Summary
Intentional: The Parable of the Dishonest Manager
The parable in Luke 16:1-9 is famously called the most difficult of Jesus' parables. A helpful way into it is to treat it like a puzzle—first assembling the perimeter, then working toward the center. The frame around this story turns on a single word: intentional.
The Perimeter: Who Speaks, and to Whom
The first edge piece is that Jesus is speaking, and Jesus never speaks idly. Every word of God carries purpose. The second edge piece is the audience. In Luke 14:25 large crowds were traveling with Him; in Luke 15:1-3 the tax collectors and sinners drew near while the Pharisees and scribes grumbled, and Jesus answered them with the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son. But Luke 16:1 marks a shift: "Then Jesus said to the disciples." This parable is aimed squarely at those who follow Him.
The third edge piece is the cross. Jesus is intentional in everything He does. The scribes intentionally sought His death Luke 22:2; He intentionally instituted the Lord's Supper for the tangible forgiveness of sins; He intentionally went to the garden to pray; Judas intentionally marked Him with a kiss; the soldiers intentionally pressed the crown of thorns; the crowd intentionally cried "Crucify him"; and Jesus intentionally hung on the cross, commending His spirit to the Father. He intentionally rose on the third day, intentionally appeared to His disciples, and intentionally sent them out as His witnesses (Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19). That intentionality is the frame in which this puzzling parable must be read.
The Center: A Squanderer Becomes Shrewd
Inside the frame, a manager is charged with squandering his master's property. The Greek behind "squandering" means scattering about—the same word used of the prodigal in Luke 15. The manager has been spending without plan or purpose, the opposite of intentional. Confronted and dismissed, he finally thinks ahead: too weak to dig, too ashamed to beg, he summons his master's debtors and reduces their bills so that they will receive him later.
Surprisingly, the master commends him—not for dishonesty, but because he had finally acted shrewdly. He acted with foresight, prudence, and purpose. Then comes Jesus' point: "the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the children of light." If an unbeliever will plan that carefully for an earthly tomorrow, how much more should believers plan intentionally for a tomorrow that stretches into eternity?
The Treasure We Manage
The manager dealt with his master's earthly goods. Christians, too, are stewards of homes, jobs, and daily blessings. But the true treasure is something else entirely: the Word of God, the gospel carried in clay jars 2 Corinthians 4:7, the announcement that our debt of sin has been paid intentionally by Christ. That is the perimeter pressing in on the center of the puzzle.
So the question pressed on the disciples—and on us—is whether we are intentional with this treasure. Think of one person in your life who is in debt by sin to the Savior. If no one comes to mind, then you know no one, because every person carries that debt. And the debt has been paid by the very One to whom it was owed.
Going Forth Intentionally
"Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings" Luke 16:9. Use the worldly goods of this passing age, but with eyes fixed on the lasting treasure. The dishonest manager was shrewd about a tomorrow only days away. The children of light have been entrusted with a treasure for a tomorrow without end—and a commission to dole it out wisely, prudently, and “Intentional”ly. It is the one treasure that never runs out, given freely and graciously by God, and promised to all who believe.
Video citations
- “Intentional” 3-8-26 — If you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, the 16th chapter. If you're using a Pue edition of this Bible, you will find it on page 68 in the New Testament. We're in Luke, chapter…