I’ll be preaching on Luke 16.1-13 this Sunday if you want to study the scripture lesson. The bulletin insert will contain the following introduction from the notes on Luke in The New Interpreter’s Study Bible by Joel B. Green.

This parable illustrates well the problem of trying to read the parables in Luke in an allegorical way––that is, by trying to identify God or Jesus or someone else as characters within the parable. Like so many parables in Luke, the point is simply that Jesus’ audience should learn lessons from “the real world” about how the new age works. Crucial for reading this parable is noting the parallel between v. 4 and v. 9. Just as, in this age, one might engage in business practices that guarantee one’s security in the future, so also, with regard to the age to come, one might engage in practices that guarantee one’s heavenly home.