Luke 17:7-10

[Semper Fidelis]

How do you understand this parable:

[bible]Luke 17:7-10[/bible]

Some see this as noting that we should not view our labor as anything more than unprofitable work but others see this as contradicting Christ's Words about how He will "serve the servants" in Luke 12:37. Is Christ, in other words, teaching His disciples not to think of God as a stingy master the way as would be typical in the world's thinking?

Hendriksen writes:

Wrong interpretations of this parable have led to various difficulties. Questions such as the following have been asked:
a. Does not Jesus contradict himself when he says that no master would ever tell his servant, when he comes in from the field, to recline at table, with the implication that he, the master, would wait on him; while in 12:37 Jesus promises to do that very thing?
b. Why would servants, who have done everything they had been ordered to do, be called unprofitable?
c. What moved Luke, immediately after reporting this parable, to go all the way back to the beginning of the journey he is describing, and thus picture Jesus as traveling “along the border between Samaria and Galilee”? See 17:11.
With the right interpretation of this parable everything falls into line and the difficulties vanish.
It is clear that we are dealing here with the owner of a small farm. This farmer has only one servant. Some insist that the word used in the original—namely doulos—a word which sometimes means slave, sometimes servant, must here be rendered slave. We should remember, however, that Jesus is addressing his message primarily to “his disciples” (verse 1). He is saying, “Who among you …?” Is it not probable that some of these disciples had servants rather than slaves? See Mark 1:20. Further, we should understand that what the parable is picturing is that which does not happen in the realm in which God is consistently recognized as King. In fact, the very opposite takes place here.
The servant pictured in this parable does only what he has been ordered to do, and the spirit of a slave has taken possession of him. All day long he has been plowing or tending sheep. When he comes in from the field, his boss orders him to wait on him while he, the master, is eating and drinking. The servant is told, “When I’m finished, you can eat.” The servant obeys. He does exactly what he was told to do, no less but also certainly no more. Why does he do it at all? Probably because he does not want to lose his job. After all, he has to eat. So, grudgingly he finishes his chores. Are we becoming guilty of exaggeration when we picture this coldly calculating servant as looking out of the corner of his eye every once in a while to see how the farmer is doing, whether he is not almost finished with his meal?
However that may be, we believe that Robertson, Word Pictures, Vol. II, p. 227, has interpreted the parable correctly when he states, “The slavish spirit gains no promotion in business life or in the kingdom of God.” Naturally the master of this coldly calculating servant would not even think of “waiting on” such a servant.
What the parable means, therefore, is this:
a. In the kingdom of God—the realm in which God’s sovereignty is gladly recognized—matters are entirely different. To be sure, here, too, God’s children aim to do his will, but they do it with gladness of heart, in the spirit of love and gratitude.
b. In their case the promise of Luke 12:37 (the Lord waiting on them) will be realized. See the explanation of that passage.
c. And now, too, we begin to understand what may well have been the reason why the evangelist, after reporting this parable, immediately proceeds to tell the story about the ten lepers who were cured by Jesus. All ten were ordered to “show themselves to the priests.” All ten, in obedience to the command, go on their way. One, however, returns. He is the exact opposite of the coldly calculating servant. He praises God and thanks Jesus. He does more than he had been ordered to do. And he does it exuberantly. Luke has indeed given us “an orderly account.”


Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953-2001). Vol. 11: New Testament commentary : Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. New Testament Commentary (796–797). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

 

[MW]

It appears to teach a number of lessons, but all tied up in the general principle that man owes God service without reward though God is pleased to bestow reward as an encouragement to service. From that principle comes, (1) a rejection of works of supererogation. As Augustine says, They must therefore have low thoughts of the Law’s perfection, who have such high thoughts of their own graces. The prayer, "Lord, Increase our faith," precedes. (2) A sense of deep gratitude for the blessing of the Lord which maketh rich and addeth no sorrow to it. The account of the ten lepers follows. And (3) service is a privilege. God does not need it. He gives man the opportunity to serve His Highness in order that man may be elevated to a station that is higher than he is naturally worth.

 

[Prufrock]

Rich, I'll leave more thorough exploration of the passage to those more able, but I might note as a summary statement that I find this to be Christ's statement of that which the WCF expresses in 7.1.

Edit
All I wished to say by that was just said in the previous comment.

 

[KMK]

Arnot interprets this parable in light of what precedes it starting from verse 1.

1) Take heed of your offenses toward others.
2) Take heed how you handle those who offend you.
3) The disciples realize how impossible that task is and ask for an increase of faith.
4) Jesus agrees that faith is the key and faith can and will do these and even greater things.
5) But take heed that the power of faith does not tempt to pride seeing that faith is not your own.

In this, Arnot would not see any conflict with 12:37.

 

[Iconoclast]

OT.Israel was to be God's servant;
[QUOTE22And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:

23And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
][/QUOTE]

Jesus comes as The Servant of The Lord.....and us In Him.

67And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

68Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

69And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;

70As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

71That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

72To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;

73The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

74That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 75In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

76And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

77To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

78Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,

79To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Because we have been called to serve God,instead of self and sin...to good works that God has ordained for us Eph 2:10...
We are spoken of as unprofitable servants. Sin debt paid for, service debt due.

1I call upon you, therefore, brethren, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies a sacrifice -- living, sanctified, acceptable to God -- your intelligent service;

2and be not conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, for your proving what [is] the will of God -- the good, and acceptable, and perfect.

We offer joyful service....yet it is only by Divine enablement that we are able to do so
16have ye not known that to whom ye present yourselves servants for obedience, servants ye are to him to whom ye obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?

17and thanks to God, that ye were servants of the sin, and -- were obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which ye were delivered up;

18and having been freed from the sin, ye became servants to the righteousness.

 

[Peairtach]

I tend to take it that some of the parables are expressing different facets of the truth, thus there is no contradiction.

This parable is teaching that since our duty before God is to live a perfectly holy life from conception to death, we can never boast before God of even the best of our dirty and smelly good works, carried out even after conversion.

Even if we lived a spotless life from cradle to grave we would only be doing our duty before God.

Here we have another exposition of the CoW for our benefit, but not to be confusingly called "a Republication of the CoW".

Other parables teach that our good works during our period of sanctification from regeneration until death, will be graciously accepted in Christ and particularly rewarded.

Another parable - that of the Labourers - teaches that in another sense everyone's reward will be the same i.e. happiness, the Heavenly Kingdom and Christ.

 

[Mushroom]

Being far from qualified to expound on the accuracy of Hendriksen's interpretation, I will leave that to sounder minds, but the mention of a slavish spirit sparks an interest. While I can't infer that from the text to be present with the servant, as I examine my own heart I can't deny that it is there in some measure. May the Lord deliver me and grant repentance from any form of a slavish spirit towards Him in serving and obeying Him.