When Jesus tells a story about a crooked manager who cooks the books—and then gets commended—it can sound like the strangest parable in the Gospels. In this episode on Luke 16:1–8, we wrestle with the “unjust steward” and discover that Jesus is not praising fraud, but highlighting something far more unsettling and hopeful: the shrewdness of a man who finally realizes he is bankrupt, out of options, and utterly dependent on the generous mercy of his master.
In this week’s episode, we explore:
- Why this parable has embarrassed the church for centuries, and how a modern Tonya Harding analogy helps us see its shocking point more clearly
- How the unjust steward stands in line with the prodigal son: both waste what was entrusted to them, both face a moment of truth, and both throw themselves on undeserved mercy
- Why the master in the parable should be seen as honorable and unexpectedly compassionate—not a partner in crime—and how that changes the way we read the whole story
- What the steward’s silence, self-assessment, and desperate plan reveal about his situation: guilty, unemployable, and with nothing to fall back on but his master’s reputation for kindness
- How his risky scheme works—calling in debtors, slashing bills, banking on the master’s generosity—and why the master can either preserve his money or his good name, but not both
- Why Jesus can condemn the steward’s dishonesty and yet praise his “shrewdness”: his clear-eyed grasp of his own bankruptcy and his master’s merciful character
- How this parable, like the prodigal son, invites us to judge the master’s heart—and then asks whether we will trust God’s mercy with the same all-in abandon
- What it means, practically, to admit we cannot qualify ourselves for the kingdom, stop making excuses, and cast ourselves entirely on God’s grace in Christ
After listening, you’ll see the unjust steward not as a puzzle to be avoided, but as a mirror of your own spiritual condition: guilty, unable to make things right, and utterly dependent on a merciful Master. You’ll be invited to stop treating God as a backup plan, to face your bankruptcy with honesty, and to stake everything on the generosity of the One who has already proven his character at the cross—so that, like the steward, your “shrewdness” is found not in clever schemes, but in a clear-eyed trust in grace alone.
Series: Parables of Jesus
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