The Unjust Steward

Today's Gospel began with
He also said to His disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. Luke 16


I think this begins back at the start of chapter 15. The tax collectors and sinners were hanging on Jesus' every word. The Pharisees and scribes were crabbing about Jesus' indiscriminate grace. So Jesus told them a parable (the lost sheep). Then another parable (the lost coin). Then another parable (the lost sons). And then another parable (the unjust steward), this one to His disciples who would be His stewards/apostles.

In the story of the unjust steward, we start with a certain rich man. The parable of the prodigal son starts the same way. The story of the prodigal son was about a son who was wasting the father's goods. The story of the unjust steward was about a steward who was wasting the rich man's goods. Both wasteful dudes ended up in the good graces of the rich guy. The parable of the prodigal son ends with a party to celebrate the son being welcomed back into his home. The parable of the unjust steward ends (verse 9) with Jesus' comment about being received into an everlasting home.

What does this mean? Beats me! But it's not a coincidence that these two stories have so much in common.