Matthew 24:45-51 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This parable primarily refers to leadership in the church after Jesus leaves the flock untended. Of course, all Christians are expected to take care of their lives in an orderly and caring manner, to be faithful to the Lord until He comes or until the end of their lives. In the above parable, the supposed servant is given special responsibilities over the master’s possessions. He has been given a leadership role in the church. The master leaves for an extended period of time. Jesus has been absent from earth for over two thousand years. His overseers have been given the responsibility of caring for the body of Christ. They are to make sure the master’s servants are treated well: fed and nurtured. The overseers are to be faithful and wise servants, whom the master has put in charge of everything he owns. They should be above reproach in all they do in the church and outside of the church. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. (1 Timothy 3:1-3) But Jesus says, suppose they get tired as this overseer waiting for the master to return, suppose their hearts turn cold towards their master. Instead of demonstrating the master’s goodness and his love towards his own, these charlatans will forsake their assignment of caring for the sheep and turn to their desires of the flesh, delving deeply into the world’s wicked and self-indulgent behavior. As with this servant, they might say, 'My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. Jesus says strongly that these servants who have betrayed their calling, responsibility, will face the consequence of such self-serving ways. They will be assigned to the place where all hypocrites end up after they die. These deceptive servants had the title of overseer, to care for the master’s sheep, but they were not genuine followers of the master; they were playing a role, basking in a place of controlling others, not for the purposes of the master but for their own selfish desires.
David was a man after God’s own heart. David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do. (Acts 13:22) Jesus, the Son of God, would do everything his Father wanted him to do. David as a young man was vigilant in guarding the sheep of his father. But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. (1 Samuel 17:34-36) Jesus is jealous for the well-being of his flock. He gave up his life for the sheep. David, the throne Jesus takes, placed his life in danger for his father’s sheep. We see in the above parable, the wicked servant is neither like the man David or like the Son of God, Jesus. He becomes impatient with the master tarrying so long in another land. He did not remain faithful to his calling. He placed his fleshly needs above the master’s needs. He was not like David who protected his father’s sheep. Jesus is jealous for the well-being of his flock. He gave up his life for the sheep. David, the throne Jesus takes, placed his life in danger for his father’s sheep. We see in the above parable, the wicked servant is neither like the man David or like the Son of God, Jesus. He becomes impatient with the master tarrying so long in another land. He did not remain faithful to his calling. He placed his fleshly needs before his master’s assignment. In both the other cases, the man of flesh, David, and the Son of God, Jesus, were faithful to their fathers. The flocks belonged to their fathers. A good shepherd will place his life in jeopardy for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:14-15) Jesus extolls the need of the overseers to place their wants, their temptations of the flesh, secondary to the Father’s desire for their lives. The flesh will always battle the Father’s will, desiring to go its own way: to eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. The wicked servant in the church deflects God’s will to his own needs. He becomes a drunkard to sin, wicked in his actions toward his fellow servants: beating and abusing them, using them for his benefit. This kind of behavior is not evident in the apostles’ lives after Jesus departed into heaven. Instead we see them fervently working to spread the Good News to the world. We see them suffering in body and mind to bring everyone the news of redemption, peace with God the Creator. They have a love for people. Many reject their message, despising them, mistreating them in every way. Paul is whipped, beaten with rods, mocked, ridiculed, abused physically and with words. Yet, he was the Master’s faithful servant to the end, fighting the good fight all the way to his death in Rome. And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:22-24) As with David and Christ, the apostles were willing to face the adversaries to the flock. They were willing to put their lives in peril for the purposes of the Father. Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39) The supposed recalcitrant servant in the above parable was not willing to endure to the end. He did not fulfill his mission from his master; he quit on the will of his master. Jesus places this kind of person into the camp of the hypocrites—those who are not really sold out for God. They will be judged harshly.
John says that God is love. If you do not love God, you will not love others as God desires. You will fail in the assignment God has given you: to love God with all your heart, mind and strength and to love others as you love yourself. (See Mark 12:30-31) Love requires action, not just a supposed attitude. If love is enduring in our hearts, we will love those who oppose us as the apostles revealed love by going into hostile territory. Jesus said to love our enemies. The servant in the above parable was not faced with opposition to his leadership. He just needed to carry out his assigned duties. We who are Christians, need to implement God’s will in our lives by loving others as we wish to be loved. As servants to the Lord who have been led out of captivity, we should serve God wholeheartedly. If we are leaders in the church or have influence over others, we should exemplify Jesus. Paul desired the Christians to follow Jesus as he followed the Christ. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1) Christians should be in control of their own lives, reflecting the nature of God in their attitudes and activities. We have the Holy Spirit resident in us. We need to be sensitive to his voice. The sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. (John 10:3-4) Leaders in the church need to be sensitive to the voice of God in their role as overseers. As with Paul, the sheep were the center of his existence. Night and day he prayed for his churches. His love for their well-being compelled him to work hard in every area in his life. He supported himself as a tent maker, not wishing to be a burden on the churches he served. He sacrificed everything for ministering the Good News. But Paul knew he really lacked nothing, that he had not missed out on anything in this world, for he had gained everything in Christ. He was seeking for another life for himself and for the ones he ministered to. For the Master of the house was his God. He would follow God diligently to the end of his life. The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalms 23:1-6) Dear friends around this breakfast table, endure to the end, your reward is great. It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
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