#1 JESUS QUIZZES HIS SERVANTS (Luke 17:7-10; Isa 42:1-9)

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1 #1 JESUS QUIZZES HIS SERVANTS (Luke 17:7-10; Isa 42:1-9) A. The Christian has been called to be like his Master (Matt 10:24; 20:24-28), & Jesus was the Servant of God (Isa 42:1). 1. In our text, Jesus describes the attitude of a servant. B. Your translation may use word slave instead of servant ; slave is closer in meaning to the word Jesus used. 1. Doulon: a person in bondage to another. 2. One who gives himself up wholly to another's will (1 Cor 7:23); the apostles (Rom 1:1). 3. Doulon means devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests (Matt 20:27; Mark 10:44), like an attendant, (of a king): (Matt 18:23, 26). Thayer In other passages, Jesus used the word servant, in the sense of someone who attends to menial chores or domestic duties: a housemaid, a gardener (Luke 16:13; 22:26; John 12:26). The word oiketes (oy-ket'-ace) AND diakoneo (dee-ak-on-eh'-o); refer to a fellow resident, i.e. a menial domestic: [There is no greater need in the Lord s church than to enroll servants into His work. In fact, when we were baptized we were officially enrolled in the Lords service as slaves. But to become a slave two things are required.] I. TO BE A SERVANT YOU MUST A. We Must Want To Serve Others. 1. The gospel call to be a SERVANT can get lost fairly quickly after we obey the gospel. a. We say, I got what I wanted forgiveness, hope, everyone s happy. b. And we can forget that along with the forgiveness of sins, & the hope of eternal life, & those spiritual blessings, Jesus has called us to begin SERVING the interests of His body (as they care for one another, & as they work together in their mission). 2. A servant doesn t wake up thinking he will spend the day leisurely taking care of his personal needs & pleasures. a. No, he begins his day thinking about how he may be needed in the service of his Master. 1

2 b. A servant just doesn t have time to think about much else than the will of his Master. c. A servant doesn t even have time to evaluate the other servants. [And that s what the church needs more than anything else --- servants who WANT-TO-SERVE others. The second thing required OF a servant is humility.] B. We Must Want To Be Humble. d. Because a servant is too preoccupied with what his Master expects of him. 1. To be humble is to consider others better than oursleves (Phil 2:3). 3. Jesus, the Servant of servants, was pre-occupied with serving His [Master] Father (Isa 42:1-9). 2. The word is used in other passages along many other important traits: a. But to do that He had to train others to do what He was doing (John 13:12-17). a. To be submissive; God resists the proud (Jas 4:6, 10; 1 Pet 5:5-6). 4. Paul identified himself in 5 of his 9 epistles as a bondservant of God & of the L. J. C. a. A bondservant is a slave, & a slave can t think of his own safety & financial well-being. b. To be patient & forgiving (Col 3:12-13). c. To be subject to authorities, to not speak evil of someone, to be peaceable & gentle (Ti 3:1-2). 2 b. A slave has to press on with the greatest determination to finish His Master s task, knowing that his Master will provide what is needed for his work. c. Paul would have never accomplished what he did, if he had viewed himself in any other way but a slave. 3. To be humble does NOT mean to be self deprecating, or to be overly critical of self. 4. To be humble means that we are not proud, haughty, arrogant or overly assertive.

3 5. How do we add humbleness to our character? a. Acknowledge our Master s authority. b. Appreciate the value of each servant. c. See yourself as the Master sees you. 6. Once we learn humility, then we can begin to be servants of the Lord (Gal 5:13-15). a. It takes a humble person to serve another & to love another as yourself. 1. Now it s possible, in our culture, that someone you have worked for treated you like this at some point. a. We live in a nation of abundance, & there are a lot of generous people. 2. But this question was humorous to those who were listening to Jesus. a. Because our image of a servant is of someone who wears clean clothes & works in a beautiful home; he may even be in a union that stipulates his wages & paid leave. [Lessons like these will unify us as we acknowledge that together we are servants of God. If each of us will humbly accept our service to each other, then God will work through us to His glory. With that in mind we come to our text where Jesus gives a pop quiz on the topic of servants.] II. 3 A 3 QUESTION QUIZ FOR SERVANTS A. Question One. Luke 17:7 7 Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come immediately & sit down to eat'? b. But in Jesus day, a servant was simply a slave; someone purchased & owned by another to carry out his demands. - A servant s ear was pierced & a ring put in it so that everyone would know that he was the property of another (Psa 40:6). - A servant wasn t paid for his work; he wasn t even thanked for his effort. - He didn t have any rights under the law; he wasn t even under the protection of law. - He was the first one up in the morning & the last one to bed at night; he only did what he was told to do!

4 [Being the Lord s servant means a total resignation of the will to the will of His Master.] B. Question Two. [Being the Lord s servant means putting the Master s needs first.] C. Question Three. 4 Luke 17:8 8 But will he not say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat, & properly clothe yourself & serve me while I eat & drink; & afterward you may eat & drink'? 1. Now that s more like it; that s what we would expect a Master to say to his slave. 2. So the response Jesus got to this question was probably, That s right Jesus! a. Everyone knew that a servant s needs didn t come before his master s. b. To be otherwise (as in verse 7) would be arrogant & disrespectful (dangerous). 3. In Jesus day, the sole responsibility of a servant was to satisfy his master FIRST. a. While a servant was working --- he was thinking about what he would prepare for his master s supper. Luke 17:9 9 He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? 1. No! Of course He doesn t! What point are you trying to make Jesus? 2. These people had never heard three such ridiculous questions about a servant. a. Of course they knew that a master doesn t thank his servant for his work. b. [No hands please, but how may have left jobs because you weren t appreciated?] 3. But in Jesus day, a servant s work was his duty; he was not working for a compliment. a. If a master had a servant who acted like he was doing his master a favor, that servant would been severely treated.

5 [Being the Lord s servant means attention to duty with no expectation of earthly reward or praise. Now we see why Jesus said count the cost if you want to follow Me (Luke14:25-33). There is really very little room for self interests.] Luke 17:10 10 So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.' CLOSING 5 A. Now, do you see what Jesus has done in this three question quiz? 1. He is NOT implying that God does not care about the welfare of His servants, or that He is not appreciative of what they do. 2. What He did was get the people to agree with Him on a matter that was obvious to everyone. a. Servants resign their will to the will of the Master. b. Servants put their Master s needs ahead of their own needs. c. Servants do not expect praise for doing their duty. 3. Then He turned the tables on them. [Lesson one on being a servant: Do what is commanded, but don t expect an immediate return. Walk by faith that your Master s reward will come later.] Slavery in the NT --- Among the many relationships of personal power & submission constituting the patriarchal society of Greco-Roman antiquity, the most extreme form was slavery, the legal ownership of one person by another as property. The institution of slavery was deeply ingrained in Roman society, as is evident from the prominent reference to slaves as characters in the parables of Jesus (Matt. 18:23 34; 24:45 51; Luke 16:1 13; 17:7 10). Roman conquests often led to the enslavement of resident populations, & slave hunters captured victims in provinces not yet taken over by Rome (cf. 1 Tim. 1:10; Rev. 18:13). Individuals could also be sentenced to slavery as punishment for various offenses, & entire families were sold into slavery when someone defaulted on a debt; self-sale was also an option for those who had no other means of providing for themselves or their families (1 Cor. 7:23; 1 Clem. 55:2). Since children born to slaves were automatically slaves themselves, the passage of generations guaranteed the growth of a large slave population. By the time of the NT, about 30 percent of the population of the Roman Empire is estimated to have been slaves.

6 The keeping of slaves, furthermore, was practiced by Jews as well as by Romans (e.g., Malchus, the high priest s slave, John 18:10). It was likewise practiced by Christians (e.g., Rhoda, the slave [nrsv: maid ] in the home owned by John Mark s mother, Acts 12:13; Onesimus, the slave owned by Philemon, to whom Paul writes a letter). Paul also uses slavery as a metaphor for devotion to others (e.g., 2 Cor 4:5; Gal 5:13; Phil 2:7). In these instances he sometimes calls himself a slave: For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more (1 Cor 9:19). He describes how Jesus although He was God humbled Himself & took the nature of a slave (Phil 2:5 8). He in turn identifies himself as a slave of Christ Jesus (Rom 1:1; Phil 1:1). Logos Bible Software: Nelson s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary 6