The Parable of the Watchful Servants - Term Paper Example

The Parable of the Watchful Servants A disciple of Jesus Christ must always be watchful and be ready for His second coming. This paper aims to answer the following questions: (a) What precedes and follows the passage of the Parable of Watchful Servant? Is your passage affected by this context?  (b) What is the literary form of your text? Are there other places in the Bible (or related text) where this form is used and which help to interpret your passage? (c) Do you detect any particular structural pattern? (example: parallelism with other books of the Bible or is you passage a stand alone passage etc.) (d) Has your passage come through the editorial process? What changes have been made? Explain why possible changes have been made?  (e) What are the theologically important words in your passage? Do these words evoke any other parts of the Bible? Are these words used in a new way by the author of this passage? What does the word or words mean?  (f) What does this passage say about a relationship with God?  What questions might this passage have addressed in the community for which it was originally addressed?  Context The passage which proceeded from the Parable of the Watchful Servant pertains to the Parable of Rich Fool. This verse in Luke 12: 13-21 forewarned believers not to covetous to mundane and material abundance because God is not interested about how much wealth was reaped from this world but how much spiritual wealth one was able to nurture. Didn’t it was clearly pronounced when he asked “what profit a man if he earns the whole world but loses his own soul (Mark 8:36)?” The parable of the Watchful Servant was also connected to the succeeding paragraph which explicated the need for those enriched to care for those who are deprived as enshrined in Luke 12: 22-29. The verses ask the rich to not just enjoy once abundance in life by eating, party-making and merrying but rather by engaging in a more meaningful act of sharing such abundance to those who are hungry, deprived and impoverished. Such mundane richness is neither the measure of man’s person nor of Christian’s value. Man should transcend the richness reaped from for mundane causes and must rather prepare his soul with values to please God because He will not be fascinated to recognize the possessions generated from the earth which always corrupt the person and his spirit. The biblical text called on the followers to treasure those that could permeate him to enjoy the Kingdom in heaven. Thus, the passage encourages those who earned more to give alms and to share because life is more than the flesh and more than just meat. It’s therefore primordial to “seek first the Kingdom of God because all things shall be added unto you (Luke 12:31).” The Parable of the Watchful Servant is followed by the verses on The Unfaithful Servant (Luke 12:41-48) and I quote: Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more (Luke 12:41-48). What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with holy angels (Mark 8:36-38 ). The parable was addressed to the faithful and the wise manager and it extolled those servants who work to prepare for the coming of his master. This servant in this verse refers to the believers. It explicated that those who are unquestionably sowing faith to the Lord are those are most secured of the blessings of God. The passage of the Parable of Watchful Servants is not affected in context. This all correlate with each other as Luke 12 was deliberating about the caution against hypocrisy. The disciples of Jesus Christ are perceived to be preparing constantly upon the Christ’s second coming. The date is maybe unknown and that event could happen anytime, but the watchful servant always acts, behaves, works, and exemplifies the Christian values to please the Lord. As the Lord is perceived to come like a thief of a night, those servants who remained watchful in waiting can promptly open the door for the Master. The Lord will serve them with the meal He prepared and these servants will be surely blessed. On the other hand, the lesson derived from this verse is similar to the teaching in Mathew 25:1-13 which relates about the Parable of The Five Foolish and The Five Sensible Girls (“The Ten Virgins”). Form Criticism The verses of the Parable of the Watchful Servant are symbolic in form expressed in a combined text of proverbs and hymns but wholly constitute a narration of belief of Jesus’ second comings. Thus, this shouldn’t be understood from its textual meaning per se. It necessitates to be separated in phrases and lines to fully understand it meaning. It also needs to be understood from the contextual vantage and whom these messages are addressed to lessen interpretative confusion. Sometimes, the verses need to be explained in relation to other scriptural writings to understand the proverbs, hymn or narration wholly. This matter about the servants to be ready at all time is also explained in 1 Thessalonian 5:2 and in Matthew 24: 36-39; 24:42 and I quote, “the Lord will come like a thief in a night. His coming is also described in Luke 21: 25-28 which stated, “there will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (1 Thessalonian 5:2). This is further affirmed in Matthew 24: 36-39: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24: 36-39) Therefore “keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42). Thus, the servants and His believers are promised to have a room and to be quenched from anxiety being consoled by Saint John in Chapter 14 verses 1-4 “do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going (John: 14:1-4)." The servants are also asked to repent and to return back into the hands of God and to abide to the Christian values while waiting for His second coming. This is expressed fully in Acts 3:19-21, and I quote: “repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that time of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you - even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.” Further, the servants are also asked to bear humility and patience in 1 Corinthians 4:5 and in Philippians 1:10. The verses stated, “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God (1 Corinthians 4:5). So that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:10).” Thus, servants are mandated to express this faith in every Eucharistic celebration where they professed their belief by “whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:26). Structure In my humble opinion, the passage is not a composition of verses that stands alone. It relates so much to other verses that discussed about the nature and details about the second coming of Jesus Christ. As can be gleaned from the explication done in Question B, the verses in Luke 12 are related to other verses professed by other disciples or in in other chapters of the Scriptures. This is further bolstered in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-5:4, and I quote: “According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of god, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief (Thessalonians 4:15-5:4).” At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens (Mark 13:26-27). There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:25-28). It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed (Luke 17:28-30). I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8). Thus, in the Parable of Watchful Servants, part of the preparations is to preach the words of the Lord and to be prepared in all season. This is stated in 2 Timothy 4:1-2 and Mark 13:35-37, I quote, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage- with great patience and careful instruction (2 Timothy 4:1-2.” Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back - whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!' (Mark 13:35-37) The servants are commanded to be watchful and to adhere to the values of ungodliness and to free selves from the mundane wants, “’No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (Titus 2:12). For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done (Matthew 16:27). But while I found the parable as deep correlation to other teachings of disciples, there is a theologian who professes that the parable has no parallelism in other Gospels. This was however reverted in the assertion that there are structural parallelisms in Luke 10:25 and Luke 18:18 where a rich man asked Jesus, “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” to which the man answered himself, “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbour as yourself (Luke 10: 27).” These have structurally provided balance and holistic context to understand why and how all disciples and servants should be working patiently for His return. Redaction Dyer (2012) pointed that Luke’s verses provided strong emphasis about the works of the disciples and the miracles drawn with their engagement in preaching the identity of Jesus Christ in a redactional fashion due to how the verses were structured by the writer. Dyer (2012) assailed that that there was deletion or omission of Mark 6:45–8:26. In the mid part 20th century, redaction criticism has been utilized for biblical criticism which put into question the legitimate approach of biblical narratives although the process adopted in redaction criticism has also been charged ‘bankrupt’ because the verses are attacked through demystifying the suppositions and structural composition of the verses (Sweeney, 1999; Tucker, 1971; Tan, 2001; Thomas & Farnell, 1998). Using the tool sensitively, the scriptural text can be subjected to historical, assessments and methods in addressing Luke’s narratives (Streeter, 1924; Talbert, 1982). Dyer (2012) pointed that Hanz Conzelmann have subjected Luke’s verses generally looking at Luke’s theology as historical text as he wrote and spoke of the Israelian epoch, Jesus Ministry, and the period following Christ’s ascension. Dyer (2012) also cited Joseph Grassi who interpreted the meaning of bread based on the relation of Peter and the twelve disciples as successor of the role of Christ. Laymon states that “Luke’s source is Mark 12:28:31. Whereas Mark has the question raised by a scribe, Luke mentions a lawyer.” He continues, “The question for Luke concerns eternal life rather than the foremost of the commandments…which changes the material and makes it more relevant to Hellenistic readers, who knew little about the scribes and cared less about Jewish law.” Laymon also reminds us that “keeping the law was essential to eternal life” as presented in Leviticus 18:5 and that “Luke has the lawyer, instead of Jesus, answer the question about [what was written in the law]” There are not many changes in the narratives of the Luke except for editorial concerns and translation of words to make it more understandable and easy for interpretation. The changes are reflected in the varied translation and edition of the Bible. Religious scholars have associated meaning to some texts here (Sewell, 2012). The Lord refers to Jesus Christ and the marriage feast refers to the ascension of Jesus. The coming is certainly referring to the ‘second coming’ and the phrase ‘loins girded, lamps burning’ is understood as the ‘faithful Christian service (Sewell, 2012).’ The servants are the believers of Christian faith who are religiously practicing their faith for the unknown and indeterminate coming of Christ (Sewell, 2012). This verse of the Scripture taught us to be constantly ready of the second coming of Jesus Christ although no time could ascertain that. As He has ascended to Heaven and has returned to His Father, He is perceived to be enjoying still the feast with God the Father. Theological analysis The Parable of Watchful Servant resonate our relation with God as His children hoping for salvation and enjoyment of His Kingdom in exchange for unquestioning devotion as His servants and instruments of goodness. The scripture asked us to transcend the material abundance and to correct greediness; wanting us to prepare for His second coming and for the Kingdom in heaven. The passage was originally addressed in Israelian context to answer the need for servants not to be led falsely to the mundane concerns but to be more concern in preparing self for the hereafter (Sewell, 2012). Works Cited Sweeney, M. A. Form Criticism. To Each Its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and Their Applications. Rev and exp. Edited by Steven L. McKenzie and Stephen R. Haynes. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1999. pp. 58-89. Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2007. Sewell, J. C. The Parable of the Watchful Servants. Landmark Publications, Inc., Maynor Avenue, Nashville, USA. 2012. http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com/data/Lesson150.pdf Accessed: August 6, 2012. Streeter, B. H. The Four Gospels: A Study of Origins, Treating of the Manuscript Tradition, Sources, Authorship, and Dates. London: Macmillan, 1924. Talbert, C.H. Reading Luke: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the Third Gospel. New York: Crossroad, 1982. Tan, R. J. K. Recent Developments in Redaction Criticism: From Investigation of Textual Prehistory Back to Historical-Grammatical Exegesis? JETS 44, 2001; 599–614. Thomas, R. L. and Farnell, F. D. The Jesus Crisis: The Inroads of Historical Criticism Into Evangelical Scholarship. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1998. Tucker, G. M. Form Criticism of the Old Testament. Guides to Biblical Scholarship. Edited by J. Coert Rylaarsdam. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971. Crossway. Luke 12: 13-2, Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2007. Crossway. Luke 12: 22-29, Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2007 Crossway. Luke 12:31, Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2007 Crossway. Luke 12:41-48, Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2007 Crossway. Luke 12:41-48, Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2007 Crossway. Mark 8:36-38. Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2007. Crossway. Matthew 24: 36-39; 24:42. Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2007. Crossway. 1 Thessalonian 5:2. Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2007. Crossway. John 14: 1-4, Holy Bible: English Standard Version, 2007 Read More