is pulled out from under us, it is mercy if it causes us to look to CHRIST ALONE!

The Gracious Master reminds us that all we have comes from His Hand. Like David confessed, “For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee” (1 Chronicles 29:14). Grace makes us willing. Grace makes us thankful. Grace teaches us wisdom—not the wisdom of self-preservation, but the Wisdom that flows from Christ Who has paid the entire debt.

In this parable, we see ourselves exposed as unjust stewards, but we see Christ revealed as The

Faithful One. And the comfort of the Gospel is this: our standing is not secured by our stewardship, but by His finished work. “It is finished” (John 19:30).