But which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, “Come immediately and sit down to eat”? But will he not say to him, “Prepare something for me to eat, and, clothing yourself properly, serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink”? Is he grateful to the slave because he did the things which were commanded? In this way, you also, when you do all the things which are commanded of you, say, “We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.”
Luke 17:7-10
Introduction
While we rarely, if ever, would say God owes us anything, we often act as though He does. Consider the following questions:
- Why does God allow evil in the world?
- Why doesn’t God save everyone?
- Why would God make someone just to condemn them?
These questions and others like them are inherently human-centered rather than God-centered. They assume mankind is at the center of creation, and it is God’s duty to respond to us. That is why I put “God” in italics: these questions place the duty on Him to respond to us. Each of them applies a standard we might adopt, like that creation would be better if evil never entered it, and make ourselves out to be smarter or better than God for it. Indeed, we often find ourselves even judging God in our own hearts when tragedy touches us personally.
But instead of asking these sort of questions, maybe we should ask something else:
- What is God’s purpose for me in this world?
- Why did God choose to give me the gospel?
- How can I honor God according to the gifts He has given me?
Here, we assume rather that God is at the center and it is our duty to respond to Him. Again I have italicized the one with the obligation: “me.” That is the lesson Jesus is teaching in this passage. It is not God’s duty to answer to us, but ours to answer to Him.
A slave
Look up “Luke 17:7” on BibleHub to compare various translations. You will find that the vast majority from the KJV to the NLT translate the word as “servant.” That is in part because the word “slave” carries a lot of baggage in English that it did not in the ancient world. A slave in this context is more akin to an indentured servant: someone who owed a debt he could not pay and so worked for his debtor until it could be paid off. A slave had rights, and a master was expected to follow a code of conduct that precluded them from some of the atrocities committed during the trans-atlantic slave trade.
In this ancient sense, we are slaves to God. We owe Him a debt that we cannot pay. Not just the debt of our sin, mind you, but the very life we live is only according to His good pleasure. The air you breath belongs to God. The food you eat belongs to God. The matter that makes up your body belongs to God. All of our being is His, and we are His slaves.
What ought you do
Because we are His slaves, and we owe Him our obedience, it is unreasonable to expect a pat on the head for simply doing what is right. Jesus makes it clear that perfection is the bare minimum. Nothing is earned by perfectly obeying the Law, but rather it is merely our duty before God.
Of course, though, no one is able to perfectly obey the Law. That is why Jesus had to do it on our behalf. Your duty now is to obey the words of Jesus. He commanded many things, but in particular He commanded us to spread the gospel of His Kingdom. Take the time to reflect on this truth and read through all the things expected of believers that can be found in the pages of scripture. If you do not already, pick up the Bible daily and ask critical questions while you read the words. You will find tremendous blessing when you simply ask questions and apply God’s word to them.
May the Lord bless you and conform you into the image of His Son.
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