Parable Number 2: Waiting Faithfully for Christ's Return
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, "My master is delayed," and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know; and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Matt. 24:45-51, RSV.
The second parable continues the theme of urgency and watchfulness raised by the first, but with several added nuances. It sets forth the idea that Christians have duties and ethical responsibilities as they wait and watch. They are not to be idle. And in this story the householder's return gets delayed for reasons that the servants know nothing about.
Unfortunately, delay can lead to bad behavior. Since the servants are on their own in an uncertain situation, one of them allows baser passions to rise to the surface. That servant begins to be unkind to others and to live a loose life. After all, there seems plenty of time before the Master shows up.
But Jesus reiterates the lesson of the first parable: "the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know." Then Jesus adds a new aspect--one that will surface again in the conclusion of parables four and five (Matt. 25:30, 46). Unfaithful servants will lose their heavenly reward and will receive, instead, the same reward as the unfaithful Jews (Matt. 8:12), wicked people in general (Matt. 13:41 42, 50), and the scribes and the Pharisees (Matt. 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29). The succeeding parables drive home the concept of faithfulness and watchfulness in a more complete way than the first one.
Hymnist Frank E. Belden captured the message of the first two parables in "We Know Not the Hour." Since we "know not the hour of the Master's appearing,...let us watch and be ready" for "He will come, hallelujah! hallelujah! He will come in the clouds of His Father's bright glory--But we know not the hour."
Good advice for people who all too easily forget that their Lord will return in spite of an extended delay that can lead to careless living.
And we are all those kinds of people.
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, "My master is delayed," and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know; and will punish him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Matt. 24:45-51, RSV.
The second parable continues the theme of urgency and watchfulness raised by the first, but with several added nuances. It sets forth the idea that Christians have duties and ethical responsibilities as they wait and watch. They are not to be idle. And in this story the householder's return gets delayed for reasons that the servants know nothing about.
Unfortunately, delay can lead to bad behavior. Since the servants are on their own in an uncertain situation, one of them allows baser passions to rise to the surface. That servant begins to be unkind to others and to live a loose life. After all, there seems plenty of time before the Master shows up.
But Jesus reiterates the lesson of the first parable: "the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know." Then Jesus adds a new aspect--one that will surface again in the conclusion of parables four and five (Matt. 25:30, 46). Unfaithful servants will lose their heavenly reward and will receive, instead, the same reward as the unfaithful Jews (Matt. 8:12), wicked people in general (Matt. 13:41 42, 50), and the scribes and the Pharisees (Matt. 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29). The succeeding parables drive home the concept of faithfulness and watchfulness in a more complete way than the first one.
Hymnist Frank E. Belden captured the message of the first two parables in "We Know Not the Hour." Since we "know not the hour of the Master's appearing,...let us watch and be ready" for "He will come, hallelujah! hallelujah! He will come in the clouds of His Father's bright glory--But we know not the hour."
Good advice for people who all too easily forget that their Lord will return in spite of an extended delay that can lead to careless living.
And we are all those kinds of people.
RSS Feed
