John Calvin Commentary Luke 16
John Calvin Commentary
Luke 16
John Calvin Commentary
Luke 16
"And he said also unto the disciples, There was a certain rich man, who had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he was wasting his goods." — Luke 16:1 (ASV)
The main purpose of this parable is to show that we should deal kindly and generously with our neighbors, so that when we come to the judgment seat of God, we may reap the fruit of our liberality. Although the parable appears to be harsh and far-fetched, the conclusion makes it evident that Christ's design was nothing other than what I have stated. And from this we see that to inquire with great exactness into every minute part of a parable is an absurd way of interpreting it.
Christ does not advise us to purchase with large donations the forgiveness of fraud, extortion, wasteful expenditure, and the other crimes associated with unfaithful administration. But since all the blessings God confers on us are committed by Him to our administration, our Lord now lays down a method of procedure that will protect us from being treated with rigor when we come to render our account.
Those who imagine that alms are a sufficient compensation for sensuality and debauchery do not sufficiently consider that the first injunction given to us is to live in sobriety and temperance, and that the next is that the streams which flow to us must come from a pure fountain. It is certain that no one is so frugal that they do not sometimes waste the property entrusted to them; and even those who practice the most rigid economy are not entirely free from the charge of unfaithful stewardship. Furthermore, there are so many ways of abusing the gifts of God that some incur guilt in one way, and some in another. I do not even deny that the very consciousness of our own faulty stewardship should be an additional motivation for us to perform kind actions.
But we should have an objective quite different from escaping God's judgment by paying a price for our redemption. That objective is, first, that timely and well-judged liberality may have the effect of restraining and moderating unnecessary expenses; and, secondly, that our kindness to our brothers and sisters may draw God's mercy to us. It is far from Christ's intention to point out to His disciples a way of escape when the heavenly Judge will require them to give their account. Instead, He warns them to lose no time in guarding against the punishment that will await their cruelty if they are found to have squandered the gifts of God and to have paid no attention to acts of beneficence.297 We must always attend to this maxim, that
with what measure a man measures, it shall be recompensed to him again,
(Matthew 7:2)
297 “S’il est trouve qu’ils n’ayent en aucun soin d’exercer charite envers leurs prochains, et n’ayent pense qu’a despendre en tout exces et a leur plaisir, les biens de Dieu;” — “if it is found that they have given themselves no concern about exercising charity to their neighbors, and have thought only of spending in every excess, and at their own pleasure, the gifts of God.”;” — “if it is found that they have given themselves no concern about exercising charity to their neighbors, and have thought only of spending in every excess, and at their own pleasure, the gifts of God.”
"And his lord commended the unrighteous steward because he had done wisely: for the sons of this world are for their own generation wiser than the sons of the light." — Luke 16:8 (ASV)
And the master commended the unjust steward. Here, it is obvious that if we were to attempt to find a meaning for every minute circumstance, we would act absurdly. To make donations from what belongs to another person is an action very far from deserving applause; and who would patiently endure an unprincipled villain robbing him of his property and giving it away according to his own whim? It would indeed be the grossest stupidity if that man who saw a portion of his substance taken away should commend the person who stole the remainder of it and bestowed it on others. But Christ only meant what He adds a little later: that ungodly and worldly men are more industrious and skillful in conducting the affairs of this fading life than the children of God are eager to obtain the heavenly and eternal life, or careful to make it the subject of their study and meditation.
By this comparison, He charges us with highly criminal indifference, in not providing for the future, with at least as much earnestness as ungodly men display in attending to their own interests in this world. How disgraceful it is that the children of light, whom God enlightens by His Spirit and word, should slumber and neglect the hope of eternal blessedness offered to them, while worldly men are so eagerly bent on their own material comforts, and so provident and sagacious! Therefore, we infer that Our Lord does not intend to compare the wisdom of the Spirit to the wisdom of the flesh (which could not have been done without pouring contempt on God Himself), but only to arouse believers to consider more attentively what belongs to the future life, and not to shut their eyes against the light of the Gospel when they perceive that even the blind, amidst their darkness, see more clearly. And, indeed, the children of light ought to be more powerfully stirred when they see the children of this world making provision for a distant time, for a life that is fading and passes in a moment.
"And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles." — Luke 16:9 (ASV)
Make to yourselves friends. As in the words previously considered Christ did not command us to offer sacrifices to God from the proceeds of extortion, so now He does not mean that we should search for defenders or advocates who will offer us their protection. Instead, He teaches us that by acts of charity we obtain favor with God, who has promised, to the merciful He will show Himself merciful (Psalms 18:25). It is highly foolish and absurd to infer from this passage that the prayers or approval of the dead are of service to us. For, on that assumption, all that is given to unworthy persons would be thrown away; but human depravity does not prevent the Lord from recording all that we have spent on the poor. The Lord does not look at the persons, but at the work itself, so that our generosity, though it may happen to be shown towards ungrateful people, will be of avail to us in the sight of God.
But then He appears to suggest that eternal life depends on our merits. I reply: it is sufficiently clear from the context that He speaks in human terms. Someone who possesses extensive influence or wealth, if he makes friends during his prosperity, has people who will support him when he faces adversity. Similarly, our kindness to the poor will be a timely relief to us, for whatever anyone may have generously given to his neighbors, the Lord acknowledges as if it had been done to Himself.
When you fail. By this phrase He expresses the time of death and reminds us that the time of our stewardship will be short, lest the confident expectation of a longer life should make us hold on more tightly. The majority are lulled to sleep by their wealth; many squander what they have on nonessentials, while the miserliness of others hoards it, depriving both themselves and others of its benefit. From where does all this come, if not because they are led astray by an unfounded expectation of long life and give themselves up to every kind of indulgence?
Of the mammon of unrighteousness. By giving this name to riches, He intends to make them an object of our suspicion, because for the most part they involve their possessors in unrighteousness. Though in themselves they are not evil, yet because it rarely happens that they are obtained without deceit, violence, or some other unlawful means, or that their enjoyment is unaccompanied by pride, luxury, or some other wicked disposition, Christ justly represents them as worthy of our suspicion, just as on another occasion He called them thorns (Matthew 13:7, 22).
It seems that an unexpressed contrast is intended here: riches, which otherwise, through wicked abuse, corrupt their possessors and are almost in every case allurements of sin, should be directed to an opposite purpose—to be the means of procuring favor for us. Let us also remember what I have previously stated: God does not demand sacrifice to be made from unjustly acquired gains, as if He were the partner of thieves. Instead, this is a warning to believers to keep themselves free from unrighteousness.
"He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much." — Luke 16:10 (ASV)
He who is faithful in that which is least. These maxims are proverbs taken from ordinary practice and experience, and it is quite enough if they are generally true. It will sometimes happen, no doubt, that a deceiver, who had disregarded a small gain, will display his wickedness in a matter of importance. Indeed, many persons, by affecting honesty in trifling matters, are only in pursuit of an enormous gain;298 as that author299 says: “Fraud establishes confidence in itself in small matters, that, when a fit opportunity shall arrive, it may deceive with vast advantage.” And yet the statement of Christ is not inaccurate; for in proverbs, as I have mentioned, we attend only to what usually happens.
Christ, therefore, exhorts his disciples to act faithfully in small matters, in order to prepare themselves for the exercise of fidelity in matters of the highest importance. He next applies this doctrine to the proper stewardship of spiritual graces, which the world, indeed, does not estimate according to their value, but which far surpass, beyond all question, the fading riches of this world. He tells us that those persons who act improperly and unfaithfully in things of small value, such as the transitory riches of the world, do not deserve for God to entrust to them the inestimable treasure of the Gospel and similar gifts. There is, therefore, in these words an implied threatening, that there is reason to fear that, on account of our abuse of an earthly stewardship, we may fail to obtain heavenly gifts. In this sense, what is true is contrasted with riches, as what is solid and lasting is contrasted with what is shadowy and fading.300
298 “Et mesmes plusieurs sont contens d’user de simplicite et fidelite en de petites choses, a fin d’attraper puis apres un grand profit tout d’un coup;” — “and many are even willing to practice honesty and fidelity in small matters, in order afterwards to seize all at once on a large profit.”;” — “and many are even willing to practice honesty and fidelity in small matters, in order afterwards to seize all at once on a large profit.”
299 Livy.
300 “D’une chose caduque, et qui n’est qu’une ombre;” — “with a fading thing, and which is only a shadow.”;” — “with a fading thing, and which is only a shadow.”
"And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another`s, who will give you that which is your own?" — Luke 16:12 (ASV)
And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to another. By the expression what belongs to another, He means what is not within man; for God does not bestow riches upon us on the condition that we shall be attached to them, but makes us stewards of them in such a manner that they may not bind us with their chains. And, indeed, it is impossible that our minds should be free and disengaged for dwelling in heaven if we did not look upon everything that is in the world as belonging to another.
Who shall entrust to you what is your own? Spiritual riches, on the other hand, which relate to a future life, are pronounced by Him to be our own, because the enjoyment of them is everlasting. But now He employs a different comparison. There is no reason, He tells us, to expect that we shall make a proper and moderate use of our own property if we have acted improperly or unfaithfully in what belonged to another.
Men usually care less about abusing and allow themselves greater liberty in squandering their own property, because they are not afraid that any person will find fault with them. However, when a thing has been entrusted to them, either in charge or on loan, and of which they must afterward render an account, they are more cautious and more timid.
We thus ascertain Christ’s meaning to be that those who are bad stewards of earthly blessings would not be faithful guardians of spiritual gifts. He next introduces a sentence: You cannot serve God and mammon; which I have explained at Matthew 6:24. There the reader will find an explanation of the word Mammon301.
301 “Et la aussi on trouvera la signification de ce mot Mammona, lequel est ici mis, et que nous avons traduit Richesses ” — “And ” — “And there will also be found the meaning of the word will also be found the meaning of the word Mammon, which is used here, and which we have translated which is used here, and which we have translated Riches.”—In an earlier portion of this Commentary, to which our author refers, (Harmony, vol. 1 ”—In an earlier portion of this Commentary, to which our author refers, (Harmony, vol. 1 p. 337,) no direct or formal explanation of the word ,) no direct or formal explanation of the word Mammon is to be found; but a careful reader of the expository remarks on is to be found; but a careful reader of the expository remarks on Matthew 6:24 will easily perceive that Calvin understands will easily perceive that Calvin understands riches to be one of the to be one of the two masters spoken of in that passage. An indirect definition of the term is afforded by his French version of the text, both in spoken of in that passage. An indirect definition of the term is afforded by his French version of the text, both in Matth. 6:24, and in , and in Luke 16:13, “, “Vous ne pouvez servir a Dieu et aux richesses;” — “;” — “you cannot serve God and riches.”
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