John Calvin Commentary Luke 16:1

"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.”