Luke 16

Luke 16:1-31 . PARABLES OF THE UNJUST STEWARD AND OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS, OR, THE RIGHT USE OF MONEY.

1. steward--manager of his estate.
accused--informed upon.
had wasted--rather, "was wasting."

3. cannot dig . . . to beg, ashamed--therefore, when dismissed, shall be in utter want.

4. may receive me, &c.--Observe his one object--when cast out of one home to secure another. This is the key to the parable, on which there have been many differing views.

5-7. fifty . . . fourscore--deducting a half from the debt of the one, and a fifth from that of the other.

8. the lord--evidently the steward's lord, so called in Luke 16:3 Luke 16:5 .
commended, &c.--not for his "injustice," but "because he had done wisely," or prudently; with commendable foresight and skilful adaptation of means to end.
children of this world--so Luke 20:34 ; compare Psalms 17:14 ("their portion in this life"); Philippians 3:19 ("mind earthly things"); Psalms 4:6 Psalms 4:7 .
their generation--or "for their generation"--that is, for the purposes of the "world" they are "of." The greater wisdom (or shrewdness) of the one, in adaptation of means to ends, and in energetic, determined prosecution of them, is none of it for God and eternity--a region they were never in, an atmosphere they never breathed, an undiscovered world, an unborn existence to them--but all for the purposes of their own grovelling and fleeting generation.
children of light--(so John 12:36 , Ephesians 5:8 , 1 Thessalonians 5:5 ). Yet this is only "as night-birds see better in the dark than those of the day owls than eagles" [CAJETAN and TRENCH]. But we may learn lessons from them, as our Lord now shows, and "be wise as serpents."

9. Make . . . friends of--Turn to your advantage; that is, as the steward did, "by showing mercy to the poor" ( Daniel 4:27 ; compare Luke 12:33 , Luke 14:13 Luke 14:14 ).
mammon of unrighteousness--treacherous, precarious.
ye fail--in respect of life.
they may receive you--not generally, "ye may be received" (as Luke 6:38 , "shall men give"), but "those ye have relieved may rise up as witnesses for you" at the great day. Then, like the steward, when turned out of one home shall ye secure another; but better than he, a heavenly for an earthly, an everlasting for a temporary habitation. Money is not here made the key to heaven, more than "the deeds done in the body" in general, according to which, as a test of character--but not by the merit of which--men are to be judged ( 2 Corinthians 5:10 , and see Matthew 25:34-40 ).

10. He, &c.--a maxim of great pregnancy and value; rising from the prudence which the steward had to the fidelity which he had not, the "harmlessness of the dove, to which the serpent" with all his "wisdom" is a total stranger. Fidelity depends not on the amount entrusted, but on the sense of responsibility. He that feels this in little will feel it in much, and conversely.

11, 12. unrighteous mammon--To the whole of this He applies the disparaging term "what is least," in contrast with "the true riches."

12. another man's . . . your own--an important turn to the subject. Here all we have is on trust as stewards, who have an account to render. Hereafter, what the faithful have will be their own property, being no longer on probation, but in secure, undisturbed, rightful, everlasting possession and enjoyment of all that is graciously bestowed on us. Thus money is neither to be idolized nor despised: we must sit loose to it and use it for God's glory.

13. can serve--be entirely at the command of; and this is true even where the services are not opposed.
hate . . . love--showing that the two here intended are in uncompromising hostility to each other: an awfully searching principle!