Luke 17:7 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Luke 17:7

Comments

What is the connection with the previous verse? It is that even though such faith exists in a believer and even though they are able to do such great things through faith, and remarkable things, they should still see themselves as servants, serving their master while they are on earth. Although Christ makes himself the servant of his disciples in another place, it is still true that a proper relation to him in this world makes us his servants. This fact safeguards our minds for it stops the achievements of faith – which are indeed wonderful – from going to our heads, which is a constant danger for believers.The illustration is of a servant in ancient times who has been working hard out in the fields – plowing or feeding the animals or doing other agricultural labour. He is tired from his day’s work, and comes in to his master’s house, and he would dearly like to sit down and rest and to feed himself, but he does not forget his position. He may be tired, he may be hungry, but he has further duties to carry out. This is not his house, but his master’s house, and he lives in it as a servant, so that his place there is dependant on his labour for his master. The master is not being cruel when he expects the servant to do more for him; there is a distinction between master and servant, and that distinction is not going to be forgotten by either of them. The servant is not a son but a servant. The master will certainly do what Christ suggests in verse 8. This is normal on earth, and in an age, less confused by egalitarian ideas of status, the Lord makes this a proper model for the outlook of the disciple. This sounds rather harsh at first, but it was the reasonable thing in context of those times. There he was off duty; nobody said, ‘Thank you very much; you need some rest of your own now.’ The meaning to us is this. Christ says, ‘If you believe in my power, I will enable you to do wonderful things, but don’t run away with wrong idea and think you can strut around the earth and command this and that. You are servants and you must serve me. It will be at the end of the day that I will treat you, and say to you, “You are mighty ones.”’

Application

It is true that believers have been adopted into God’s family, and given a privilege which cannot be measured, and which makes them more than servants. But while we are in the world, it is not good for us to forget that we are servants. Remembering that gives us a proper respect and reverence for our Lord, which would harm us greatly if it were not maintained. All the Lord’s love for us does not mean that he will allow this right relation to us to slip. Just as the servant is always on duty, and can only attend to himself when he has completed his day’s work for his master, so the believer is in this life constantly on duty and must never forget his duties to his heavenly Master. This is not due to the Master’s unwillingness to serve; Christ is indeed ‘meek and lowly of heart’. There is a wonderful promise in another place in which Christ tells us that in heaven there will be a transformation in this relationship. He says, ‘Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them’ (Luke 12:37). In the life to come Christ will reward us in ways that we cannot now imagine, but in this life it is for our good that we continue to see ourselves as servants, because of our tendency to be elevated in our minds.

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Luke 17:7 Commentary and Bible Study