Contentment in a Kingdom of Slaves: The Dutiful Servant (Luke 17:7-10)

05/07/21 • 71 min

Did Jesus condone slavery? In the sixth episode of "Stories for the Waiting Room," Mark and Lee discuss one of the more difficult lessons Jesus teaches his disciples. While on his way to Jerusalem to die, Jesus tells them a story about a Dutiful Servant whose day begins and ends with labor performed at a nameless owner's behest in Luke 17:7-10. At the parable's conclusion Jesus offers the following bit of instruction: "So also you, whenever you have done all the things you’ve been instructed to do, you should say 'We are useless slaves. We’ve only done what we should’ve done.'" To help form a suitable response , Dr. Proctor examines three contexts for Luke's challenging similitude: 1) slavery in the Greco-Roman world, 2) the Stoic philosophy of Epictetus, and 3) Jesus' previous instruction in Luke 12:35-38.

Previous Episode

Matthew's Conjoined Fraternal Twins: Treasure in the Field and Pearl of Great Price in the First Gospel

The fifth episode of Stories for the Waiting Room investigates Matthew's treatment of the Treasure in the Field and the Pearl of Great Price. Dr. Proctor suggests both Matthew's arrangement of the two stories and his selection of Greek verb tense within them suggests the First Evangelist aimed to present the pair as a set of conjoined fraternal twins. The two parables in Matt 13:44-46 thus make separate points about the kingdom’s “hiddenness” and “costliness” that nevertheless entail one another. Should Matthew’s audience hitch their wagon to the message of either story, they will soon find its sibling’s twin claim in tow as well; for the stories’ proximity to one another and their structural similarity do not allow for their convenient separation. While all who locate the Kingdom of God's whereabouts should consider themselves fortunate, they must all pay a stiff fee to acquire it, one requiring they break from their morally suspect past.

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Joy in Recovering What’s Gone Missing: Lost Sheep in Thomas, Matthew, and Luke

In the seventh episode of "Stories for the Waiting Room," Mark and Lee take a look at the three versions of Jesus' parable of the Lost Sheep in the Gospel of Thomas 107, Matthew 18:10-14, and Luke 15:1-7. In each instance, the gospel writers use Jesus' story to address their respective theological concerns. In Thomas the parable affirms the good shepherd's love for wise disciples. Matthew instead presents the sheep not as the biggest of the bunch but as a vulnerable and immature member of the flock in need of the shepherd’s care and rescue. Finally, Luke uses the Lost Sheep story to cast Jesus' association with tax collectors and sinners as his attempt to encourage their repentance and bring joy to God in the process.