Master and servant

To better understand the relationship between the Lord Jesus and His servants, we need to go back to the origins of the relationship between master and servant.

In ancient times, the only difference between a servant and an animal was that the former was rational and the later was not. A servant or slave did not have possessions, had no right to express his thoughts, nor did he have the right to make his own choices.

Thousands of years ago, there were various ways for a person to end up as a slave.

The first was the slave trade, in which servants were bought and sold as mere objects, and became the property of those who bought them. This is the case of the true servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, since He paid a price for us—not with money, but with His precious blood.

The apostle Paul explains it better: "For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s" (1 Corinthians 6:20).

The apostle John also said: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth" (Revelation 5:9,10).

As servants of hell, we were rescued when the Lord Jesus paid the price of His blood, making us kings and priests to God.

The second way for a person to become a slave in the past was by losing a war, whereupon prisoners of war were made into slaves.

The third method of becoming a slave took place at birth, because the children of slaves were automatically slaves themselves.

This last point leads us to reason that the children of those who serve the Lord Jesus should serve Him as well. And yet we see that many children of servants of the Lord (Christians) do not serve God because the personality and behaviour of their parents does not tie in with those of a good and faithful servant; when parents set good examples at home, their children become faithful followers of Christ.

The fourth way of becoming a slave in ancient times was by means of compensation. If a thief could not return or pay for what he had stolen, he could be sold into slavery. An amazing lesson can be learned from this fact: human beings are incapable of paying for their sins—unless they give their own lives to Jesus.

The fifth method was indebtedness. People who didn’t have money to pay off their debts would either sell their children into slavery, or their children would be confiscated by the money lender. In fact it was very common for the entire family of people who went bankrupt (husband, wife and children) to become slaves of their creditors. As long as the debt was paid, the level of sacrifice that people had to endure was not an issue. The situation of the widow who appealed to the prophet Elisha is an example of this. The passage reads:

"A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.'" (2 Kings 4:1)

According to the Law of Moses, a Hebrew slave had to work for six years to gain his freedom. When that period of time was finished, his master had to reward him with a certain amount of money so that he could begin a new life.

The sixth way of becoming a slave in ancient times was self-inflicted. A person could voluntarily sell himself into slavery to escape a life of misery. As in the previous example, after six years he would be free again and would leave with financial compensation from his master.

Likewise, many people volunteer to serve the Lord Jesus to escape the miserable life they are living, or to avoid the eternal lake of fire. However, after some time, they redeem themselves from the condition of servants of the Lord Jesus, seeking in the law of the world their right to some crumbles to begin a new life.

And finally, the seventh method: kidnapping. According to Moses’ Law, anyone who kidnapped and forced another into slavery was to be punished by death (Exodus 21.16). The brothers of Joseph, for example, were guilty of this crime, and they feared very much.

Whatever the method used to acquire servants (slave trade, debt payment, political imposition, etc), it didn’t give them any rights, only obligations. No wages or rewards. Masters would give their servants food, water, and time to sleep just so as they could gather strength to work the following day. Slaves worked non-stopping, and they had to be always available, whenever their masters needed them.

Jesus is only Lord over those who serve Him

Bishop Macedo