Matthew 24:45-51
45
"Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time?
46
Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives.
47
Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions.
48
But if that wicked slave says to himself, "My master is delayed,'
49
and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards,
50
the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know.
51
He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus Christ told this parable to teach his disciples about the Second Coming of Christ and how God of Justice will judge the whole creation particularly people who were given responsibilites. This text clearly portrays the inseparable connection between word Faith and Faithfulness. Word faith and word faithfulness will go hand in hand. Faith in Christ always challenge us to be faithful in our daily living and in our responsibilities.
Be responsible and be blessed in the sight of the Lord.
Master entrusted one of the slaves the responsibility to provide the food to fellow slaves. He is one among them and here with a special task. Blessedness is the outcome of our response towards our responsibilities. It is not something which we can buy or earn but it will be given to those who are responsible. V.46,47 says if we are responsible we will be given more responsibilities by God.
Today is Decisive and Important.
Wise people think about today. Without today there is no tomorrow. Our response towards the challenges of today decides the destiny of the world tomorrow . We all are called to live today with God. Arrival of the master will be at the unexpected time and we will be rewarded according to our response towards our responsibilities. Addressing the realities of today are very important. Keep talking about the realities and engage in the process of divine responsibility.
Irresponsible and unwise actions will create a chaotic premise.
How the wicked slave was irresponsible?
- Divine community called to resist all materialistic, consumeristic and individualistic values.
- Divine community should uphold the vision of an alternate community(another world is possible)
- Nexus with the materialism and its agents will change the nature of divine community
2. Wicked slave took control over his fellow slaves and he did whatever he wants to do. Master was not in his imagination, perception, and actions.
- Divine community is not a privileged group but it is a responsible group.
- Divine community is called not to dominate but to extend love and equality
- Divine community is a God-centric community not self-centric Community
3. Wicked slave created an unjust premise. A violent, dominating, persecuting premise.
- Responsible community create a just premise where there is no violence
- A wicked community would like to create an unjust premise which will be violent and exploitative.
- Responsible community affirm peace but wicked community create violence
4. Wicked slave grabbed his fellow slaves' share.
- Wicked slave chose a life of eating and drinking which will be possible only by grabbing the resources of others
- Master entrusted some resources to the slave to distribute among among his fellow slaves. But through domination he grabbed the resources and used for consumeristic interests
- Wicked individuals, communities will create victims.
- In this parable wicked slave created an unjust premise and there by led a process of victimisation.
- Victims are the product of the unjust systems, individuals and communities.
Responsibility and Judgement.
There will be a judgement to the irresponsible and unfaithful servant. But responsible and faithful servants will experience the blessedness.
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