The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1900-11-01
TIE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
lesson In the International Serles fOi
November 4, I0Do-The Unjust
Steward.
Prepared by II. c. Lonington.l
THE LESSON TENT.
..F

Prepared by II. c. LInington.l
THE LESSON TENT.
U.uke l6:l-l3)
l. And He said unto His disciples: There
wos certain rich man. which had stew
ri: and the same was accused unto him
hat he had wasted his goods.
.. And he called him, and said unto him:
How is II that hear this OF thee? Give
an account of thy stewardship, for thou
mayest be no longer steward.
3, Then the steward said within himself:
What shall do? for my lord taketh away
from me the stewardship; I cannot dig.
10 beg l am ashamed.
am resolved what to do that. when
am put out of my stewardship, they
may receive me into their houses.
5. So he called every one of his lords
debtors unto him, and said unto the first:
How much owest thou unto my lord?
:. And he said: An hundred measures OF
oil. And he said unto him: Take thy bill.
and sit down quickly and write fifty.
7. Then said he to another: And how
much owest thou? 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; for
'it CnlluTGn OF tnlS WOflu are IN tnelT
generation wiser than the children of light.
Q. And say unto you: Make to yourselves
friends OF the mammon OF righteousness;
that, when ye fall, they may receive you
| into everlasting habtatlons,
10. He that is faithful In that which IL
least is faithful also in much; and he that
| Is unjust in the least Is unjust also in much.
III II therefore yc have not been faithful
In the unrighteous mammon. who vii! com
NIT to your trust the true riches?
u. And II ye have not been faithful in
| that which is another mans. who shall
give you that which is your own?
IL. No servant can serve two masters.
! for either he will hate the one, and love the
| other; or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
| mammon.
GOLDEN TENT.-Ye cannot serve God
and nnmmOn-Lukc 1913
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The lesson plan comes under three
heads:
!. The Circumstances.
2. The Parable.
8. Jesus Lessons and Applications
The Circumstances little word
also in verse / gives us the key here.
implying US it does that it belongs to
The same group as the parallels we have
just been studying. Jesus was CON
tinu!ng his after dinner talk at the
house of the pharisee. lie had spoken
both 10 the phnrisees present and also
to the publicans. Now in the presence
Of these He turns TO His disciples
The Parable.-The parable story is Il
familiar one. But certain questions
arise regarding what classes Of people
the characters represent. In the first
place, who was the rich man2 In fig
urlng out the application OF most par
aD!es we may assume that the chief
character In the story represents God,
as in the parable Of the good shepherd
and Of the prodigal son. We will prob
ably go amiss IL we make such an as
sumption in this case. We know that
Jesus while speaking 70 His disciples
is in company of publicans and phari-
sees. The publicans In sense wers
stewards. Their master was the gov
ernor of the province, or more remote
ly the Roman emperor. Looking at 1t
from this standpoint We do not need
to make every act of any one of the
characters coincide with our own views
of right and wrong.
Another thing to take into consider
alton is he 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
far us the text is concerned. onl, the
latter makes the commendati ion of the
action moro consistent, and We will
not have to account for seeming
! praising OF a bad action. However.
this Interpretation will not have to be
accepted, as study of the words Of
the rich man will show not a oom-
! 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
| Q) Make friends Of the mammon of un-
( Righteousness. or, better (according
to the revised version), by means of
the mammon of unrigheousness. In
| other words It 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 the mammon OF nm
| Righteousness. because often wronu-
fully acquired, and also because it is
| always a source OF great temptation.
(2) 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 1O.).
(3) Unfaithfulness I'm 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.
II