Apr 14 Deuteronomy 21, Deuteronomy 22 Luke 16:1-18 Proverbs 9:13-18

Deut 21:22-23

“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.

To hang a man from a tree wasn’t just to kill him, but to have him become a curse.

Yet Jesus allowed Himself to suffer this curse. He took on a cursed death, hanging from a tree formed into a cross. He did this deliberately. he took on the curse of sin and death – He allowed the curse to be on Himself, so that it could be taken away from us.

Luke 16:8-9

The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

Ok…. what? Is Jesus commending dishonesty?

No, of course not. Not everyone is a parable has to represent a recommendation of lifestyle for the point to be made.

He’s talking to His disciples whilst at the same time criticising the pharisees. He was calling out their love of money which we can see in 14 and 15.

It’s a simple story – but unusual. In most parables, someone either represents God, Christ or another positive character. But in this one all the characters are real “bad ‘uns”.

Jesus sues the word dishonest to describe the manager. That’s a clear call out that we are not meant to be one either person’s side here.

The manager is showing that he is savvy of the system. He’s ripping it off because he knows how it works. The master commends him for that because he realises – with a shrewd manager he can make more money, albeit in a dodgy way.

It’s the way Jesus applies this that makes sense of it all. He says the sons of this world are more shrewd in their affairs than the sons of light are in theirs.

In other words, unbelievers know how their world works. They are shrewd in the way this world works, so much so they can find the loopholes. But the sons of light are so unaware of the things of the world to come.

If the unjust manager knows his world, as just managers we need to spend time knowing the world to come. The unjust steward made friends of those in his world – we need to make friends of those in the world to come.

The unjust steward used the masters recourses for his own ends. But we, as just managers need to understand that the master’s rescuers are all about Him. Everything we have belongs to Him, so we must use it wisely.

This is not an excuse to rip people off or to use unrighteous people to build up our wealth… and it should never be read as such. Invest wisely in the the kingdom to come, as much as the unrighteous invest in this world.