BE DRESSED READY for service and keep your lamps burning, 36like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
41Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”
42The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43“It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46The 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 unbelievers.
47“That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Original Meaning
TO FEAR GOD (cf. 12:4–5) means being prepared to serve, so Jesus turns his attention to faithful service. Part of the treasure we store up in heaven (12:33–34) comes through such service. As we serve, we also know we will be accountable to the Lord when he returns. Eschatology (teaching about the future) in the Bible exists not so much to inform us of the details of the future as to prepare us to serve God faithfully today. This unit comes in three parts: the basic exhortation and beatitude (vv. 35–38), the picture of the knowing when the thief comes (vv. 39–40), and the parable of the unfaithful servant (vv. 41–48).1
Disciples should prepare for the Lord’s return by living in a way that honors him when he comes to assess our walk with him. An ancient way of calling for that preparation was to “gird up your loins” (NIV: “be dressed ready for service”). The Greek perfect imperative implies a constant state of readiness, a readiness that once taken up, is to remain in place. The Old Testament provides the background of the image (Ex. 12:10; 1 Kings 18:46; 2 Kings 4:29; Isa. 59:17).
A second way to make the same call is to exhort disciples to “keep your lamps burning.” That is, they must be on the constant watch, even in the midst of the darkness of the night.2 This exhortation shares the same imperative as the previous image, so this preparation is constant as well.
A third image completes the initial exhortation. Disciples should be like servants not knowing exactly when the master will come home from a wedding.3 They should be ready to open the door when he arrives. A contemporary image would be like a baby-sitter waiting for parents to return home to reclaim care for their house. The master who returns is looking for one thing from a servant—that he is ready to hand over the house, having faithfully watched over it.
As always, Jesus’ images carry a twist. Here the twist is that the master, on finding the house well cared for, turns around and serves the servants. This is the blessing he holds out to them. The NIV’s phrase “it will be good for them” (v. 37) speaks of the blessing faithful servants will receive. In other words, blessing awaits those whom the master finds ready and waiting at his return, even if he comes in the middle of the night, that is, at a time (the second or third watch [9 P.M.–3 A.M.]) when others might not be ready.
Jesus then uses the picture of the thief to illustrate his point. If people knew when a burglar would try to enter their house, they would be prepared and take measures to protect it.4 So also believers must be constantly ready, since the Son of Man (i.e., Jesus) will come at a time when they do not expect. The reality of the return in the face of the uncertainty of its timing demands vigilance. Accountability to the Lord is a major New Testament theme (1 Cor. 3:10–15; 4:1–5; 1 Tim. 4:12–16; 2 Peter 2:1–2, 13). Grace does not end accountability. Rather, the goal of grace is to create a people who are faithful and zealous in their service for God (Titus 2:11–14). God cares what we do with his gifts, and at Jesus’ return, he will honor those who are faithful and discipline those who are not.
Peter understands the drift of Jesus’ remarks and asks if the Lord is only speaking to the leaders like the Twelve or to everyone. Jesus answers with yet another parable, defining the faithful servant. He tells of a servant who is responsible for giving the other servants their allowance of food while the master is away on business. When he returns, blessing (NIV: “it will be good”) comes to that servant who does his job well; he will be promoted to serve in a higher capacity.
If Jesus had ended the parable here, he would have simply illustrated faithfulness. But the rest of the parable opens other responses by those called to serve. What if the servant decides that the master will be gone for a long time? Instead of caring for the servants and giving them their rations, therefore, he does the opposite, beating and abusing them as well as selfishly indulging in all kinds of excess consumption. What will the master do when he returns unexpectedly? He will punish that servant.
To understand how serious this possibility is, we must look at verses 46–48 and compare the three punishments. (1) The servant who is outright disobedient, doing the opposite of what is commanded, will be dismembered, and the Lord will assign him a place with unbelievers. Some translations water down the phrase “cut him to pieces,” but the NIV preserves its true force. The picture here is of outright rejection. (2) Someone who knows what his master wants and who simply fails to obey that command will be severely disciplined; he will receive many blows. The picture here is of a disciplinary judgment. (3) But for the servant who fails to obey because he does not know what he must obey, he will be beaten with a few blows. Jesus pictures an accountability here that varies, depending on what one does and what one knows. The picture here is also of a disciplinary judgment, but less severe. The gradation of the judgments shows that accountability before the Lord does express itself with variation at the Lord’s judgment.
Jesus closes by saying that to whom much is given much is demanded, and those entrusted with much will be asked much. That is, those who receive grace have received much, so they are asked to be faithful to the responsibilities their new-found relationship gives to them. The gifts of God must be used responsibly in service. Jesus does not answer Peter’s question of verse 41 directly because his main principle is the kind of service we give, not sorting out who is responsible to give it. Answering in this way shows that all have a call to serve others in the body well during the time of Jesus’ absence. To be a member of his community is to have responsibility in it; this is especially true of the leadership. In the Western church, where resources of instruction and communication are readily available, most of us have access to much, making us responsible for much. But such an observation anticipates how we bridge into the present.
Bridging Contexts
JESUS’ TEACHING HERE combines two fundamental New Testament themes: his return and the call for a faithful stewardship. The internal dynamics of the parable help us delimit the subject more specifically, in that the faithfulness has to do particularly with how those in the church serve others who are associated with the household of faith, broadly understood. Thus a primary audience for the passage are those who are given specific responsibilities and ministries in the community. Teaching, pastoring, missionary service, evangelism, serving the youth in the church, and a whole host of ministries come into view.
On the other hand, the possibility of a wider application to all who are called to serve in God’s house exists because the remarks about faithfulness and the principle of serving one another in a way that preserves and builds up the community reflect values all disciples should possess. In sum, the application is for clergy and laypeople, with faithfulness required of all.
The theme of the Lord’s return is also relevant to us, for we still await his coming. Since we do not know exactly when it will be, we must remain watchful and faithful. In fact, this is especially the case as more time passes, since the passing of the years might make one complacent about the prospect of the Lord’s coming.
A final theme bridging the contexts is the nature of the accountability in view here. The most difficult issue is the intended result for the slave who is “dismembered.” If we can figure that out, then the meaning of the other two examples in verses 47–48 also becomes clearer. Three options exist for verse 46. (1) Some argue that because the servant is a member of the house, this assumes that he is a believer, so that the punishment cannot be a loss of salvation, given the security of the believer as taught in Scripture. Rather, the punishment means that though he remains in the house, he is regarded as unfaithful and unworthy to receive any reward from the Lord for his service. This option is questionable, for it appears to makes salvation by faith but rewards by works. It also suffers from the problem of underinterpreting the reference to dismemberment in verse 46.
(2) Another option shares the premise that a believer is in view, but argues that the punishment is such that the person is ultimately rejected. This approach does not accept the security of the believer and thus argues that his judgment is exclusion from the community on the basis of his disobedience. Such a position runs counter to those texts that assure the believer that their position in the Lord is grounded in the certainty of his work in them (cf. Rom. 8:28–30, 38–39; Phil. 1:6). In the end, this view implies a salvation that is ultimately by works.
(3) The best option argues that the people here are associated with the household of faith and even have responsibilities in it, but their description says nothing about their spiritual condition. The dismembered servant, then, describes someone associated with the church whose attitude shows no faith and no relationship to the master in any positive sense. He does not lose what he has; rather he shows he never had a proper relationship to begin with. His very attitude toward the master reflects a disregard that can hardly be equated with trust. His punishment is his ultimate exclusion from the community (the same as that reserved for “unbelievers”). This interpretation rejects the idea that a believer’s position in the Lord can be lost. One person who fits this description is Judas, one of the Twelve who walked with Jesus and participated in his household with responsibility, yet was “a devil” (John 6:70–71). Another passage like this one conceptually is 1 Corinthians 3:14–18, where some are blessed at the Lord’s return; others are saved “as one escaping through the flames” (cf. Luke 12:47–48 here), and others are destroyed for attempting to destroy God’s temple.5
Contemporary Significance
ONE MAJOR APPLICATION is to live in such a way as to honor the Lord and be ready for his return, which can come at any moment. When that happens, our Lord will assess how we have walked with him, especially in the community of faith. The issue most in view as a basis of his evaluation in this text is how we serve others in the community. Do we build up or destroy the saints? Jesus places a paramount value on how the members of the community relate to each other because in the pressure of ministering in the world, it is crucial to maintain unity. That is why he prayed for unity before going to the cross (John 17) and why books like Ephesians (4:1–16) emphasize it so highly. The nature of differences among most believers is nothing compared to the differences they have with the world. So Jesus calls for faithfulness, especially in how we care for one another while the master is away.
Perhaps there is no more sensitive topic for many communities than the tension between seeking unity and the concern for truth and purity in doctrine. Often when believers beat one another up, as is alluded to in this parable, it is over disputes about what we believe. Most of us are aware of vehement disagreements on topics such as the Lord’s return, the permanence of spiritual gifts, lordship salvation versus an emphasis on grace, modes of baptism, Calvinism versus Arminianism, etc.
I recently read a document concerned with a dispute within a given theological tradition that affirmed the theological effort to reach for unity, but was concerned that conformity with Scripture be maintained. It affirmed a level of separationism from groups it otherwise acknowledged as Christian. Their commitment to Scripture was laudable and necessary, but we must remember that many of our traditional commitments also involve judgments about the interpretation of Scripture. Here is where humility is called for and wisdom must be exercised. For what may appear clear to me as a scriptural teaching may not be clear to others in the church. They may regard another teaching as more central or another view as more accurate. A claim to possess the certain leading of the Spirit on either side precludes interaction. In such cases it is important to distinguish central convictions from those that are debatable and to respond accordingly.
The central truths of the faith are things about which we must have firm conviction. These truths can be hard to identify in the midst of the many areas of theology and interpretation. If I may hazard a guess at the key themes, they are the authority of all Scripture, the Trinity, the deity and humanity of Christ, the unique work of Christ, the need for faith in Jesus to save from sin, the effective presence of the Spirit as the transforming agent of God in the believer’s life, the blessings of grace for the believer, the importance of the church as God’s community, the value of baptism and the Lord’s table as rites Jesus asked believers to participate in, the reality of the Lord’s return, the reality of judgment and eternal punishment for those who do not know God, the centrality of prayer and worship for the health of the believer, the importance of ethical integrity, and the call to evangelism. These are themes we must hold to as central.
But within each of these areas are subthemes open for discussion. As we relate to one another, we must be careful to distinguish the fundamental areas from the proper areas for discussion. Certainly the subthemes contain some key teaching and ideas. The church must pay attention to them, but never in such a way that lower level disputes cut us off from a oneness that Christ said we all possess.
I have recently participated in a decade-long group discussion where people of differing traditions with a long history of tension and hostility have come together with an agreement to talk about doctrine and to respect each other as we talk about our differences. The experience has been refreshing for all of us. Not only have we understood the issues better, but we have also learned to be fair to each other in discussing those differences. We have been able to be more honest about where we make our judgments and why we differ, yet without losing our respect for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. The result has been growth and deeper understanding for all, even though we still disagree about many details. We have learned how to discuss without being destructive or disagreeable. One of the things the Lord wants most is that his followers treat each other with care, even as they serve the truth.
The Lord wants faithfulness, especially at the level of our interrelationships. Note the issues Jesus discussed with his disciples just before he went to the cross: the call to love one another (John 13:34–35; 15:9–17), the importance of service over position (Luke 22:24–30). His last prayer before the cross was for the body’s unity (John 17). Of course, being a manager of God’s house and having a stewardship means managing well, not just in terms of relationships, but also in handling resources or making good judgments about the priorities involved in the use of resources.
We will be held accountable to the Lord at his return. This concept is frightening only if we have something to fear because we are unfaithful. With his return comes the hope of casting off our sinful humanity for a glorified and purified existence forever with God. These texts exhort us to live like what we shall become. If we live righteously, we will have nothing to fear when the Lord returns.
Not everything in this passage warns of judgment. Is there a more amazing promise in Scripture than that the Master will serve the faithful at the table? Thus, at the heart of the Lord’s return is a reminder of where our relationship with God should take us, namely, to make us more like him. In all the speculation about when and how he might come, we should perhaps pay more attention to who we will be when he comes.
So we serve and wait expectantly, not knowing exactly when he may return. This uncertainty has a warning with it. Though Scripture tells us to keep watching and be ready, it compares Jesus’ return to a thief in the night. We cannot know exactly when he will return, and we should be suspicious of anyone who dates Jesus’ return. Instead, we should concentrate on being faithful the whole time he is gone and look forward to the day when the master appears.