Jesus always had a reason for His teachings, and generally it was to coach us into a better relationship with Him and those we need to influence. In Matthew 24 we see His almost-frightening teaching about the end times. He concluded this teaching with the following:
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 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. I tell you the truth, 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. (Matthew 24:42-51)
This conclusion, especially the sudden transition in verse 45, impacted me as the revelation started to unfold. One moment Jesus was still talking about the end times, his return to the earth and things to be expected and the next He was talking about a good and wicked servant.
Why would He have used it in this context? He seems to be concerned about the servants’ behaviour in the absence of the Master. Would they be concerned about that which the Master is concerned about—the Master’s estate and the care for the other servants? Would they put Jesus and His cause first, or would they use their power to abuse others for their own benefit?
This is why we see the stern warnings mentioned above as well as the illustration of the two types of servants and their behaviour. He is talking about motives and attitudes. While we live by grace on earth, it seems the Lord is patient, but judging from the warnings above, we have something to be concerned about when Jesus returns. We need to know what is important to the Master, so we can have everything ready the way He likes it when He returns.
In order to accomplish that, we need to take note of the two types of servants in the illustration above and their relevance to end-time prophecy. They both were servants; in other words, they were what we would now call Christians. Their task was to give the other servants food at the proper time.
The master was away, and they were responsible for his property, including all his servants. Jesus placed these servants into the context of end-time hardships. So what are we saying? The good and faithful servant cares for his fellow servants, especially in the tough times to come. The master is the Lord Jesus who went away for a time. The food is the Word of God and any other support needed for the servants to do the master’s bidding, which is a Christian’s biblical responsibility.
All Christians (servants) are in one way or another responsible for
their fellow servants’ spiritual care, even if it is only for one’s children or
for a friend. Although this support does not apply only to hard times, we will
all have someone to support when hard times come. According to the Bible,
though, obedient disciples will often have difficult times. “In fact, everyone
who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy
3:12), and in John 16:33:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Nobody is born a faithful and good servant. Training is provided. In the rest of this series we will therefore take one of the most important teachings of Jesus as our training. We will attempt to get right to the roots of understanding exactly what Jesus meant when he taught it. To accomplish that, we will look at the Sermon on the Mount quite intensively. The first twelve verses are called the Beatitudes. Rightly so—it is all about attitude. Although the word “beatitude” does not really have the same meaning as attitude, it is true that these chapters in the book of Matthew and all of life are about attitude.
What is the motivation behind our actions? What do we desire? If our attitudes and motivation are self-centered, we will not be “good” servants. Therefore, let us develop the right attitudes from the Lord Himself. In the next posting we'll hear what He is about to say.
