SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/5/2024 10:16 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: PT-2
“The Responsibility They Received.”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
25:14-15
Message of the verses: “14 "For it
is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his
possessions to them. 15 "To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and
to another, one, each
according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.”
Notice the first highlighted part in verse 14 which
says that the slaves belonged him as their owner, and this reinforces the idea
that Jesus was illustrating the outward, organizational church, which is
composed of those who allege to belong to Him, and not to mankind in
general. We will find out later that
only two of these slaves truly belonged to Him.
MacArthur writes “Many people in the gospels are referred to as Christ’s
disciples although some of them proved to be false. Such were the disciples who were offended at
His teaching about eating His flesh and drinking His blood (see John
6:52-66). The traitor Judas not only is
called a disciple but an apostle (Luke 6:13-16). Even those false followers, by virtue of
being attached outwardly to the church, have been entrusted with certain of the
Lord’s possessions.”
Now in our last SD I mentioned about the fact that
all believers were slaves and even the Lord Jesus Christ was a slave: “5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was
also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not
regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking
the form of a bond-servant,
and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:5-7). Notice the word bond-servant which is the word doulos.
MacArthur writes Doulos, the
singular of slaves, was a general term that referred to any kind and level of
bondservant. It was used of common
laborers and menial household servants as well as of skilled craftsmen and
artists and highly trained professionals.
Their commonness was in being the personal property of their owners, who
often had the power of life and death over them.” I think that one of the most interesting
things that is said about the Lord Jesus Christ is found in this passage from Philippians
chapter two, as a part of this is quoted above.
Jesus Christ, Paul says became a bond-servant in order that all those
who believe in Him can one day serve Him in heaven.
In
the time when Jesus walked on the earth, the time of the Roman Empire there
were many, many slaves and some of them, as mentioned were household managers
and educated in order to be a part of the owner’s staff. MacArthur adds “Highly trusted slaves sometimes
had a virtual free hand within proscribed areas of responsibility even when the
owner was at home. When he left town for
any length of time, they acted almost in his full authority, having the
equivalent of what we now refer to as power of attorney. They were responsible for handling all the
assets and business operations of their owner for his benefit and profit.”
In
this parable that Jesus is using here had three such trusted slaves to whom he entrusted
certain of his possessions while he was away.
"To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one,
each according to his own
ability. Satisfied that his money
was in capable hands, he then went on his journey.
Lord willing in the next SD I will talk first of all
about how much money that he gave to each of these slaves to invest for
him.
3/5/2024 10:48 AM
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