Luke Parables of Jesus: The Master and the Servant
Luke 17:1-10
“He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you. “Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’ ”
Luke 17:1-10 NASB1995
Right after the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus at the end of Luke 16, Jesus is addressing His disciples to give them guidance on how to grow as disciples. The parable of the Master and Servant is in bold in this excerpt from Luke 17. Jesus first talks about being on guard and ensuring that they (His disciples) are not the reason why a stumbling block in faith comes from them to a “little one”. A few scholars I researched indicate that “little one” is likely a term for a new believer, not necessarily a small child. False and divisive teachings will certainly become stumbling blocks.
Forgiveness is the next topic: disciples may rebuke a sinner (but be longstanding in their suffering of that sin), but must also forgive him or her again and again if that sinner repents of their sin. This precept causes the disciples to ask for how to increase their faith, because being carefully discerning and constantly forgiving requires a lot of faith. Jesus responds that even faith as small as a mustard seed (a tiny seed only 1 to 2 mm in diameter) is enough faith to call on the power of God to perform miracles, like ripping out a deeply planted mulberry bush. But having these powers of the faith also has the unintended effect in many believers that leads to spiritual pride, hence our parable about the Master and the Servant (or Slave). A slave had no rights and could only do what the Master asked him or her to do. They may spend all day in hard labor in the fields or pastures, but their first task upon entering the home is to prepare and feed their Master and not relax and eat their own dinner first. They are not thanked for their labors. Jesus wants humility and a servant heart in His followers; they should always be ready to do more for God rather than looking for thanks or trophies or recognition. The Gospels do tell us that we can hear the blessed words from our Lord in the next life: “Well done, good and faithful servant”, but only if we deserve those words. We cannot expect to hear anything in this life but “do more”.
This admonition to be a totally humble and constantly working servant is very strange in our culture, which spends millions on building up self-esteem in children and others so they can feel like they are the center of the universe; they quite often end up looking down on everyone else. Participation ribbons are given to everyone in an event, mediocre essays get an “A”, and workers gain more and more benefits, regardless of how effective their work practices are. There’s a movement now, in the post-COVID world, to “quietly quit” at work because of the horror of actually having to do tasks assigned to you by a boss, especially if you have been directed to return to a workplace and not work at home out of sight of others. Would you trust a “quiet quitter” who performed critical installations or engineering design on an aircraft or does essential tax bookkeeping tasks for the company clients? Or have faith in a “quiet quitter” who has to juggle and distribute prescriptions to nursing staff for patients in a hospital? Of course you would be distrustful.
During my career, I participated in some human resource sessions on building up “self-esteem”, because I had a tendency to belittle my efforts and outcomes at work. Looking back on those sessions through the lens of my belief, it is appalling to know how those sessions relied on instilling a sense of overweening pride in yourself regardless of whether or not you deserve it. It becomes self-conceit. When you think you are the best and the best in life doesn’t happen, that results in excessive complaining, depression and lashing out at others.You are told by self-esteem “experts” that you are inherently good, you alone are the judge of your character and your goal in life is to discover “infinite” worth in yourself. Excessively high levels of self-esteem lead people to try and do things outside their physical abilities and talents, ending to injuries and death (like hot-shot pilots and rock climbers). If you believe, your confidence in your abilities comes from trust and faith in God and God alone and those abilities are intended to serve the Kingdom. The Cross doesn’t signify our worth; it testifies to God’s awesome love!
Here is what David Guzik from Enduring Word says about the servant role described in this parable:
d. We are unprofitable servants: The kind of attitude Jesus spoke of is not a false humility, the kind of attitude that says “I’m no good at anything.” It is not an admission that we do nothing good or pleasing to God. It simply recognizes that He has done so much more for us than we could ever do for Him.
e. We have done what was our duty to do: This attitude understands that our Master has done more and greater things for us than we could ever do for Him. What He did for us was out of pure love; what we do for Him is out of proper gratitude and duty.
i. This is why it is so important for Bible teachers to emphasize what the Bible itself emphasizes – what God has done for us. When we realize all that God has done for us in Jesus, we want to serve Him out of gratitude. Think of the great work of forgiveness Jesus did for us; think of the great mountains He moved by faith. The greatest works of faith and forgiveness by us are mere duty in comparison.
ii. When our hearts are right, we live and act as if we are happy to have the privilege of being allowed to serve God.
iii. Not enough Christians have this attitude today. Instead, many today often want to project a “super-Christian” image that makes them seem to be anything but unprofitable servants. We only think that we are better than others are when we look to man, not Jesus.
iv. “Growing saints think themselves nothing; full-grown saints think themselves less than nothing.” (Charles Spurgeon)
No wonder faith is dying in this materialistic, unhappy, self-centered world. Kids want to be sports stars, celebrities, game developers or YouTube video influencers and anything less is failure. Serving God and others is such a drag, isn’t it? What does that do for ME? Pondering these words, let us pray fervently right now about instilling this servant heart in our next generation, shall we? I struggle with true humility and always want thanks or recognition, so this is a life-long challenge that can only be fixed by the Holy Spirit.
I’m going to end this with a favorite C.S. Lewis quote:
In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that—and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison—you do not know God at all.
As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.
My next devotional examines Luke 18:1-8 - The Persistent Widow and the Unrighteous Judge.
Commentary by David Guzik in Enduring Word is used with written permission. The C.S. Lewis quote comes from Crossroads in an article about pride.