Luke 16:1-13

At first the dishonest manager seems to offer an example of what not to do. But then it seems like he’s the hero. What’s going on?

For Jesus, the inverse of scarcity isn’t abundance—it’s accumulation.

The inability to make sense of the parable of the unjust manager allows us to experience confusion similar to those first students of Jesus.

Jesus has a zeal against the human willingness to turn wealth into an idol.

Jesus is talking to two different audiences.

The Gospels show Jesus as prophet, teacher, and miracle worker. But most intriguingly, they depict him as a storyteller--one who could not only draw a crowd but keep it riveted.

What is Jesus thinking when he tells the parable of the dishonest steward?

By the third century, the gesture of giving became miniaturized.

The Prodigal Son is often read to mean that God loves sinners, whereas the Jews thought God only loved the righteous. This makes no sense.

“Life isn’t fair,” my four-year-old granddaughter once told me. She offered this judgment as a thoughtful observation, not a whining complaint.

I remember taking genuine pleasure in her remark—not just a delight in her early capacity for philosophical reflection, but also a sense that this particular wisdom could be of blessing in the life ahead of her.

The steward's only failing may be that he's replaceable, and the lesson he learns is that money talks.

In these days of Enron, Martha Stewart and wars waged over phantom weapons, we know better than to defend dishonesty. Then why would Jesus offer a parable lauding it? Upon closer inspection, however, this parable is just one in a long line of stories that Jesus tells about how to handle wealth.