By Peter Amsterdam
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The parable of the unjust steward is the second of three parables in the Gospel of Luke which address the management of finances and possessions. The other parables were the rich fool (Luke 12:16–21), and the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31). The parable of the unjust steward is considered one of the most difficult parables to understand, and it’s intriguing to see how many different interpretations of it there have been through the centuries.
In this parable, found in Luke 16:1–13, Jesus told the story of a steward or business manager for a wealthy landowner, who is fired by his rich boss when his dishonesty is discovered. The steward then acts in his own best interests by further defrauding his boss. When the boss finds out about this, he commends the steward.
This parable could appear to be teaching that Jesus is condoning, even praising, the sinful behavior of the steward—which is certainly a bit awkward. In fact, in the fourth century, the emperor known as Julian the Apostate, who was the last non-Christian Roman emperor, used this parable to claim that Jesus taught His followers to be liars and thieves.1
Over the centuries there has been a variety of interpretations of the meaning of this parable, and it has been said to be speaking about a range of things, including the giving of alms to the poor, the proper use of money, or as a warning to Israel.2 I will highlight the interpretation that seems to me to be an accurate explanation of the message behind this parable, largely based on Kenneth Bailey’s view in his book Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes.
Let’s begin with the first verse of the parable, which introduces the two main characters and sets the stage for what is to come:
There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man [the manager] was wasting his possessions (Luke 16:1).
As the story unfolds, it becomes evident that the rich man was someone who owned a substantial amount of land, which he rented out to others to use for agricultural purposes, and who had a manager who was responsible to take care of his business. Someone had come to the rich landowner and told him that his manager was wasting the owner’s assets. The word used for wasting here is the same Greek word used in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–22), when speaking about the younger son wasting his wealth on personal pleasures. The manager had been accused of squandering the owner’s wealth.
And 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” (Luke 16:2).
The rich man lets the manager know that others have told him of his mismanagement—presumably, that he has been taking advantage of his position and lining his own pockets at the owner’s expense.
Managers in first-century Palestine and elsewhere in the ancient world had full authority to conduct business in the name of property owners. Any contracts entered into by the manager in the name of the owner were legally binding, and therefore, before appointing someone as the manager of their business, household, and financial affairs, the owner would have to completely trust the person. Apparently the rich man had placed this level of trust in his manager, only to have that trust betrayed.
When confronted by the owner, the manager says nothing. He doesn’t defend himself. He doesn’t ask who his accusers were. He doesn’t deny it, and his silence is taken as an admission of his guilt. The owner fires him on the spot and instructs him to turn over the financial accounting books. From that point on, the man no longer has legal authority to do business in the owner’s stead.
In the next two verses we hear the inner thoughts of the manager as he assesses his future employability while going to gather up the finance books.
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” (Luke 16:3).
His assessment of the future is bleak. His dismissal means that very soon everyone in the village is going to know he was fired from his former position. He’s not strong enough to work in the fields as an agricultural worker or day laborer and he’s too ashamed to beg. His prospects don’t appear to be good. We now hear his next inner thought.
“I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses” (Luke 16:4).
He has a plan that will cause others to “receive him into their houses,” an idiom that means getting employment from another landowner. His plan will result in the possibility of getting another job, despite people knowing he was dishonest and was fired from his position. He then begins to put his plan into action.
So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He said, “A hundred measures of oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.” Then 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” (Luke 16:5–7).
The fact that the manager summons the master’s debtors individually informs the listener that at this point the only people who know the manager has been fired are the owner and the manager himself. Apparently the landowner’s servants don’t yet know, as if they knew he was no longer the manager, they wouldn’t have followed his orders.
The debtors don’t know either, as if they did, they probably wouldn’t have come to a private meeting with him. These debtors were not poor men; they were renting large tracts of the rich man’s land. One rented an olive orchard and another a wheat field. In those days people would rent and work farmland, orchards, and vineyards, and would pay the owner an agreed-upon amount of the crop. One of these men had agreed to give the owner a hundred measures of olive oil from the harvest, another a hundred measures of wheat.
A measure of oil, from the Hebrew word bath, is approximately 39 liters, so one of the debtors had pledged to pay about 3,900 liters of olive oil, which would be the produce of about 150 olive trees and have a value of about 1,000 denarii. One denarius was the equivalent of one day’s wage for an unskilled laborer. Another debtor had pledged to pay the master 27 tons of wheat from the harvest, which would mean a yield from a field of 100 acres. The value of the wheat owed was about 2,500 denarii.
The unjust steward lowered the amount of oil owed by 50 percent, or 500 denarii, and the wheat owed by 20 percent (also 500 denarii.) He instructed each of them to rewrite their bill so that it reflected 500 denarii less than was originally owed, a significant amount of money. After having cheated the owner for his own financial advantage, he then cheated him again to the tune of 1,000 denarii, only this time not for his financial advantage but so that these men would think well of him and possibly give him a job once they learned that he had been fired.
The debtors went away happy that the landowner had been so generous, and happy with the manager, who they might have credited for being the one who convinced the owner to extend such a generous gesture.
In a sense, the manager has painted the owner into a corner. Once the owner finds out that the manager has changed the amount owed him, he has the legal right to not honor the discounted figure and to demand the full amount be paid at the time of harvest. However, if he revoked the amended bills, he would lose the goodwill he had just gained with his renters. And as the other members of the village heard about it, which they undoubtedly would, he would also lose their goodwill.
The manager was once again stealing from the owner, yet in his shrewdness doing so in a way that worked to his advantage and benefited the owner. The story ends with the following:
The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness (Luke 16:8).
It’s clearly stated here that the manager is dishonest, so there is no inference that he is being commended for being good or righteous or repentant. He’s commended by the master for his shrewdness—in other words, for his cleverness and craftiness in his dealings. What he did was wrong, and he was punished by losing his job, but he was commended for judging the nature and character of the owner and for his clever and crafty plan.
The manager’s actions made both him and the owner look good in the eyes of the renters. The community would also most likely hear that the owner was incredibly generous. The story of what the manager did would probably eventually leak out and members of the community would realize that the owner could have originally punished him and sold his family, but that he didn’t. While it’s unlikely that he would get hired locally as a manager, because of his dishonesty, he might very well get hired for some other job because of his cleverness, which was his goal. His plan was a “win” for him and a “win” for the owner, even though it was an expensive win for the rich man.
This parable probably intrigued the original listeners, like a movie or book about a thief whose plan is extremely clever, intricate, and imaginative might intrigue viewers or readers nowadays. But they would have also gotten the point that the owner was generous and kind.
When the story itself is finished, Jesus says something further by way of application:
The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings (Luke 16:8–9).
In this difficult-to-understand statement, Jesus makes a comparison between the people of this world and the people of the light. The people of this world deal with others more shrewdly than do the people of the light, as they, like the manager, know how to work within the world’s system. They know how to make good deals, to make money, to gain wealth, to be successful in accordance with the ways and principles of the world.
But Jesus tells the people of the light to wisely work according to a different set of principles—the principles of the kingdom of God, based on the loving, generous, and merciful nature of God. They are to operate in accordance with God’s will and act in love and generosity toward others to become rich toward God and to lay up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19–21).
Believers are taught to use the money and wealth of this world to make friends in this world. In other words, do good things with your money, be generous, share, give to those in need, help those you can. The time will come when money will no longer have any value or importance, and the time will come when you pass on from this world and enter the next world. If you live according to the principles of God’s kingdom, when you arrive in heaven you will be welcomed into your eternal dwellings by those you have helped and who have passed on before you.
In this parable, Jesus is teaching about the nature of God, who, like the landowner, is merciful and generous. He points out that believers should learn something from the unjust steward. While what the unjust steward did was clearly wrong, he at least understood the nature of the owner and acted on that knowledge. How much more should we, as Christians, understand the loving and generous nature of God and live our lives with great faith in His love, mercy, and generosity, while emulating His attributes by being generous and forgiving with others.
We all need money to make ends meet, to take care of ourselves and our families, but using some of what we have been blessed with to help others is a means of befriending others, of letting them know that God loves them and wants to bless them. As we share our resources, we mirror the generosity of God, and in so doing, we not only help others, but we store up treasures in heaven.
We may not have a lot of this world’s wealth to share with others, but we have abundant riches to share that are much more valuable than mere money—the truth of God’s Word, the love of God, and the knowledge of how to enter into a saving relationship with Him through Jesus. Perhaps you’re not in a position at the moment to help others financially, but you can give of your time, your assistance, your prayers, and your comfort and love.
We each have the true wealth of righteousness—the good news of salvation to freely share with others. May we share our financial and spiritual blessings with those in need, so they will come to know our loving and generous God and His wonderful Son, Jesus.
Originally published August 2014. Adapted and republished June 2026. Read by Jon Marc.
1 Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes (InterVarsity Press, 2008), 333.
2 Klyne Snodgrass, Stories With Intent (Eerdmans, 2008), 406–409.
