WHICH OF YOU, HAVING A SERVANT?

The Saviour continues to teach His disciples. He has spoken of sons, stewards and now servants. Sons remind us of relation­ship, stewards of responsibility, and now the servant speaks of duty. The servant here is not someone hired for wages but a bondman, a slave, who is the property of his master having no rights of his own. The Lord paints the picture of the bondman who has laboured all day in the field, either ploughing or shep­herding, which is the meaning of the expression ‘feeding cattle’, now returning to the master’s house, dressing appropriately and serving his master’s meal before tending to his own needs. Does the master invite his slave to come and dine, as if he were an honoured guest? No! Does the master thank his slave for what he has done? No! Why is that? Because he is a bond slave and he has only done what was his duty to do.

There are lessons for us here. Notice the threefold occupa­tion of the bondman; ploughing, shepherding and serving at the table. Perhaps reminding us of the risen Christ’s three perma­nent gifts to the church, ‘evangelists … pastors and teachers’, Eph. 4. 11. The evangelist is ploughing the field by way of pre­paring for a harvest. The shepherd cares for the Master’s flock, and the teacher gives himself to providing food for others.

Paul delighted to describe himself as the bond slave of Jesus Christ. This was an expression, not of duty, but of devo­tion, like the Hebrew servant, who said, ‘I love my master. I will not go out free’, Exod. 21. 5. What a debt we owe the Man of Calvary! Surely, it is our duty to be obedient to His com­mands as we hear Him say, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments’, John 14. 15. And, even if we do keep them, we will still only be able to say, ‘We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do’. We will never be able to repay Him; we will always be in His debt and, as such, be unprofitable servants. Service, merely out of a sense of duty, can be a hard thing. The Saviour said, ‘If ye love me’; He looks for true devotion, not just duty. May we seek to be ‘ser­vants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart’, Eph. 6. 6. Such service will bring pleasure to our blessed Master.