Housegroup Study on Luke 16 V 1 13

Housegroup study on Luke 16 v 1 –13

Icebreaker (to warm up)

Look up a summary of the play ‘The Servant of Two Masters’ (Wikipedia). Imagine what difficulties there must be being at the beck and call of two people simultaneously and/or, if a group member knows the play, hear about the scrapes Truffaldino gets into!

Looking at the text (for exploration and understanding)

The parable of the shrewd manager is one of the more difficult ones that Jesus told! Jesus seems to be praising the actions of a man who was bad at his job and then cheated his boss in order to get other people to be nice to him. I think the message is that we need to plan for our future in heaven by living in the right way in the present life... Study the parable and then decide whether you agree with me or not!
v 1 Was this just the Twelve or were more disciples involved? Look at 6 v 13 and 10 v 1 and see what you think.
v 1 – 2 Is the rich man being fair here?
Sum up the manager’s predicament in verse 3 and his solution in verse 4.
v 6 800 gallons of olive oil probably came from around 450 olive trees. Imagine the feelings of the debtor when he learned of the manager’s new system...
v 7 1000 bushels of wheat would have been produced from approximately 100 acres of land. Is there a reason do you think for the difference in the proportion of the discount on the bill?
An interesting thought is that the rich boss may have been overcharging in the first place. Jews were forbidden by Deuteronomy 23 v 19 from charging interest to fellow Jews and so a common practice was to charge more in the first place. Maybe the manager was dispensing with illegal interest payments rather than giving away his master’s rightful repayment.
How do you understand verses 8 – 9? For other references to ‘people of the light’ see: John 12 v 36, Ephesians 5 v 8, 1 Thessalonians 5 v 5.
Do you think verse 13 relates to verses 10 – 12, or does it stand on its own?

Applying it to ourselves (for discussion)

Discuss whether ‘shrewdness’ is a good quality to have (you may want to look up a definition). How can we get the right balance between cleverness in living and naivety?

Do you think the statements in verse 10 are true in your experience? Can you think of examples that back them up? What do you think the message of verses 10 – 12 is for you in your situation?

If the statement in verse 13 is true and we cannot serve God and have a love of money, how should Christians deal with a. having and b. using money? Draw up a list of guidelines for new Christians who need help in this area.

Action (for thinking about)

Take time, individually, to think of one action or thought or change in attitude that you are going to leave the group with. Then move into prayer.