Faithful and Wise with the Master’s People

Today’s reading is Matthew 25.

Jesus has been answering the question He asked back in Matthew 24:45: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant?” In this picture of judgment (Matthew 25:31-46), He highlights a third facet of loyalty to an absent master.

First, recognize this picture of judgment comes from Daniel 7:9-28. The Son of Man coming on the clouds to be given a kingdom. All nations, peoples, languages would serve Him. Judgment would fall on the nations and the “kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High” (ESV). Jesus also borrows from Ezekiel 34:11-31 in which God describes bringing back His scattered people from all the nations and judging between the sheep and goats.

Second, remember where this all began. In Matthew 24:45, Jesus had started this teaching by saying: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household to give them their food at the proper time?” (ESV). Do you see what the faithful and wise servant’s job is? His job is to feed the other servants. This picture of judgment Matthew 25:31-46 and the dividing line comes directly from the question Jesus asked.

Why would the slave of Matthew 24:45-51 act the way he did? Because the master is absent. He would never treat the master like this, beating him or giving the food that should be on the master’s table to drunkards. However, that is exactly what he is doing with the food allotted for the fellow servants while the master is away. Regrettably, more people today read this teaching about judgment in the context of modern debates about benevolence than in the context of Jesus’s actual sermon. Be clear, the New Testament teaches us Christians do good things for all people (Galatians 6:10). We need to be devoted to good works and be ready to help in cases of urgent need even within our earthly communities (Titus 2:14; 3:1-2, 14). We will love our neighbors, showing them mercy, in the same way we want to be loved by our neighbors, being shown mercy (Luke 10:24-37). However, this is not what Matthew 24:45-51 is about. Jesus is not teaching us that on the judgment day His one and only concern will be how those being judged treated the poor. He is, rather, explaining a third facet of loyalty to the absent master, but He is making it even more clear that the real Master is Him, the Son of Man, the King.

This is important first and foremost because folks will not enter the joy of their Master, if their Master is not Jesus. This teaching is about loyalty to Jesus not simply about being a likeable and kind person. In the same way that people can tell the truth for all kinds of reasons, people can be nice to others for all kinds of reasons. In the same way that people may avoid murder, theft, and adultery for all kinds of reasons, people may visit the sick and imprisoned for all kinds of reasons. This story of judgment is about doing these things out of loyalty to the Master. If people feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and come to the imprisoned to prove they are a better person than others, to honor the earth mother, or to store up good karma for a later life cycle, they will not enter the joy of the Master.

This is important for a second reason. Because Jesus’s point is about what loyalty to the Him looks like while He is absent. It means being wise and faithful with His citizens. Jesus is directly referring back to that slave who was supposed to provide the allotted food for his fellow servants. What that wicked slave didn’t realize was when he mistreated his fellow servants because they were the least, the last, and the lowly, he was actually doing that to the Master. When he gave his fellow servants the allotted portions, he was actually feeding his Master. We’d all feed Jesus if He walked in and said He was hungry. We’d all visit Jesus if He was carted off to prison. But what about that brother or sister who annoys us, who is always struggling financially, who always seems to stumble spiritually, who is a different color from us, who makes mistakes we’ve avoided, who is a different socio-economic class from us, who is a different political party from us, who…? You get the picture.

Those who are loyal to the Master while He is away are faithful and wise in the Master’s preparations, faithful and wise with the Master’s property, and, finally, faithful and wise with the Master’s people even though we can’t see our Master.

Will you be faithful and wise today?

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 25.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. Why are Christians tempted to mistreat, discount, ignore those who are “least” among us?
3. Do you know any of Christ’s lowly brothers and sisters that need help right now? How can you be loyal to Jesus by helping them this week?
4. What advice would you give to Christians to encourage us to always be loyal to Jesus by being loyal to His people, even the least, the last, and the lowly?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?

Faithful and Wise with the Master’s Property

Today’s reading is Matthew 25.

Jesus continues His deep dive into His question: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant?” (Matthew 24:45). Each of the teaching vignettes in Matthew 25 is exposing a facet of loyalty to an absent Master. The Parable of the Ten Virgins explained we practice loyalty by keeping up our preparations even when the Bridegroom is delayed. Now Jesus tells a story about another master going on a journey. The kingdom “will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.” Who is the faithful and wise servant? The one who is faithful and wise with the Master’s property. But what does that look like?

Jesus describes three servants: two are good and faithful, one is wicked and slothful. The important difference is not ability. Neither is it the amount of property the master invested. The difference is in action. The faithful and good servants are loyal to the absent master because they use the master’s property for the master’s benefit. The wicked and slothful servant was thinking only of protecting his own hide. He didn’t even do the most basic thing to provide his master some benefit, putting the talent in a bank.

Amazingly, the wicked and slothful servant seems to think he is somehow praising the master. That business about reaping where he didn’t sow and gathering where he didn’t scatter seed is, first of all, an interesting metaphor coming from a man who buried the master’s seed money in the ground. Further, it actually seems to be a statement of the master’s ability, strength, and power. He gathers fruit even when he didn’t plant any seeds. That’s pretty impressive. That being said, the one-talent man was afraid because he also believed the master was harsh, stubborn, merciless. In other words, this statement seems to be saying, “I was scared to lose what was yours, but I know you are powerful enough to get fruit even when you don’t sow seed. So, I buried your money. You have it back. Now you can make out of that whatever you want.” The sense we can get from this guy was as if he decided he of all the servants had figured out the real way to be loyal. It was like he thought they had been given a trick assignment, and he knew the right answer. However, he was wrong. Loyalty to the absent master means working with the property he gave to the servants in order to grow the master’s property.

Considering our service to our Master who has yet to return, this story reminds me of 1 Corinthians 4:7: “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” Everything we have and are actually belongs to Jesus. Our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our houses, our cars, our clothes, our jobs, our abilities, our money, our family, our friends, our congregation, our on and on and on all belong to Jesus. Why do we act like there are some things that are God’s and some things that are ours to do what we want with? Everything we have and are should be used for God’s glory and benefit. Consider also 1 Corinthians 3:5-15. We are workers planting and watering in the Lord’s field. We are workers on the Lord’s building. Our work may be gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, but we must work. We must not sit on what God has given us as if we are just going to give back to Him what He gave us in the end.

Recognize the main point here. Loyal servants word hard to increase their Master’s property, even when He isn’t around. Loyal servants don’t claim any of the return is their own. It is His. Even though the Master’s property increases because of their work, the loyal servants give it all to him. That is loyalty to the absent Master. Loyal servants grow the Master’s accounts, the Lord’s property, not their own. Wicked, slothful servants are more concerned about saving their own hide than benefiting their Master. But our Master doesn’t invest His property with us to hide and protect. He gives us His property so we will work, trade, grow, and provide a return on investment. And, please, don’t think this is about having a large stock portfolio when we die. Jesus won’t actually be looking for money when He returns. This is about growing His kingdom and spreading its borders here on earth.

Who then is the faithful and wise servant? The one who is faithful and wise with the Master’s property.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. What property has the Master given you?
3. Why is it so easy to neglect using the property the Master has given us for His benefit and instead just think about ourselves?
4. What do you think providing a return for our Master looks like?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?