NOTES for Luk 16:1-18

Another funny tale about a resourceful scoundrel, followed, as always, by a strange and frightening conclusion: the “children of this age” know their business better than the “children of light.” At all times, people who strive for wealth, fame, and power know how to attain their goal—by fair means or foul, through deception, force, cunning, or ingenuity—while those who strive for “the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” sink into laziness, weakness, and indifference. It turns out that money and power are stronger incentives if, for their sake, a person is prepared to give up anything and devise any scheme at all, so long as he reaches his goal. So much for “spirituality.” Spirituality, however, is given a place too: it serves as one form of leisure, since one cannot spend all one's time working for “unrighteous wealth.” Of course, like every parable, this tale is told not so much to condemn as to make a person, after enjoying the resourceful rogue's cleverness, reflect on what he wants in life and how he seeks to obtain it.