John Calvin Commentary Luke 16:8

"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.