LUKE: YEAR OF OUR LORD - WK 33 - A PUZZLING PARABLE

You have to keep the worms warm.

One of the most difficult to understand parables of Jesus is a parable of the dishonest manager found in Luke 16. Some misinterpret this parable to imply that Jesus is actually commending the dishonesty of the servant of a certain rich man. And at face value, the parable can be quite confusing - especially in the lens of our modern Western mindset.

Before we attempt to interpret this particular parable, I want to go back and remind us about the nature and intent of Jesus’s parables. Some are easy to understand, sure; but, even according to Jesus’ own words, many of the parables weren’t MEANT to be easily understood. Because a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, often you have to work at it a bit to find what Jesus really meant.