Jesus’ parable about an unjust steward who was accused of cheating his master (Luke 16:1-17—the reading for Sunday, March 23) is famous for being difficult to understand. But it gives very concrete clues about what it means to be a “good steward.”
The steward is a figure who comes up in many of Jesus’ parables—a “stock character,” we might say, who would have been very recognizable to Christ’s listeners. What did stewards do, in the time of Jesus? What made them so interesting to our Lord?
