Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory (Rom 8:17).

Besides to receive blessings from God, there is something mandatory in the life of a person who desires to be an heir of God. That is, to share in the sufferings of Christ. To these sufferings, those that Jesus has redeemed us from—sickness, poverty, and other kinds of curses that resulted from sin—do not belong. Jesus bore our sickness, became poor, and was cursed on the tree, so that we are now healthy, rich and free from all curses. If Jesus suffered to redeem us from such sufferings, why do we still need to share in the same sufferings with him? So, we need to know what the Bible means by “we share in his sufferings,” and what kind of sufferings we need to share with him.

To this question, the parables of Luke 16 (the parable of the shrewd manager, and that of a rich man and Lazarus) give an answer. It is important to know that the context in which these parables are given continues from the previous chapter. The following words at the beginning of chapter 15 set the context for all these stories:

Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them (Luke 15:1-2)."

This was the occasion that prompted Jesus to give these parables—the parables of the lost sheep and the lost Coin, that of two sons (the lost son), and those in chapter 16 as well.

Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions (16:1).

The fact that the parable of the shrewd manager was addressed to the disciples gives us a big clue. It was about what was to be required of the disciples, those who believed in Jesus, and desired to follow him. Pay attention to the following words spoken at the end of the previous parable.

“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours (Luke 15:31).”

Needless to say, these words could be easily misunderstood by the hearers/readers, and in order to avoid the danger of this misunderstanding, the parable of the shrewd manager was given to the disciples.

It is often said that the parable is one of the most difficult ones to interpret in the gospels. Even for scholars of the New Testament, this parable has been sort of a mystery. Most of us get stuck in v. 8.

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light (v. 8).

Obviously, the difficulty is an ethical one, and lies in the fact that the master commended the dishonest manager. And the difficulty even intensifies when Jesus begins to apply his point to the disciples:

I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, … And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own (vv. 9-12)?