Did Jesus Teach Us That We Are All Unprofitable Servants?

Every Christian will tell you that Jesus is the embodiment of righteousness, compassion and mercy. We all agree that his impact on the world came through his uncompromising actions of selfless love that led to sacrificing himself as a ransom for all of humanity. Couple these actions with his words of encouragement and uplift to any and all who would listen, and you have a model of how God’s love should unfold within humanity. It is with this resume in hand that we need to examine Jesus’ Parable of the Unprofitable Servant. It sounds like the exact opposite of all that Jesus stood for. In this parable, he seems to tell his followers that whatever they do in God’s service is what is expected of them and nothing more. What did Jesus mean? How does this harmonize with the rest of his teachings? There are a few places in the Gospels we can get a glimpse of Jesus being deeply engaged with crowds of people. In Luke 15, 16 and the first part of 17, Jesus was talking to such a crowd, and it was a very mixed audience. He was addressing the “sinners” and tax collectors, those who were considered undesirables in Jewish society. He was addressing Pharisees and scribes, those who were considered the elite of their society. And right in the middle of these two polarized groups, he was addressing his own disciples. Jesus took this opportunity and showed them all God’s grand plan of salvation and the roles they would play. How did he do this? He told stories. The Parable of the Unprofitable Servant would be the sixth and last of a series of stories that would paint a picture of each of these segments of society. For the tax collectors and sinners, his stories would be encouraging, as they would reveal how God loved them. The Pharisees and scribes found his stories offensive, as they were grossly misusing the privileges God had given them. For his disciples, his stories would be humbling, as they gave them a glimpse of the kind of responsibilities they would come to have relating to the gospel. This Parable of the Unworthy Servant was spoken directly to Jesus’ disciples. At first reading, it seems to come across as downright discouraging. He seems to be saying, “You are servants of God, and He has given you a long list of chores to do. Just do them and don’t expect to be thanked because they are your job!” Is this the message Jesus had for his disciples as he ended this time of teaching? Absolutely not! Check out our November 11, 2024 podcast, “Did Jesus Teach That We Are All Unprofitable Servants?” for more. We put this parable into its proper context and see how it was the outgrowth of all of Jesus’ other lessons. The lesson here was actually one of great hope and encouragement. Join us and find out what Jesus was really teaching!