Luke 16:2

My Notes

What Does Luke 16:2 Mean?

"And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward." The master confronts the unjust steward with the accusation: give an account. The word "account" (logos — a reckoning, a report, an explanation) demands comprehensive disclosure of the steward's management. The phrase "thou mayest be no longer steward" is the pending termination — conditional but imminent. The steward faces an audit and a firing.

The parable that follows (v. 3-8) shocks: the steward responds to his termination by shrewdly reducing the debts others owe his master — securing future relationships by being generous with his master's resources while he still has access. Jesus commends the shrewdness (not the dishonesty) and applies it: use material resources to make eternal friends.

Reflection Questions

• 1.If the master demanded an account of your stewardship right now, what would the audit reveal?
• 2.Where are you wasting (not stealing, just being careless with) the resources entrusted to you?
• 3.What would it look like to use your temporary access to material resources to build eternal relationships?
• 4.How does knowing the stewardship ends change your urgency about how you use what you've been given?

Devotional

Give an account. The audit is here. The master has heard the reports. The steward is about to lose his position. And the demand is: explain everything. Every transaction. Every decision. Every resource you managed on my behalf. Account for it.

How is it that I hear this of thee? The question carries the disappointment of a master who trusted a servant and is now hearing that the trust was misplaced. The steward has been wasting (diaskorpizō — scattering, squandering) the master's goods (v. 1). Not stealing outright. Wasting. Being careless with what was entrusted. The crime isn't dramatic fraud. It's negligent stewardship — treating the master's resources as if they don't have an owner.

Thou mayest be no longer steward. The position is about to end. The access to the master's resources is closing. Whatever the steward is going to do with his remaining authority, he needs to do it fast — because the authority is being revoked.

The steward's response (v. 3-7) is the most controversial move in the parables: he reduces the debts others owe the master, securing their gratitude and future hospitality for himself. It's shrewd. It's possibly dishonest (the debate continues). And Jesus commends the shrewdness — not the ethics but the strategic thinking: the children of this world are wiser about their generation than the children of light (v. 8).

The application: you're a steward. Not an owner. Everything you manage — money, time, influence, opportunity — belongs to someone else. And the stewardship is temporary. The audit is coming. The position will end. The question is: what will you have done with the master's resources before the account is demanded?

Make friends with the resources while you have access. Use the temporary position to produce eternal relationships. Convert what you can't keep (material wealth) into what you can (relational investment in eternal things). Because the stewardship ends. The account is demanded. And the only thing that survives the audit is what you invested in people.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture