Who Will Welcome You?

Sunday September 20, 2026 · Del Martin

#2: Luke 16:1-13

Luke 16:1-13

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. ²And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ ³And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ ⁵So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ ⁷Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ ⁸The 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. ⁹And 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.

¹⁰“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? ¹³No servant 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 money.” (ESV)

The Parable
1. The audience – directed toward the disciples (12+) 16:1, but Pharisees also heard (v.14)
2. The three parties
  1. the rich master
  2. The unrighteous manager, squandered his master’s possessions – like the prodigal
  3. The debtors who owe money
3. The manager
  1. He is charged with mismanagement of the master’s possessions/wealth
  2. He will be dismissed
  3. He realizes his future is in jeopardy and finds a way to remedy his situation (internal dialogue) (many parables have inner dialogue as part of the parable, consider other parables)
  4. He goes to the debtors and reduces their debt
  5. He is praised for his shrewdness, not for his action.
  6. He is considering his future, for this he is praised.
4. The difficulty of this parable
  1. How commentators try to justify the parable.
  2. Justifying the actions of the manager
  3. All conjecture
  4. Ask what is the point.
The conclusion to the parable – vv. 8-9
1. The people of the world are wiser in their dealing with money than the children of light.
2. The Punchline – v. 9
- “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.” (Lk. 16:9)
1. “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth.”
  1. What does it mean to “make friends”?
  2. Welcomed into the eternal dwellings?
The additional word (adding to verses 8-9), vv. 10-13
1. Faithfulness in general
  1. Those who are faithful in small things will be faithful in large things
  2. Those who are dishonest in small things will be dishonest in greater things.
2. Faithfulness in regards to worldly/unrighteous wealth (money).
  1. If we are not faithful with worldly wealth, we will not be faithful with the true wealth.
  2. What is worldly wealth and what is true wealth?
3. Faithful with what belongs to others
  1. Those who are not faithful in other’s possessions will not be faithful in what is their own.
  2. This begs the question as to “what do we have that belongs to another (God)”?
  3. Faithfulness indicates character.
4. This is not about eternal salvation.
Application
1. This parable is talking about money and how we handle it.
2. Our allegiance cannot be divided – we can’t serve two masters, money and God
3. Are we using our money/wealth for kingdom purposes?
4. We should be just as wise or even more so than the people of the world in handling money.
5. There is a future reckoning.
  1. How we handle money today has an eternal evaluation/result.
  2. We should be “selfish” regarding our eternal future.
6. Use money wisely, shrewdly, and prudently, with much consideration.
7. Ask the question: “Is the money mine or is it the Lord’s?”
  1. If it is the Lord’s, am I a faithful steward of that money?
  2. Remember it will fail (be gone).
  3. How we use money will be remembered.
8. Three lessons from this parable - Blomberg:
  1. All of God’s people will be called to give a reckoning of the nature of their service to him
  2. Preparation for that reckoning should involve a prudent use of all our resources, especially in the area of finances.
  3. Such prudence, demonstrating a life of true discipleship, will be rewarded with eternal life and joy.” Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables p. 245-6

Luke 16:1-13

Shrewd: wise, prudent, clever, smart, astute

The Parable
1. The audience – directed toward the disciples (12+) 16:1, but Pharisees also heard (v.14)
2. The three parties
  1. the rich master
  2. The unrighteous manager, squandered his master’s possessions – like the prodigal
    - Also called dishonest manager, unrighteous manager, dishonest steward, shrewd steward, dishonest rascel
  3. The debtors who owe money
3. The manager
  1. He is charged with mismanagement of the master’s possessions/wealth
  2. He will be dismissed
  3. He realizes his future is in jeopardy and finds a way to remedy his situation (internal dialogue) (many parables have inner dialogue as part of the parable, consider other parables)
  4. He goes to the debtors and reduces their debt
    1. How he does this and the basis of doing it, raises many questions
    2. Who is going to lose money or not get more interest? We don’t know.
    3. However, how is not indicated
    4. Much speculation on this but it is not pertinent to the point of the parable
  5. He is praised for his shrewdness, not for his action.
    - “Why does the master (and why would Jesus) praise the servant for what appears to be a dishonest act? “The master praised the steward for his quick thinking, his shrewdness or wisdom, to insure his own future. No more is intended than that.” Klyne R, Snodgrass, Stories with Intent, p. 414
    - “It is safest to take Jesus’ words simply at face value – that the master of the dishonest manager praised him not for his dishonesty, not for a clever ploy that in fact demonstrated some morality on the part of the steward, but simply, as we read, because he had acted shrewdly. We are not to imitate his unjust behavior, but rather his wise, clever, resourceful, intelligent action, while remaining innocent of all evil.” Blomberg, Preaching the Parables, p. 84
    - “When the estate-manager made his master’s debtors his own debtors, the master recognized the ‘cool’ move (v. 8a). Not that it was moral but it was canny, not that it was right but resourceful.” Dale Ralph Davis, Luke 14-24, p. 41
  6. He is considering his future, for this he is praised.
4. The difficulty of this parable
  1. How commentators try to justify the parable.
  2. Justifying the actions of the manager
  3. All conjecture
  4. Ask what is the point.
The conclusion to the parable – vv. 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” (Luke 16:8 ESV)
- “The master told the dishonest manager that he had done a smart thing. Yes, worldly people are smarter in their business with each other than spiritual people are.” (Luke 16:8 ERV)
1. The people of the world are wiser in their dealing with money than the children of light.
  - “We shouldn’t be worried about the master’s (or Jesus’) commendation (v. 8), for he clearly is not praising his integrity by his ingenuity. (Dale Ralph Davis, Luke 14-24, p. 40
  - “The praise of the children of this age, however, is an accusation against the children of light. The steward, as a child of this age, knew how to handle the system, to his best advantage, but the children of light do not know how to live wisely within their “system.” That is, they do not know how to live in keeping with the kingdom already present.” Snodgrass p. 414
  - “Here the phrase “sons of light” is a reference to the righteous. The point is that those of the world often think ahead about consequences better than the righteous do.” NET note
  - “Jesus uses this story to show that the ‘people of light’ could also accomplish much by wisely giving up some of their ‘worldly wealth’.” Frank E. Gaebelein, The Expositors Bible Commentary, p. 987
2. The Punchline
- “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.” (Lk. 16:9)
- “The point of the parable is to urge Jesus’ hearers ‘to think strenuously and act boldly’ (Dodd) to meet their own momentous crisis much as the unscrupulous steward had done to meet his” [Dennis J. Ireland, Stewardship & the Kingdom of God, p. 16]
1. “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth.”
  1. What does it mean to “make friends”?
    - “To gain friends for oneself does not mean to use money to buy friendship but, at the spiritual level of the story, to use one’s material resources for kingdom priorities – to win and disciple believers. Then, indeed, we will be welcomed by those who have preceded us into heaven when we arrive at our eternal dwelling place. Thus verse 9 does not contradict the principle of salvation by faith but reminds us that true faith works, especially in the area of giving. [see James 2:14-17 and 1 John 3:17-18].” Blomberg, Preaching the Parables, p. 87
    - “Use some of the slick steward’s ingenuity to figure out how you can use earthly resources to benefit God’s people, so that at the last they will be overjoyed and thrilled to welcome you to eternity.” Davis, P. 41
    - “If the well-attested ‘treasure in heaven’ concept (Lk. 12:33) informs the rationale for ‘making friends’ with worldly mammon in Lk. 16:9, Luke has still worked a significant modification… The ‘capital deposit[ed]’ in heaven is no longer pictured as a mound of money; it has morphed into a company of hospitable friends …Rather than blandly converting all charity into [heavenly] coinage –as though giving alms [charity] were really no more than making a transaction with a heavenly banker --…This re-conception humanizes… almsgiving from its financial component to the genuine personal exchange…Luke’s notion of ‘making friends’ supplies a reciprocal agency to the beneficiaries of one’s charity. Rather than standing… [at] ‘a full-service ATM [or, making an e-transfer] …a direct conduit for transferring funds from an earthly to a heavenly account,’ a [personal] relationship is now contracted [facilitating] exchange between partners & the gap dividing rich & poor is bridged through an [End-time coinage].” [Anthony Giambrone, Sacramental Charity, p. 263]
  2. Welcomed into the eternal dwellings?
    - “Jesus seems to envision folks who ‘pre-arrive’ you there, who are delighted when you come because of how you had helped them.” Davis, p. 42
  3. Other translations of v. 9
    - And Jesus went on to say, “And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home. Good News Bible
    - “I tell you, make friends for yourselves using worldly riches. Then, when those things are gone, you will be welcomed in that home that continues forever. International Children’s Bible
The additional word (adding to verses 8-9), vv. 10-13
1. Faithfulness in general
  1. Those who are faithful in small things will be faithful in large things
  2. Those who are dishonest in small things will be dishonest in greater things.
2. Faithfulness in regards to worldly/unrighteous wealth (money).
  1. If we are not faithful with worldly wealth, we will not be faithful with the true wealth.
  2. What is worldly wealth and what is true wealth?
    - “In verse 11 “unrighteous mammon” is contrasted with “the true,” that is, true wealth, which obviously points to eternal possessions not belonging to this world, but in v. 13 mammon is set up as a potential idol, hence its corrupting tendency. “Make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of unrighteousness” then can only mean “make friends by your use of money, which is so easily put to wrong us.”” Snodgrass p. 415
3. Faithful with what belongs to others
  1. Those who are not faithful in other’s possessions will not be faithful in what is their own.
  2. This begs the question as to “what do we have that belongs to another (God)”?
  3. Faithfulness indicates character.
    - “In verses 10-12 Jesus makes a second application from the parable: financial resources provide an index to character. Jesus set down the basic principle in verse 10: ‘The one who is faithful in little is also faithful in much, and the one who is unrighteous in little is also unrighteous in much.’ That is, in this context, how you handle the small stuff (money) is a clue to whether you can be trusted with greater responsibility.” Davis, p. 43
4. This is not about eternal salvation.
  - “Jesus is not saying to the uncommitted that they should use money to earn their salvation, but he is telling those who already are his followers that they must demonstrate the fruits befitting repentance even (or perhaps especially) in the area of worldly wealth.” Craig L. Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables, p. 244.
Application
1. This parable is talking about money and how we handle it.
2. Our allegiance cannot be divided – we can’t serve two masters, money and God
  - “If it is true that we cannot serve both God and mammon (v. 13), in the sense of making an ultimate commitment to both at the same time, then what more telling test of true discipleship than in the use of our finances.” Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables pp. 246-7
3. Are we using our money/wealth for kingdom purposes?
4. We should be just as wise or even more so than the people of the world in handling money.
  - “Disciples should imitate the servant’s shrewdness, which triggered the master’s praise, without simultaneously imitating his injustice. The function of the parable’s ...point will then be to lament how often Christians do the opposite... contemporary Christians do not always look on shrewdness as a positive trait and reflect on how they should practice it.” Blomberg, Preaching the Parables, p. 91
5. There is a future reckoning.
  1. How we handle money today has an eternal evaluation/result.
  2. We should be “selfish” regarding our eternal future.
    - “Nothing happens without self-interest. The question is whether the self-interest is short-sighted and self-centered or true self-interest from an eternal perspective. Jesus calls for radical self-renunciation, but only because in denying self one truly finds self (Matt. 16:25-26/Mark 8:35-37/Luke 9:24-25). Snodgrass p. 417
6. Use money wisely, shrewdly, and prudently, with much consideration.
  - “The parable gives no easy answers about what to do with money; it compels reflection concerning what wise, kingdom-conditioned use of possessions means.... But churches and individuals rarely actually discuss or hold the community accountable for responsible, kingdom-driven decisions regarding possessions. Such discussions would lead to the reduction of hoarding and consumerism, change how we view and attain security, enable various ministries, and relieve the plight of the poor. Economic decisions are not easy, but the church should not only lead the way but demonstrate by its use of money the reality of its gospel.” Snodgrass p. 418
  - “The concern... behind the parable is how Jesus’ disciples (v.1) should use ‘unrighteous mammon’ (v. 9) or what we might call secular wealth. And the main thrust of the parable is to teach that financial resources require creative thought (focus on vv. 8-9). Davis, p. 40-41
7. Ask the question: “Is the money mine or is it the Lord’s?”
  1. If it is the Lord’s, am I a faithful steward of that money?
  2. Remember it will fail (be gone).
    - “’Worldly wealth’ should not be stored up for oneself, since one day it will be ‘gone’.” Frank E. Gaebelein, The Expositors Bible Commentary, p. 989
  3. How we use money will be remembered.
    - “The parable is about the wise use of possessions in view of the eschatological crisis. ...Wisdom calls for using wealth astutely in view of the presence of the kingdom and of coming judgment. In other words, money is to be used wisely, given kingdom economics, rather than for self-centered purposes.... However we express it, showing mercy with money is an obvious application of the parable, and this idea is buttressed both by the placement of the parable near that of the Rich Man and Lazarus and by the similarity of v. 9 to 12:33 (“Sell your possessions and give to the poor; make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, inexhaustible treasure in heaven...”).” Snodgrass p. 416-417
8. Three lessons from this parable - Blomberg:
  1. All of God’s people will be called to give a reckoning of the nature of their service to him
  2. Preparation for that reckoning should involve a prudent use of all our resources, especially in the area of finances.
  3. Such prudence, demonstrating a life of true discipleship, will be rewarded with eternal life and joy.” Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables p. 245-6

Bible Reading:

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon Summary:

This parable may be one of the most troubling and difficult parables to appreciate. Readers are often puzzled by the actions of the unrighteous manager and, especially, by the fact that he is commended. However, it is not his dishonesty that is praised, but rather the wisdom and shrewdness behind his actions. The manager recognized that his present position was coming to an end, and he acted decisively to prepare for his future.

The central lesson of the parable is that we are to use our wealth and possessions wisely to benefit others. When we use what God has entrusted to us for the good of others and for the advancement of His kingdom, we are investing in eternity. The way we use our money reveals what we value and has eternal significance.

This parable, together with the one that follows, speaks directly about money and how we handle it. It serves both as a warning and an encouragement: a warning not to allow wealth to control us, and an encouragement to use the resources God has entrusted to us wisely, generously, and for the benefit of others and the kingdom of God.

Group Discussion

Why is this parable so troublesome?
Understanding parables can be difficult. Not all the characters or parts have a one-to-one relationship with spiritual principles or people. What parts of this parable are the backdrop and what part is the crucial part?
What are we to take away from this parable?
Can you think of other parables that might be troublesome?
Why do many Christians (children of light) not think carefully or shrewdly when it come to handling their finances?
How does this parable challenge you?
Why is money called unrighteous wealth or worldly wealth?
What does it mean that we cannot serve God and money?

Pray:

Pray that not be controlled by wealth but use it for the sake of others and for God’s kingdom?
For the needs of your group members.

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Who Will Welcome You?

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