Breaking the Word

Then he also said to his disciples, "A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, 'What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.'…

 No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Lk 16:1-13)

 

 

The parable of the dishonest steward has to be understood in the light of the Palestinian custom. The master who lends things like oil or grain of wheat was obliged to receive the real amount together with interest which would also be in kind. So the debtors were obliged to return the real amount which was borrowed together with the amount which was agreed upon as interest for the borrowing.

 

At times the stewards who were acting as agents on behalf of their masters were obliged to receive this amount of interest as commission. The master would receive only the real amount that was given to the one who borrowed. The dishonesty of the steward consisted in the squandering of his master's property (Lk 16:1).

 

The master commends the dishonest steward who has forgone his own commission on the business transaction by having the debtors write new notes that reflected only the real amount owed the master (i.e., minus the steward's profit). The dishonest steward acts in this way in order he may be welcomed by the people when he left the job as the steward. The steward was interested in the relationship and friendship with the people than the material gain (the commission).

 

  

 When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another journeying to him, he spoke in a parable. "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled, and the birds of the sky ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew, it withered for lack of moisture.  Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold." After saying this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear."… (Lk 8:4-15)

 

 

The aim of this passage is to tell the listeners how they should hear the word of God and act on it. Word of God should be the guiding force of the life of the people. 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.'

 

The people are the soil on which the word of god is sown. The soil is not just passive to receive the word of god and produce its fruit. The soil has its conditions and influences from outside. They are the devil (evil force), trials, anxieties, riches and pleasures of life. All these conditions do not allow the word of God to have its effect on the lives of the people.

 

These conditions remove from man the following: faith, salvation, joy, perseverance, and maturity. So with out the word of god man ends up worse than what he began. Man’s goal in life is salvation, joy, maturity etc. All these will be worked out only through the word of God.