The Parable of the Faithful and Wise Servant (Matt. 24:45-51)

The Parable of the Faithful and Wise Servant
Matthew 24:45-51

INTRODUCTION:
A little girl was given $2 by her father. He told her that she could do anything she wanted with $1 but the other was to be given to God on Sunday at church. The girl nodded in agreement and asked if she could go to the candy store. With visions of all that she could buy with her $1, she happily skipped toward the store, holding the $2 tightly in her hand. As she was skipping along, she tripped and fell and the wind blew one of the dollars into the storm drain at the curb. Picking herself up, the little girl looked at the $1 in her hand and then at the storm drain and said, “Well, Lord, there goes your dollar!”

Many Christians have the same attitude toward our resources given to us by God. We serve ourselves first, then God. It’s not unlike the criticism Jesus had of the Pharisees relative to the offering referred to as “Corban.” That word means something that is dedicated to God. The Pharisees would allow someone to offer something to God, designated as “corban,” and then they could weasel out of giving something to their aged parents by saying, “Sorry, Pops. What I would have given to you, I gave to God and I can’t take it back. So sorry.” The Pharisees did that so that they could have more of their stuff for selfish purposes.

Either way, we are not being wise stewards of God’s gracious gifts if we constantly put ourselves first and not using our resources in a way that honors Jehovah God and our Savior. The Parable of the Faithful and Wise Servant is about being good stewards of our gifts.

This sermon, Matthew 24, is likely given on the Tuesday before the crucifixion. Matthew 24 has been one of the most debated chapters in the whole Bible. At first glance, Jesus is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem. At the end of the previous chapter, Jesus had warned His Jewish audience that upon them would fall the blood of all the prophets and righteous men who had lived before their time and during their time (23:34-36). There would be a great day of reckoning on Jerusalem and its people, Israel. Jesus desired to gather them together into His kingdom but they did not share the same desire; thus their “house” would be left desolate (23:37-39). Herod the Great began renovating the temple in 20 or 19 B. C. The temple was still under construction / renovation at that time (John 2:20) and would be finished about four years before the Romans will destroy it.

Yet, in 24:35, Jesus clearly refers to the destruction of the world. From that point through chapter 25, Jesus seems to be anticipating the final destruction of the world. Students of the Bible and scholars have, therefore, argued about the point where Jesus ends His discussion of the destruction of Jerusalem and where He begins His discussion of the destruction of the world. Some believe Jesus mixes the two discussions. One aspect that makes the study most challenging is that Jesus incorporates language similar to that language used in the book of Revelation, from which the language gets its name: apocalyptic. “Apocalyptic” derives from the word for “Revelation.” Clearly the word conveys the idea of a revealing, but Revelation was written utilizing symbols to convey ideas. Symbols are used to convey certain ideas but, by their nature, they are also flexible so that they might convey more than one idea. Therefore, the “coming of the Son of Man” (24:3) might refer to a physical coming in person or a coming in judgment through some other means. The Bible student has to make a determination, based on the context.

The key passage which refers to the “coming of the Son of Man” is Daniel 7:13-14, a passage which has had a heavy influence on the Gospel of Matthew to this point as it relates to the Messiah who receives His kingdom.

THE CONTEXT: THE QUESTION OF THE TEMPLE - 24:1-2:

THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT: THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD - 24:36-44:

THE PARABLE OF THE FAITHFUL AND WISE SERVANT - 24:45-51:
45 Who, then, is the faithful slave and prudent whom the lord appointed over his household, to give to them the food at the [right] time? 46 Blessed [is] that slave whom, after coming, his lord will find [him] thus doing. 47 Truly I say to you that over all his belongings, he will appoint him. 48 But if that evil slave may say in his heart, ‘My lord delays,’ 49 and he might begin to beat his fellow slaves, and he may eat and he may drink with those drunk, 50 the lord of that slave will be present in the day which he does not anticipate or in the hour which he does not know. 51 And he will cut him in two and his share will be assigned with the hypocrites; there, there will be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.

GREEK WORDS:
“Faithful” (ver. 45) is used here, for the first time in Matthew. It is used four times in the following parable: 25:21, 23. The word is used 67 times in the NT. “Wise” or “prudent” was used first at 7:24. It is a key word in the next parable: 25:2, 4, 8-9. “To appoint” or “to put in charge” is used here (24:45, 47) and in 25:21, 23. The verb is used 21 times in the NT. These parallels suggest that this parable and the following parable relate to the same theme.

“Blessed” (ver. 46) was used extensively in chapter 5 (5:3-11), at 11:6; 13:16; 16:17; and here in Matthew. It is used 50 times in the NT. “Truly” (ver. 47) is used 129 times in the NT; it was first used at 5:18. Matthew uses “truly” 31 times as Jesus emphasizes what He says.

“To be drunk” is a verb while we have translated it as a noun; it is used here; Acts 2:15; 1 Cor. 11:21; 1 Thess. 5:7; Rev. 17:6.

“Weeping” was used first at 2:18; in the expression “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” it is used at: 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; here; 25:30 and Luke 13:28. “Gnashing” was used first at 8:12. See the passages previously mentioned for its description of hell as the place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

COMMENTS:
While the return of the lord is unknown (verse 50), his servants seem to give no concern to their behavior in his absence. A “faithful and prudent” slave will treat his fellow slaves respectably because he does not know when his master will come. Thus he will be ready at all times in order to be prepared to present the harvest at the right time. When that happens, the lord will be pleased with his servant and he will appoint him over all his belongings (ver. 47).

However, if an evil slave reasons in his heart that his lord is not returning for a long time, he may very well beat his fellow slaves and get drunk with the drunkards. At that point, the lord will return when the slave is not expecting him and catch him engaging in selfish behavior. When that happens, the master will cut the slave into pieces and throw him in with other hypocrites, into the place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Clearly, this prediction of the pain and sorrows of hell cannot be taken entirely literally; it is not likely sinners will be cut into pieces. This is the only place in Scripture where such a metaphor is used of human beings; otherwise, it refers to sacrificed animals. The idea, however, is that pain (cf. 18:34) will be experienced and one will be spending eternity with people (hypocrites) whom one generally avoided in his lifetime.

God has designed this universe so that death is both sure and unsure. Death is sure in the sense that all living beings are going to die at some point. Genesis 5 illustrates that and Hebrews 9:27 states it emphatically. God has designed humans in a physical way so that death will come. It is important to know that, so that man can be prepared to stand before the judgment throne of God and be prepared to give an answer for how he or she lived their life here on earth (2 Cor. 5:9-10).

Death is also unsure relative to when it will happen for each of us. God does not intend humans to serve him only out of fear of death. If humans knew when Jesus would return, we would not serve Him out of love. We would serve ourselves up until the very last minute and then we would “convert” in order to avoid hell. There is no indication in Scripture that we might know when each of us will die nor that God Himself has chosen a specific time for each of us to die. Thus, God has designed, in His wisdom and power, a world in which death is both certain and uncertain.

APPLICATION:
In contrast to the destruction of Jerusalem, which had signs which would warn the Christians to flee Jerusalem, the second coming of Christ will have no signs. He will come physically as a thief in the night: 1 Thess. 4:14-18; 5:2, 4; 2 Peter 3:10. See also 1 Cor. 15:58; 2 Cor. 5:9-10; 1 Thess. 5:8-11; 2 Thess. 2:13-15. Notice the emphasis in this context relative to the second coming of Christ: verses 36, 42, 44, 50 and then 25:13. However, there is no verse which teaches Jesus will return to earth.

What do we learn from this parable?

1) Verse 45 - We need to be “faithful and sensible” as we serve Jesus Christ. In this verse, that is defined as being in charge of the Master’s household and giving Him His fruit at the proper time. This verse deals with the idea of stewardship. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:2 that it is “required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.” We will give an account to Christ for what He has given into our hands to use for His glory. We’ve been given time; we’ve been given money; we’ve been given other resources; we’ve been given skills. What we don’t want to happen is for Christ to return and find us “sleeping” on our resources and not using them for His glory. If Christ “catches” us using our stewardship wisely, then we will be “blessed.” Peter will write: “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).

2) Verse 46 - To reemphasize this point - the Master is coming when we do not expect Him. Christians need to be prepared every moment of every day in order to be alert when Jesus returns: 1 Cor. 16:13; 1 Thess. 5:6; 1 Peter 5:8.

3) Verse 47 - If the Master returns and finds His slave faithful, then He will “put him in charge of all his possessions.” That is a parabolic way of saying that we will receive even greater blessings in the life to come than Christ has given us here on earth. In the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:23, Jesus has the Master tell His faithful servant: “You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your Master.” Yes, Jesus has greater blessings prepared for us. He told Peter in Matthew 19:29 - “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”

4) Verse 48 - It is an evil servant who reasons that the Master will delay His coming. Peter had to deal with scoffers in the latter days who argued that Jesus had not come back, therefore He was not coming back (2 Peter 3). We have a parable in America: “When the cat’s away, the mice play.” God is testing our faithfulness to His word by delaying the coming of Christ. It is a fool and an evil person who thinks that just because Christ has not returned, they have freedom and license to live as they please.

5) Verse 49 - Under the influence of false theology - “Jesus will not return for a long time” - this evil slave begins to beat his fellow slaves and to engage in hedonistic - that is self-serving - behavior, including getting drunk with drunkards. Jesus condemns going to drinking parties (1 Peter 4:3 - “For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.”) This evil servant does not care whom he hurts or what he does, because he has convinced himself that he has all the time in the world before the Master returns.

6) Verse 50 - The Master returns at an hour and on a day when the slave does not expect. That’s part of the reason why we know that Premillennialism is wrong, because the 7 years of tribulation would indicate Christ was returning soon. The rise of the so-called AntiChrist would let us know that Christ was returning soon. When I was in high school, some misguided and uninformed Protestants put out a little booklet titled “88 Reasons Why the Rapture will be in ’88.” Well, needless to say, these men proved themselves to be false teachers. Jesus is coming when no one will expect Him. That’s the point of this parable and of the Parable of the Ten Virgins in chapter 25.

7) Verse 51 - Hell is going to be painful. That’s the idea behind this evil slave being “cut in pieces.” Hell is going to be the residence of evil and wicked people. The type of people that you normally avoid at all costs on time’s side of eternity. But hell is filled with hypocrites. Note that this term, referring to the inhabitants of hell, shows that these people acted like they were followers of the Master - these are religious people. They acted like they were Christians. They talked like Christians. They smelled like Christians. But they were hypocrites. Why? Because they did not follow the commands of Christ out of a pure heart and a sincere faith. The conscious pain of hell is also illustrated by the phrase “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” This is a phrase used 7 times out of the mouth of Jesus, 6 times are in Matthew. Hell is certainly a place where a clear-thinking person does not want to go.

Take home message: If we don’t want to go to hell, we need to be good stewards of the resources Jesus has given to us.