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Luke 17:1a, 7-10 – And He [Jesus] said to His disciples, … “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
This comment of Jesus’ cracks me up. Because it’s absolutely true. No master would invite his servant to dinner at the end of the day. That’s what you do with an honored guest. A servant is a servant, and he eats in the staff room when he’s off duty. When he’s on duty, he does whatever the master needs done, and he doesn’t expect special recognition, like eating at the master’s table!
It sounds like Jesus is stating the obvious—but it’s amazing how many of us secretly expect special recognition from God for doing what is no more than our duty. Oh, we may not say so out loud—we’ve been brought up to have good manners! But isn’t there a bit in the back of your mind that whispers, “You gave more money than anyone else this year … You’ve spent hours painting and cleaning around the church … You’ve taught Sunday school for 30 years. Certainly God must have some special reward for you!”
And then Jesus says this, and all our silly dreams go thunk! on the floor. Because He’s right. No matter what we’ve done, or how heroic we’ve been, we are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty. God is God, and He made us, and we owe Him everything; we can’t possibly do anything wonderful enough to put Him in our debt.
So now that we’re all depressed—
Maybe we can’t earn the honor of eating at God’s table, but we can look forward to it by God’s free Gift! For this is what Jesus says in Luke 12:35a, 36-37: “Stay dressed for action … and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.”
Who is Jesus talking about? He’s talking about us. And what does He want us to do? Nothing more than to be ready and waiting for Him when He comes again. That doesn’t take hard work, it just takes a loving, trusting, hopeful heart. And when He does come, Jesus promises, He Himself will serve us at His own table—because He loves us, and we love Him. Now we are no longer mere servants, but Jesus’ friends and children of God (see John 15:15; 1 John 3:1). Jesus has made us so through His suffering, death, and resurrection. That’s how much He loves us.
WE PRAY: Lord, I love You and I’m waiting for You. Come quickly. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
- Do you want Jesus to come soon? Why or why not?
- How do we stay ready for His return?
- What do you look forward to about His coming?
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