Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew Mark and Luke John Calvin
Luke 17:7-10
Luke 17:7-10
Luke 17:7-10
7. But which of you that hath a servant ploughing or feeding, when he hath returned from the field, will immediately say to him, Come 922 and sit down at table?
8. And doth not rather say to him, Prepare supper for me, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunk, and, after that, eat and drink thou. 923 9. Doth he thank that servant, 924 because he did the things which were commanded him? I suppose not. 10. So likewise, when you shall have done those things which were commanded you, do you say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done what we were bound to do.
The object of this parable is to show that God claims all that belongs to us as his property, and possesses an entire control over our persons and services; and, therefore, that all the zeal that may be manifested by us in discharging our duty does not lay him under obligation to us by any sort of merit; for, as we are his property, so he on his part can owe us nothing. 925 He adduces the comparison of a servant, who, after having spent the day in severe toil, returns home in the evening, and continues his labors till his master is pleased to relieve him. 926 Christ speaks not of such servants as we have in the present day, who work for hire, but of the slaves that lived in ancient times, whose condition in society was such, that they gained nothing for themselves, but all that belonged to them—their toil, and application, and industry, even to their very blood—was the property of their masters. Christ now shows that a bond of servitude not less rigorous binds and obliges us to serve
God; from which he infers, that we have no means of laying Him under obligations to us.
It is an argument drawn from the less to the greater; for if a mortal man is permitted to hold such power over another man, as to enjoin upon him uninterrupted
922"Avance-toy incontinent;" — "come forward immediately." 923"Et apres cela tu mangeras et boiras;" — "and after that thou shalt eat and drink." 924"Scait-il gre a ce serviteur-la?" — "does he feel obliged to that servant?" 925"Il ne pent pas estre nostre deteur;" — "he cannot be our debtor." 926"Iusqu'a ce qu'il se soit acquitte au bon plaisir du maistre; et qu'on luy dise, C'est assez;" — "till he is discharged at the good pleasure of the master; and till he is told, It is enough."