Luke 16:1-15
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 16
Riches and Poverty[a]
The Parable of the Crafty Steward.[b] 1 Jesus also said to his disciples: “There was a rich man who had a steward, and he was informed that this steward was squandering his property. 2 Therefore, he summoned him and said, ‘What are these reports that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’
3 “Then the steward said to himself, ‘What am I going to do, now that my master is dismissing me from being steward? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am too ashamed to beg. 4 What I must do is to make sure that people will welcome me into their homes once I am removed from being steward.’
5 “Then he summoned his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 When he was told, ‘One hundred jars of olive oil,’ he said to the man, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and change the number to fifty.’ 7 Then he asked another, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ When he was told, ‘One hundred measures of wheat,’ he said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ 8 The master commended the crafty steward because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.[c]
Application of the Parable.[d] 9 “And I tell you: use your worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that, when it has been exhausted, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted in small matters can also be trusted in great ones, but whoever is dishonest in small matters will also be dishonest in great ones. 11 Therefore, if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not shown yourself to be trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you anything of your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters. For you will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Teachings concerning Justice and the Judaic Law
14 A Saying against the Pharisees.[e] The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and they ridiculed him. 15 He said to them, “You people pretend to be upright when you wish to impress others, but God knows what is in your hearts. That which is highly esteemed in the eyes of men is detestable in the sight of God.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Luke 16:1 From the very origins of the Gospel tradition, the parable of the crafty steward has created difficulty. People could evolve abusive applications from it: e.g., does it promote fraud? In order to avoid any false interpretation, different sentences of Jesus concerning money have been joined to the parable.
- Luke 16:1 It is a fact that people bring a great deal of initiative and intelligence to their affairs even when these are worthy of criticism or unjust. Alas, believers put forth little effort for the kingdom! This is the lesson to be retained from the parable. It is a call for lucidity and creative intelligence. Jesus is suggesting the skill of a swindler, not fraud or theft.
- Luke 16:8 Children of light: a Hebrew expression signifying those enlightened by a superterrestrial faith as opposed to the children of this world, who are focused solely on their earthly interests.
- Luke 16:9 Money dominates all of life and society. The attitude toward money is a test of the fidelity of Christians. Those who seek imperishable goods are detached from perishable ones. They know how to give alms (v. 9), and they earn and manage their goods with honesty (vv. 10-11). Yet money means little in reality; the true good is the gift of God (v. 12). Hence, the quest for gain and fortune must not be first in the life of Christians, for then money would become a false god for them (v. 13).
- Luke 16:14 More than once Jesus denounces the pretense of those who pass themselves off as religious people (see Lk 11:39-40; 18:9; 20:47).
