This one has been a puzzle to me. As you indicate, the Greek Kurios is ambiguous and might refer simply to the master of the servant, or might refer to our Lord. In either case, it still seems inconsistent with other similar teachings. My conclusion? This is an uneducated guess, but maybe we are missing some wry humor here. As you suggest, the master of the servant is sorta out of options. I can kinda visualize him with his hands on his hips, scowling at the steward; then breaking into laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation, and "complimenting" the steward on his resourcefulness. I don't think he was any less aggravated about the betrayal; just resigned.
One thing strikes me as particularly instructive; the loss of the money didn't provoke him to violence, or (at least in the story) cause him to resort to the law. That suggests that the loss, however unpleasant, didn't ruin his day! It was just money!(as much as it pains me to say that!) His pragmatism and ironic response lead me to speculate that they maybe flow from a Jewish heritage. I dunno!
Applying the consistency test, it is clear that the apparent meaning is inconsistent with most if not all of the remainder of the scripture. The consistency test is one of the main tests we gotta use to keep us from going off on tangents in response to isolated phrases or wordings that appear to teach goofy things.
In this case, treachery is not exactly one of the desirable Christ-like attributes, huh? So we must be missing somethin', somewhere in carrying this story over into our world and language. On the other hand, God gave us minds and the capacity to reason. I don't think he expects us to bury both in the sand (there I go with that steward stuff again, huh?). And maybe a part of this teaching is not to get too serious about money? - JimA |
