Interpretation
The parable has caused difficulty, since on the face of it Jesus appears to be commending dishonest behaviour. This issue is sometimes addressed by suggesting that the manager is forgoing a commission due to him personally, but not all scholars agree with this interpretation. However, although the master has "a certain grudging admiration" for the manager's "shrewdness," Jesus labels the manager "dishonest."
The manager in the parable is probably a slave or freedman acting as his master's agent in business affairs. As his master's representative, the agreements he signs with the debtors are therefore binding.
The parable shares the theme of other passages where "Jesus counsels the disposition of possessions (and hospitality) on behalf of the poor with the understanding that, while mammon will vanish, eternal treasure will have thus been secured." When death comes, "the power we have to do good with our money ceases, so we should do good with it now" so that the friends we have made on earth will be waiting for us in heaven. This interpretation was also espoused by early church writers, such as Asterius of Amasia:
When, therefore, any one anticipating his end and his removal to the next world, lightens the burden of his sins by good deeds, either by canceling the obligations of debtors, or by supplying the poor with abundance, by giving what belongs to the Lord, he gains many friends, who will attest his goodness before the Judge, and secure him by their testimony a place of happiness.
English Reformer William Tyndale was at pains to emphasise the consistency of this parable with the doctrine of justification by faith, writing a booklet on the parable called The Parable of the Wicked Mammon (1528), based on an exposition by Martin Luther. Tyndale saw "good works" as the result of faith. Tyndale also pointed out that the steward was not praised by Jesus for his conduct, but merely provided as an example of wisdom and diligence, so that "we with righteousness should be as diligent to provide for our souls, as he with unrighteousness provided for his body."
The Anglican theologian J. C. Ryle, writing in 1859, rejected a number of allegorical interpretations of the parable, and gave an interpretation similar to that of Tyndale:
Let us contend earnestly for the glorious doctrines of salvation by grace, and justification by faith. But let us never allow ourselves to suppose that true religion sanctions any trifling with the second table of the law. Let us never forget for a moment, that true faith will always be known by its fruits. We may be very sure that where there is no honesty, there is no grace.
Pitcharan - a less known author from India, has given this interpretation:
Jesus’ target audiences are two groups of people – one that was despised and frowned upon by society and another that enjoyed much honour and respect. Both shared this common love– amassing wealth. The openly corrupt taxmen are referred to as ‘children of this world’; the Pharisees who fanatically kept the Law, believing it to be the ‘Light of Life’, are described as ‘children of light’. The taxmen had no qualms about adopting dishonest means but were known for their liberal spending habits and for using ill-gotten wealth freely to gain favors and friends. The Pharisees amassed wealth through legally right ways but were known to be tightfisted with their hard-earned money. The former are commended for their worldly shrewdness and wooed to give up dishonest ways and receive their own heavenly treasures by proving trustworthy with what belongs to others. The latter are commended for their honesty and advised to freely use money to gain the friendship of saints who would welcome them into ‘eternal dwellings’, when their legalistic righteousness fails to gain them salvation. Both are candidly told to break free from the love of money and seek God with an undivided heart. The Pharisees who loved money heard all this and were sneering at Jesus (Lk 16:14). Though there is no mention of how the taxmen responded, we have reasons to believe that the likes of Matthew (also called Levi) and Zacchaeus, were indeed converted by this teaching.
David Flusser, in a book titled Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, has taken the phrase "sons of light" to mean the Essenes; their closed economic system is contrasted with other people who were less strict.
Read more about this topic: Parable Of The Unjust Steward