But if that bondman should say in his heart, My lord delays to come, and begin to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and to drink and to be drunken,
The Lord has just described a faithful and wise manager put in charge of the household (v. 42). Now He fills the same post with a man who has given up on his master's return. One silent thought in the heart does all the damage that follows.
The verse names two crimes: cruelty to the other servants, and drunken indulgence. Neither is where the trouble began. Both are symptoms of something already settled within.
What is the poison in his wrong? What stamped him as "that evil servant"? His conduct certainly shows two fatal flaws. He beats his fellow servants. He eats and drinks with those who are drunk. He proudly lifts himself above those the Lord has put on the same level as himself. He also keeps company and shares fellowship with the world. But what marked the looseness and waywardness of his soul? That which was within led to these outbreaks of evil; for evil never begins in external conduct of any kind. The mischief is always within first.
A man may hold correct views about the Lord's return and still be this servant. What the Lord exposes is not a miscalculation but an unwelcome hope.
This is not a doctrinal mistake. That would be no small thing, since God's word and Spirit are given to direct us rightly. But the wandering of the "heart" is far more serious, and it comes too easily even where the doctrine is held. How sad is the state of a soul that does not want Christ's coming! That servant then does whatever his heart likes. In this way the hope loses its separating power, and its attraction to the One who is coming and to His word.
Love changes how long a wait feels. Jacob's seven years of service for his wife show it.
To say in the heart that the Lord delays His coming is a plain declaration, though a silent one. It says His coming is not wanted. It is not what rules the heart. The seven years Jacob served for his wife "seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her" (Gen. 29:20). His heart was in it, and the years fled as days. Love annihilated time... It is very clear that no such object governed the heart of the evil servant. He did not love his Lord, nor did he care for His coming.
Once the master drops out of view, the servant fills the empty place himself. Then he looks elsewhere for company.
Having no heart nor faith in Christ's coming, men were willing that it should be put off... The wish gave birth to the thought. In that state of feeling, people easily find circumstances to justify it. But the moral consequences are soon seen. With Christ's coming no longer before the eye, that servant before long began "to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk." On one side he developed a spirit of proud assumption and intolerance. On the other, a corrupting familiarity with the world.
Peter had asked who this parable was meant for (v. 41). The warning belongs to anyone who takes the place of a servant. The next verse decides what this man really is.
The word "unbelievers" here is the same one used in 1 Cor. 14:23. It is more a question of their conduct than of their creed: they may be ever so "orthodox." The word stands in contrast with the word "faithful," used of the steward in verse 42. So the Revised Version renders it "unfaithful." Notice Peter's question in verse 41. Notice too that the Lord is not speaking of a merely assumed position in the verse that follows. We have here a solemn Scripture for all who are engaged in His service, whatever group they belong to. The words admit of no softening.
Both servants eat and drink. The difference is when.
The false servant has his good time when he begins "to eat and drink and get drunk" (verse 45). It ends in disaster when his Master comes... The true servant waits for his Master, who will make him sit down to eat and drink and will be the Servant of his joy (verse 37). His good time will be then.
- Heart — The ruin starts with a silent thought. Nothing in the outward conduct came first.
- Hope — To call the Master late is to admit you do not want Him. Where love rules, waiting feels short.
- Harm — Once the hope goes, the servant turns on the other servants. He also grows at home with the world.
- Hollow — The failure is one of conduct, not creed. A man may be fully orthodox and still be this servant.
- Hereafter — Both servants get their feast. One takes it now and loses everything; the other waits, and the Master Himself serves him.
the lord of that bondman shall come in a day when he does not expect it, and in an hour he knows not of, and shall cut him in two and appoint his portion with the unbelievers.
Just before this, the Lord praised the servant who feeds the household while his master is away. Now He turns to the servant who told himself there was time to spare. The sentence falls on a man who still carried the name of servant. Why does the master arrive when he is not expected? And who are the "unfaithful" he ends up with?
The surprise in this verse is not an accident of timing. It grows out of the servant's own heart. He had already decided that his master's return was far off and unwelcome.
The trouble is not a doctrinal mistake, though that is no small thing where God's word and Spirit are meant to guide us. It is the far more serious wandering of the "heart," which comes all too easily where this teaching may be held. How sad the state of a soul where Christ's coming is unwelcome, and the servant does whatever his heart likes! In this way the hope loses its separating power, and its pull toward the One who is coming and toward His word. He turns violent against his fellow servants. They annoy him, while the world and its pleasures make pleasant company.
The servant cannot plead that he only held the position and never had the reality behind it. That plea is what condemns him.
People will be judged, not according to the power they have, but according to the PLACE they have taken. They cannot say, I have taken the place, but do not have the power, so you ought not to judge me. But you have taken the place. So you are responsible for the power. Otherwise you should not have taken the place. If a servant comes into your house and ruins all your goods, you judge him according to the place he has taken. So the professing church, or Christendom, has taken the place of Christianity without the power, and it is responsible for that. How can there be power where there is no life?
The servant in view had a job: handing out food at the right time. That makes the warning land first on those who stand up to teach others.
He speaks first of those who have accepted the duty of giving His household their portion of food at the right time (vv. 42-46). Anyone who does this faithfully and wisely, from pulpit or platform or anywhere else, is called "Blessed." His reward is so great. But suppose someone charged with such service says in his heart, "My Lord delays His coming." Suppose he then gives himself up to self-indulgence. His Lord will come upon him when he is not aware, and will assign him his eternal portion with unbelievers. An awful possibility for some who in our day stand forward as the public teachers of the flock of God!
To be cut in pieces and put with the unfaithful is more than punishment. The sentence shows what the man really was under the name he carried.
Whatever it professes, the heart of Christendom in that day will prove unbelieving. No disguises of creed or ritual, no activity, no zeal, will shield it from the just judgment of the Lord at His coming.
The word translated "unfaithful" is worth a pause. It names a lack, not a loud denial.
The Greek word is apistos, "not believing," and so an "unbeliever." … So the scriptural use of the term does not imply the denial of the truth of Christianity, in the way the word is commonly understood today.
Some read this verse as a Christian losing a place in the coming kingdom. Commentators reject that reading. They argue it from the sentence itself.
The matching parable in Matthew 24:48 shows that this is no case of a believer shut out. It is the case of an "evil" servant, a hypocrite. We need not even go beyond the rest of Luke's words to reach the same fact. Luke says his lord cuts him in two and appoints his portion with the faithless (apiston). Will the Lord deal so with anyone born of God? This is a far different lot from missing the reign while still blessed for eternity. No scripture assigns such a portion to a single Christian.
- Heart first. The collapse starts inside, with "My master is delayed." Only then does it show as cruelty to fellow servants and comfort with the world.
- Hope lost. Once a servant stops expecting Christ's return, the hope loses its separating power over his life.
- Place binds. Judgment follows the position a man has taken, not the power he claims he never had.
- Mask removed. Creed, ritual, zeal and activity shield no one. His coming exposes what the heart really was: unbelieving.
- Portion assigned. The end is not a believer losing reward. It is a false servant put with the faithless, where he always belonged.