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The parable of the shrewd manager (vv.1-15) commends shrewdness of action in times of crisis. It is uncertain whether the master who commended the manager (v.8) is the character in the parable or Jesus himself. In either case the parable commends, not the dishonesty, but the shrewdness of the manager. The people of the light (v.8), says Jesus, should heed his example and should use their wealth, not as he did, to cheat, but in such a way that God will receive them into the eternal kingdom. Those who abuse their riches are not fit managers of spiritual things. People cannot be servants of both God and Money (v.13). In a sermon on 16:9 entitled “The Use of Money” (Works, 2:266-80), John Wesley says that faithful stewardship of money involves adherence to the precepts “Gain all you can,” “Save all you can,” and “Give all you can.”
According to Jesus, a new age had begun, the age of the kingdom of God (vv.16-18). The law remains, but the kingdom is its fulfillment. In fact, the standards of the kingdom are more demanding than the law, as Jesus' teaching about divorce shows.
This section on riches ends with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (vv.19-31). The contrast is staggering. The rich man, expensively tailored, feasts sumptuously. The poor man, Lazarus, lies at the rich man’s gate, covered with sores. The rich man’s fault, though not explicitly stated, is his neglect of the poor man and his idolization of wealth. After this life, in death, the two men’s fortunes are reversed: the rich man is in hell, and the poor man is at Abraham’s side in a state of blessedness. The parable is both a warning to the rich and a promise to the oppressed. It also indicates that spectacular miracles, like the return of a man from the dead, will not change a person’s heart. And it provides evidence of belief in a life after death that begins before the final resurrection.