The Parable of The Faithful Servant

Luke 12:35–48, taken from the NIV;

35"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? 43It 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.



There are two parts to this parable. In the first, Jesus tells us to be like the servants that wait diligently for their master to return so they can let him in, and we're told of how they will be rewarded for doing so. The emphasis here is that they don't know when the master will return, emphasised further by the fact that if the owner of the house knew when the thief would arrive, he would not be broken into. We do not know when Christ will return, and so we are told we must be ready at all times. Details of exactly what this means can be found elsewhere in the new testament, particularly in the epistles, but at the moment we're concentrating purely on the meaning of the parables.

The disciples then ask who the parable is directed to, and the master answers by talking about the manager. Does this manager represent the church, while the servants in question are the unsaved? When Christ talks of the manager giving out the food allowance, is he perhaps talking about reaching out to the lost? The true christian does God's work on earth and is rewarded for it. The bad manager in this case may represent the false converts, those who would claim to know Christ but do not. They're hypocrites, and ignore God's laws as it suits them. And when the master returns and finds them wanting, they will surely be punished.