Ninth Sunday after Trinity
Luke 16:1-13
Of all the parables of Jesus, this one has to be the most fun for theologians; at least, from what I’ve read before, many have spent so much effort explaining this parable, and the explanations are widely divided. Much of the explanations are always an attempt to explain who the characters in the parable are supposed to represent. Most everyone agrees that the master is supposed to represent the Father, but they quickly diverge from there. Some would suggest that the manager is supposed to represent the Son and that the debtors are supposed to represent mankind which Christ saved. “Then why,” some ask, “did the manager only cancel part of the debtors’ debts? Christ paid the price for our sin in full, there should be nothing left!” This second group offers the idea that the manager is the believer and the debtors are unbelievers. “Then why,” some ask, “was master angry at a believer? If we believe in a loving God of grace and mercy, He wouldn’t be angry at believers, but forgive them.” And the suppositions go on and on and on from there; back and forth bickering over why one character could represent this person and not the next, and so on and so forth, ad nauseam.