Sometimes we find Jesus’ words to be hard because we are not sure exactly what they mean. As we have been translating the Book of Luke into Kwakum we are constantly wrestling not just with translation, but even with understanding. Take the Parable of the Dishonest Manager (Luke 16:1-13). Here Jesus tells the story of a manager who “wasting the possessions” of the rich man he manages for. Knowing he will be fired, the manager summons his master’s debtors and significantly reduces their debt. He does this so that when he is fired from his job, he will be able to call on these debtors for help.
So, what do you take away from the Parable of the Dishonest Manager? The manager is commended by his master for his shrewdness. How should we be like the manager? Apparently, we should “make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth” (v9). Jesus follows the parable up with the important truth “you cannot serve both God and money” (v13), but we are not sure exactly how that is drawn from the parable. This is a “hard saying” primarily because it is hard to understand. [read more...]
