The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: S. Luke
Here note that the word unrighteousness has a double signification . In the case of the steward it meant dishonesty and deceit : in our case it has a different meaning, as I shall proceed to show.
Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, i.e. of riches, which are “ unrighteous ” in a fourfold sense and from a fourfold cause.
1. Because riches are often amassed through unrighteousness, i.e. through fraud, usury, and the like of oneself or one’s ancestors. Hence S. Jerome (Ep. 150) says every rich man is either himself unrighteous or else the heir of an unrighteous man, and although he may not be ignorant of the evil-doings of his ancestors, yet he can scarcely be expected to know to whom restitution should be made. Therefore he is bound to make such restitution as lies in his power, to the poor. And commenting on S. Matt. vi. the same Father goes on to say, Riches are called Mammon because they are acquired through unrighteousness, taking mammon to be derived from min, and mona, i.e. violence, from the root iana, the meaning being “ to exercise force.” But the real derivation seems to be from taman, to hide or conceal ; for riches and money are wont to be hidden.
2. They are unrighteous in the sense of faithless and deceptive, for they are not to be depended upon, but often desert one man and pass on to another.
3. They are called the mammon of unrighteousness, because in their endeavour to become rich men are guilty of fraud, dishonesty, unrighteous dealing, and every kind of sin.
4. And again, they are unrighteous, because wicked and ungodly men esteem them of more value than the heavenly treasures. S. Augustine (serm. 35 De Verbis Domini.) Hence we may understand Christ as saying, “Ye rich and avaricious men have made money your god, but be ye well assured that it is unrighteous, i.e. vain and deceptive. Break up your idol, therefore, and give to the poor, and God will recompense you with eternal riches.” See S. Matt. vi. 24.
That when ye fail, when life is over and your riches are no longer at your disposal, or according to the Syriac version, when it, as mammon, fails you.
They may receive you. The poor, i.e. those whom you have made your friends by the right use of your riches. For they, if they are worthy of heaven, will by their prayers and by a communication of their merits make a way for you to enter therein : but if, on the contrary, they are unworthy of so great a blessing, you will be received into heaven because of your almsgiving, for what is given to the poor is accepted of Christ.
Christ seems here to be speaking of the poor who lead godly lives, who are poor as far as earthly possessions are concerned, but rich in understanding and in spiritual grace. Let not the rich then think that they are conferring, but rather that they are receiving benefits from such as these, for they give gold, to receive in return heaven. Hence S. Gregory (Moral xxii. 14) says, “ Almsgiving is not so much the relieving the necessities of the poor as the offering of gifts to those who hereafter will receive us into everlasting habitations.”
Learn therefore, that heaven is the inheritance of the poor, not for their own possession, but rather that they may introduce therein those who have been their benefactors. They are therefore the door-keepers of heaven, for “ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ” (see S. Matt v. 3), and this their blessedness is not of their own deserving, but the special gift of God. So S. Augustine (lib. ii. q. 38 Qucest. Evang.) says, “They receive them not as of right but by the permission of Him who counselled them to make themselves friends, and who deigns to look upon Himself as being fed, clothed, entertained and visited in the person of the least of His followers.”
“Everlasting habitations,” says Theophylact, “are in Christ ordained for the poor, wherein they may receive those who have given them liberal alms out of that which God has committed to their trust.” Happy indeed is the exchange, for earthly things become heavenly. “ Hence almsgiving is the most skilful of arts, for it does not build us an earthly tabernacle, but provides us with eternal life.” S. Chrysostom.
Ver. 10. — He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much . By “that which is least” we must understand earthly possessions as distinguished from the “ much ” of spiritual gifts. That ye may not be deprived of your heavenly stewardship, or rather that ye may be entrusted therewith, take heed rightly to administer your temporal affairs, and especially to give alms to the poor, according to the purpose of God. For so Christ explains His words in the next verse. In a similar sense S. Paul writes, “ If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” (1 Tim. iii. 5.) Christ seems here to be reproaching the Pharisees with unfaithfulness in the disposal of their riches, and in the interpretation of the law, and also with being little worthy of the position they held (see S. Matt v. and xxiii.), for from ver. 14 it is clear that these things were spoken against them.
Ver. 11. — If therefore, ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon , who will commit to your trust the true riches? If ye have made a wrong use of this world’s fleeting possessions (1 Tim. vi. 7), who will entrust to your care the things which are lasting, and which pertain unto the kingdom of God? Theophylact and many others.
Ver. 12. — And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? The wording of this verse is different, but the sense is the same as that of the preceding . The mammon which in the verse above Christ called unrighteous, he here calls “another man’s.” For temporal possessions are another’s :
1. Because they are in their nature totally different from the nature of man. They are of the earth, given to man for his use in this life, to revert again to the earth after death.
2. They are another's as regards God, for we are not absolute masters of what we possess but administrators only, bound to dispose of our goods according to His will. So Titus says, “ He describes much riches as that which is another man’s, because to abound in riches is, considering human nature, foreign to men. For if any man possesses them, they are external to him, and as it were, an accident.” “ They are,” says S. Ambrose, “ foreign to the nature of man, for they have no continuance, they were neither born with us, nor can they follow us when we die.” S. Augustine also ( Quasi L Evang. ii. 35) “ He calls earthly endowments another’s, for no man can carry them away with him at his death.” “ We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Tim. vi. 7) ; and Euthymius : “ Earthly riches are called another’s for they do not remain long with their possessor.”
Christ reproves avarice, and shows that he who loves money cannot love God : therefore the Apostles, if they would love Him, must despise riches. S. Jerome. But the better interpretation is one which I am about to give.
That which is your own. “ Christ calls heavenly riches ours,” says Euthymius, “ because, as Theophylact explains, ‘ our citizenship is in heaven.’ For man was created in the image of God, but wealth and earthly possessions are not ours, for there is nothing divine therein. But to enjoy divine blessings, and to partake in the nature of God, is ours.”
But you will say, Men are wont to value that which is their own, more than that which is the property of another. Why then does Christ here imply the contrary ?
I answer that the force of our Lord’s argument is seen : 1. If we look to the meaning of the parable, If ye have not been faithful in earthly things, how will ye be so in heavenly, and who will dare to commit such things to your trust ? and 2. From the parable itself. Men are as a rule more careful in their management of the affairs of others than of their own, for many reasons, but chiefly because they are bound in justice to make good any losses which may have been incurred by their carelessness, and if careless may even be suspected of dishonesty or theft ; whereas for their own losses, or for the mismanagement of their own concerns, they are responsible to no one.
True, therefore, is the argument of Christ, If ye have not been faithful in earthly things, which are another’s, God will not give you those heavenly treasures which are rightly your own. For he who makes a wrong use of that which belongs to another deserves to lose that which is his own. For, as Dionysius (Denis) the Carthusian astutely remarks, “ In the former verse, Christ spoke of the good things of this life, ‘who will trust, or commit,’ because an account will have to be rendered of their use. But of the good things of the heavenly country, he says, ‘who will give,’ for we shall not be called upon to account for these, because once given they are everlastingly our own.”
For the following verse, see S. Matt, vi. 24.
Ver. 14. — And the Pharisees also derided Him , ἐξεμυκτήριζον, “ turned up their noses,” sneered at Him.
Ver. 15. — And He said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men, i.e. make outwardly a show of justice, whereas God knoweth your hearts to be full of all uncleanness. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.