Ministry in Motion

The Parable of The Unjust Steward or Manager Jesus' parable of the unjust manager is one of the most striking in all the Gospels.   According to commentators, the parable is about an agent who, knowing he is about to be fired, asks the debtors to pay up. Obviously, it would be pressing the parable beyond the point of comparison to interpret it as a story about dishonest business practices.    But what’s the point of the parable? It seem so unlike other stories Jesus shared. Jesus told this story in early 30 A.D.   before his arrest  and crucifixion.  The primary audience for the Unjust Steward Parable is Jesus' disciples (Luke 16:1).   Luke’s writing says so:  Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions…. But there’s additional audience members noted at the end of the story.  While it’s a fairly simple story, it’s also a somewhat unorthodox, parable from Jesus.   In most of Jesus’ parables, the protagonist is either repre

… picture the kingdom of heaven this way:  It will be like ten bridesmaids who each picked up a lantern  and went out to meet a certain bridegroom.  The Parable of the Ten Virgins, also known as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins or the Parable of the ten bridesmaids is    a parable of Jesus, and it maybe a    little more tricky for us, the 2023 reader, to understand. The first-century Jewish audience Jesus was talking to would have been familiar with these wedding customs of the day. But we’re 2,000 years removed from the context of this story.   The historical setting for this story can be shared   with a fair amount of certainty.   In describing a first-century Jewish wedding,   the backdrop was much like this:   Normally the bridegroom with some close friends left his home to go to the bride’s home,   where there were various ceremonies, followed by a procession through the streets – after nightfall – to his home.   The ten virgins of this story may be bridesmaids who have

The Speck and The Log.  It’s one   of many stories recored back to back to back in Matthew's Gospel. A parable of Jesus. Large crowds attended Jesus' sermons — many came from Syria, Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, and even beyond the Jordan River.   They came to witness (or experience) Jesus’ miracles and hear Him teach about their role in the world  -  how He had come to fulfill the law, not abolish it; how we are to love our enemies ( 5:43-48 ), pray ( 6:5-15 ), and overcome anxiety and worry in our lives ( 6:25-24 ).   I t’s possible that Jesus may have delivered the Sermon on the Mount in segments over several days, as opposed to one long sermon.   Jesus was a master storyteller. I’m sure he knew how to read a crowd, which may have been a good reason to preach these messages over a few days … Give them something to thing about and leave them wanting more tomorrow. In this story, He   challenged the legalism and hypocrisy of the religious leaders of His day, and communicated spir