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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Jmests ; the second , the degradation and ills that awaited those wicked men by the destruction of the Jewish hierarchy , which our Lord foresaw , and of which he spoke as if it had already
taken place . When the steward found that he was to foe called to an account , and to be stripped of his office , " he called every one of his lord ' s debtors , and said unto the first , How much owest thou unto thy master ?
And he said , An hundred measures of oil . And he said unto him , Take thy bill , and sit down quickly , and write fifty . Then he said to another , Ai ? d how much owest thou ? And he said ; , An hundred measures of wheat . And
lie said , Take thy bill , and write fourscore . And the master commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely . " Two questions here present themselves , the solution of which is attended with serious difficulties : In what
pocket . In tlie end , however , his unjust dealings are brought to light , and he goes to the several tenants and requires them to reduce their respective debts to the standard which nii ^ ht correspond- 'with the just claims of his waster , wishing , however , it to be
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respect could the conduct of the unjust steward in ordering the debt to be diminished , correspond with that of the Jewish priest ? And how could his master commend him for his wisdom at the very moment when he was degrading him for injustice and faithlessness ? The answer to the first of these questions is furnished by the charge which our Lord elsewhere
brings against these men , namely , * ' They hind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne , aiuHay them on men ' s shoulders . " These heavy burdens were certain rites and observances which they enjoined on tlie authority of Moses or of God . The pretended object for these was zeal for religion ; but the true end was , under the mask of religion , to gratify their avarice and ambition . Here
they acted precisely like the rapacious steward of a beneficent master , who wished to let I 119 estate to people on reasonable terms and consistent with their good . But the steward in his perfidy frustrates this benevolent intention of his master . He raises the rents to an exorbitant demand , and puts the extra charge in his own
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4 ( J 2 Dr . J . Jones on the Parable oftk € Unfmt Steward .
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understood that he did this from his own good-will to the debtors , whfereas in reality it was to meet the scrutiny or penury that awaited him . Though , his motive , like the rest of his conduct was crafty and unjust , the reduction of the rent to each tenant was in itself
perfeetiy just , and in this view deserved the commendation bestowed upon him by his benevolent master . But how was this reduction likely to serve him in his degraded state ? How likely to provide for his wants ? Here the
calamities which awaited the Jewish priests emerge before the eyes of Jesus . He sees their hierarchy and their rich endowments destroyed—he sees them , precisely like tbe French emigrants at the late Revolution , scattered in
foreign countries , begging their bread , and claiming subsistence from the pittance of their own people , an < l that under the pretence that , a 3 they no longer contributed to the religious establishment of their country , they owed the ministers who still survived
among them , whatever small portion they had it in their power to pay . Thus tlie old steward , not willing to allow that he was steward no longer , founded his claims for maintenance on the removal of a burden which was effected sorely against his will , and imposed by his covetousness .
But how does the sequel accord with the parable ? " And I say unto you , make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness , that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations . He that 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 . If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon , who will commit to your trust the true riches ? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man ' s , who shall give you that winch is your own ?* ' These words are not only
difficult but incomprehensible , as they are totally inapplicable to the case of the steward whom Jesus was addressing . The difficulty arises from a circumstance peculiar to the situation or not
the speaker ,, which we should have felt , had we been present . From the beginning of the chapter to the eighth verse , Christ addressed himself to the old steward , who stood on one hand . Having finished his case , he
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1825, page 402, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2538/page/18/
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