The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1900-11-02
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson IN the International series -
November 4. iaoo-The Unjust
steward.
Prepared by II. G. Lenington.J
THE LESSON TEXT.


I. And He said unto His disciples: There
sas a certain rich man. which had a stew
| ard: and the same was accused unto MIN
that he had wasted his goods.
| 2 And he called him. and said unto MIN
| How il II that hear this of thee! Give
an account OF thy stewardship, TOT thou
nayest be no longer steward.
3 Then the steward said within himself:
What shall doc for my lord taketh away
from me the stewardship. l cannot dig
TO beg l am ashamed
| l. am resolved what TO do, that. when
am put out OF my stewardship, they
may receive me into their houses
| S. So he called every one OF his lords
iebtors unto him. and said unto the iirst;
How much owest thou unto my lord?
8. And he said. An hundred measures OF
OIL And he said unto him; Take thy Dill.
and sit down quickly. and write NIFTY.
!. Then said he 10 another: And how
much owest thoue And he said: An hun
dred measures OF wheat. And he said unto
him. Take thy bill. and write fourscore
s And the lord commended the unjust
steward. because he had done wisely Tor
the children of this world are In their
generation wiser than the children Of light.
9 And say unto you Make 10 yourselves
friends OF the mammon of unrighteousness.
that. when We fall, they may receive you
Into everlasting habitations.
10. lie thar Is faithful In that which Is
least is faithful also in much: and he that
Is unjust In the least is unjust also in much.
H. Ii therefore we have not been faithful
In the unrighteous mammon. who VIII com
init TO your trust the true riches?
H. And IL we have not been faithful In
that which is another mans, who snall
give you that which is your own?
H. No servant can serve two masters
for either he will hate the one. and love the
,ther or else he VIII hold to the one. and
despise the other. We cannot serve God ana
mammon.
GOLDEN TENT.-Ye cannot serve God
and ma mmOn.-Iuke 1918.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The lesson plan comes under three
heads:
/. The Circumstances.
2. The Parable.
3. Jesus Lessons and Applications.
The Circumstances little word
also" in verse gives us the key here,
implying as it does that ii belongs 10
the same group as The parallels we have
just been studying. Jesus was con-
tinuing his after dinner talk at the
house of the pharisee. He had spoken
both 10 the pharisees present and also
TO the publicans. Now in the presence
Of these He turns o His disciples.
The Parab ie.-The para bile story is
familiar one. But certain questions
arise regarding what classes of people
the characters represent. In the first
place, who was the rich man? In fig
uring out the application of most par
ables we may assume that the chief
character in the story represents God,
as in the para bic Of the good shepherd
and of the prodigal son. We will prob
ably go amiss if xe make such an as
sumption in this case. We know that
Jesus while speaking 10 His disciples
Is in a company Of publcars and phari-
sees. The publicans in a sense were
stewards. Their master was the gov
ernor Of the province. or more remote
ly the Roman emperor. Looking at IL
from this standpoint we do not need
to make every act of any on OF the
characters coincide with our own views
of right and wrong.
Another thing TO take into consider
alton is the act of the steward. just in
what did that consist? Did he dishon-
estly discount his masters bills? Or,
was it that he had been extorting from
his masters debtors more than had
been due. and keeping the balance for
himself? Either theory is plausible as
Tar as the text is concerned. only the
latter makes the commentator Of the
action more consistent and we viii.
not have to account for a seeming
praising Of a bad action. However.
this Interpretation vii. not have TO be
accepted, as study of the words OF
the rich man will show not a com
mendation Of the manner in which the
steward ingratiated himself. as OF the
fact that he did manage TO gain for
himself friends among his debtors.
Jesus Lessons and Applications
~ Make friends of the mammon Of un-
Righteousness. or. better according
to the revised version). bv means OF
the mammon Of unrighieousness In
other words, il Is right to so use money
as to gain the gratitude Of Others less
fortunate. That is laying up treasure
in Heaven.
Money Is called he mammon OF un.
Righteousness. because often wrong.
fully acquired. and also because II il
always source Of great temptation.
t2) The steward had been dis.
charged because OF wasting" or
misusing what was intrusted to him.
He had probably been unfaithful in
little things to begin. until he had
become reckless with the larger in.
terests intrusted to his care. (See
verse 10.).
(3) Unfaithfulness in the thing,
pertaining solely TO this life renders
one unfit for those riches Of the heart
which are the more real, because they
do not consist of that which can be
lost or destroyed.
az One cannot be faithful TO him.
self. who is unfaithful to others.
(5) Mammon (money) is to be a
servant. not master. You cannot
live for money and be faithful to God.
Serve God and use the things He puts
into your hand in His service. Money
II good servant. but il is a cruel.
exacting. destructive force IL allowed
to be more.
Grapes from Canaan.