Please read Luke 17:7-10
This is my last post coming to our deeds/duties in the Kingdom of God. Jesus, while challenging us to be active His Kingdom, teaches us to be humble. In today’s Luke text, Jesus compares us to servants who toil in their master’s fields. (While most English versions of the Bible use the word servant, in Greek the word is doulos and it means a slave or a bondservant.)
After a hard day’s work outside, the servant is to come home and is expected to serve the master in the house. Only after the master finishes his meal, the servant is to have his meal. He has to do all of this expecting no appreciation or thanks from the master.
So first Jesus tells us we are to work in His Kingdom as slaves and then in Luke 17:10, Jesus says something really harsh – He wants us to keep on reminding ourselves we are unworthy servants –focused only on our duties. In Matthew 5:13 and Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus at least calls us salt and light of the world but in today’s text His words are truly harsh. Jesus tells us we are to show our love for him by our obedience (John 14:15, 23) but this obedience is of duty only and we have no choice(s) except to perform our duty.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus’ words are indeed harsh but He is preparing us for “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). On this earth, you and I are slaves/servants but in Heaven, which Jesus earned for us with His sacrifice on the cross, our position is different. We will be like Jesus (1 John 3:2) and we will be sitting at His table no longer as servants and according to Luke 12:37 He will be serving us. So let’s rejoice in our hardships and sufferings, as we serve Jesus and fellow man in the Kingdom of God, remembering all that Jesus is doing for us.
Dear Jesus, help me in my occasional unbelief and keep me steady in my faith, focused on my duties in Your Kingdom and my future glory with you. Amen.
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