Shrewd

We are currently revisiting the story of Jesus as written by Luke. Our goal is to complete Luke’s account with the RESET series. In order to do that, we will periodically skip over a passage. Today, Jesus challenges your intellect.


Luke 16
Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’ 3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’ 5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’ 7 “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’ 8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.


Shrewd. This is one of my all-time favorite stories that Jesus told. I know it seems a little confusing because is sounds as if Jesus is commending someone for being dishonest. Personally, I don’t think Jesus would have held up someone that was breaking the law as an example to follow. The best explanation I have heard was that the manager was deducting his commission from the bill. It wasn’t unheard of at that time for a manager to receive even a 100% commission for a deal that they had negotiated. More importantly, I love the fact that Jesus challenges us to use our minds. Christianity isn’t a religion for weak-minded people. It is a passion for clever-minded people.