And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
All Commentaries on Luke 16:12 Go To Luke 16
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
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 Isaiah , 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 Prayer of Manasseh , for they have no continuance, they were neither born with us, nor can they follow us when we die." S. Augustine also (Qust. Evang. ii35) "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 Timothy 6:7); 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? and2. 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. Matthew 6:24.
