Luke 17.7-10
This is probably one of my favorite passages out of all the gospels, certainly my favorite out of Luke. It is essentially a summary of the Christian life. After a realization of the gospel, this passage epitomizes the work and life of a Christian.
Jesus compares the relationship of a slave and his master to that of a Christian and Christ. We are, in essence, slaves to Christ. At the same time we are adopted as sons of God, making Jesus our older brother. This brother relationship sounds strange, in fact to me, it is unfathomable. That the only begotten son of God would endure the just and furious wrath of the almighty God, so that we might be called sons of God, is beyond human comprehension.
One of the things that really amazes me is God’s wisdom. That sounds really, really stupid of me. I mean, of course everybody knows God knows everything and he’s wise and intelligent and all this stuff. But I think that all that has become somewhat cliche, and people don’t realize just how…. well, everything God is. But even that sounds cliche, and I don’t think it conveys the right message. What amazes me about God? His choice of grace over law. Again, this sounds so incredibly cliche, but I have never realized the extent to which this is HUGE. People talk about it all the time, but I’m only beginning to understand that I still have to start understanding.
God could have made a law that said, "If you do this, this, this, and this, then you have earned the right to enter my kingdom." The thing is, God couldn’t have gotten half as much milage out of us. If he had put in place a law, we could accomplish his law, and then we could do our own thing. We could aslo bend and twist the laws; not following God’s intention. But praise God! He provided a better way.
Because God’s adoption of us as sons is grace, we are under an obligation to him. Christ paid a debt that we could never have repaid; he took the righteous wrath. He suffered our eternal punishment in the span of a few hours. Now, we owe God everything. That doesn’t mean an hour of our life on earth each day, that doesn’t mean five hours out of each day, that means every single second of your life from the point where you have the revelation of the gospel. Jesus Christ paid such a huge debt for us, that even if we give our entire life, we can’t even begin to repay him for what he did. This is the reason Christians are insane, this is the reason they sing praises and hymns when they’re being burned alive, this is the reason that Christians rejoice in any and all suffering. Because we can never repay Jesus for what he did for us, so we do everything in our power to show our gratitude.
Jesus says in this passage of Luke 17:
"Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’?"
Jesus is our master. We have bound ourselves to him, because we know the grace that has been poured out in our lives. He gave us commandments to live by if we are to be called sons of God; he gave us a path to follow on this earth. It is just like the slave in the passage. We are out plowing the fields and tending the sheep of Jesus, we are preparing and protecting his bride, we are properly clothing ourselves to serve him, we are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. These are Jesus’ commandments to us. A command is not an option. When a king or emperor commands you something, there is no second option. And when you carry out the orders of a king, you don’t expect a reward. You have only done your duty.
"He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’"
Even when we carry out Jesus’ commandments to the letter, even when we give him everything we have, even when we are persecuted mercilessly with no reward on earth, still we must sing of God’s grace. We will never be able to even understand how big of a debt we owe to Jesus Christ. Chew on that next time you sit down to watch a movie or tv show, or next time you eat or drink, or next time you think anything about yourself and your deserts. God’s given you grace. Oh what a sweet word, grace. But what are you doing for God?