SERVANTS AND MASTERS (EPHESIANS 6:5-9)
https://bible.ryl.hk/web_en Grammar Bible (English)
https://bible.ryl.hk/web_Bah Tatabahasa Alkitab (Indonesian)
https://bible.ryl.hk/web_Esp Biblia de Gramática (Spanish)
https://bible.ryl.hk/web_Tag Gramatika Bibliya (Filipino)
https://bible.ryl.hk Chinese Bible (Chinese)
Positive Negative
1. faithful and wise servant Matt 24:45
2. good and faithful servant Matt 25:21, 23
3. servant of all Mark 10:44
4. good servant Luke 19:17
5. servant of Jesus Christ Rom 1:1
6. Christ's servant 1 Cor 7:22, Gal 1:10 Col 4:12
7. servants to righteousness Rom 6:19
8. servants for Jesus' sake 2 Cor 4:5
9. servants of Jesus Christ Phil 1:1, Jude 1
10. servant of the Lord 2 Tim 2:24
11. servant of God Titus 1:1, 1 Peter 2:16, Rev 7:3 1. wicked servant Matt 18:32,Luke 19:22
2. evil servant Matt 24:48
3. wicked and slothful servant Matt 25:26
4. unprofitable servant Matt 25:30
Luke 17:10
5. servant of sin John 8:34, Rom 6:17, 20
6. servants to uncleanness Rom 6:19
7. servants of men 1 Cor 7:23
8. servants of corruption 2 Peter 2:19
The Bible casts servants in positive and negative light. The positive and approved ones are listed as:
1. faithful and wise servant (Matt 24:45)
2. good and faithful servant (Matt 25:21, 23)
3. servant of all (Mark 10:44)
4. good servant (Luke 19:17)
5. servant of Jesus Christ (Rom 1:1)
6. Christ's servant (1 Cor 7:22, Gal 1:10 Col 4:12)
7. servants to righteousness (Rom 6:19)
8. servants for Jesus' sake (2 Cor 4:5)
9. servants of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:1, Jude 1)
10. servant of the Lord (2 Tim 2:24)
11. servant of God Titus 1:1, 1 Peter 2:16, Rev 7:3)
The negative and accused ones are labeled as:
1. wicked servant (Matt 18:32, Luke 19:22)
2. evil servant (Matt 24:48)
3. wicked and slothful servant (Matt 25:26)
4. unprofitable servant (Matt 25:30, Luke 17:10)
5. servant of sin (John 8:34, Rom 6:17, 20)
6. servants to uncleanness (Rom 6:19)
7. servants of men (1 Cor 7:23)
8. servants of corruption (2 Peter 2:19)
What kind of attitude, relationship and conduct do slaves and masters, employers and employees, supervisors and subordinate ought to have?? How can we glorify God in our work, no matter you are a superior or a subordinate?
Your Responsibility is to God
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,
Sophie, the scrub woman, was a Christian. One of the gentlemen in the large building where she worked said to her, ¡§Say, Sophie, I understand that you are a Christian.¡¨ ¡§Yes, sir, I am a child of the King,¡¨ was her immediate reply.
¡§Oh! So you must be a princess, since God is your King.¡¨ ¡§I sure am.¡¨
¡§Well, if God is your Father, and you are a princess and a child of the King, do you not think that it is beneath your dignity to be found here in New York City scrubbing these dirty steps?¡¨ Not being daunted Sophie replied, ¡§There is no humiliation whatsoever. You see, I am not scrubbing these steps for my boss, Mr. Brown. I am scrubbing them for Jesus Christ, my Savior!¡¨ (from Illustrations of Bible Truths # 118)
The word ¡§slaves/servants¡¨ occurs three times in five short verses (vv 5, 6, 8). Servants have a double identity, servants (v 5) and servants of Christ (v 6). Their job at hand is to serve their masters, but their joy in life, however, is to serve the Lord. The verb ¡§obey¡¨ (hupakouo) is an imperative. It comes from two words, the prefix ¡§under¡¨ (hupo) and the verb ¡§akouo¡¨ or ¡§hear.¡¨ In both passages where servants are commanded to obey the Lord, it is always after the imperative for children to obey their parents (Eph 6:1, Col 3:20), so it is not a harsh, horrible or hurtful thing to do.
Technically ¡§obey¡¨ means to ¡§hear¡¨ + ¡§under¡¨ someone. It is an arrangement, an attitude and an awareness rather than ability, authority or aristocracy. To hear means respect, respond and regard in contrast to reject, retaliate or revere. Your ¡§masters¡¨ are plural, in contrast to the ¡§Lord¡¨ who is singular, but the word is the same in Greek. They are your superiors and supervisors, but they are not superior or supermen.
Earthly masters (v 5) are contrasted with Master in heaven (v 9). Respect and fear (v 5) is fear and trembling in most versions (KJV, NASB, RSV, ESV). Fear and trembling is an attitude. Fear is on the inside but trembling appears on the outside. The point is to be dutiful, distinguished, dignified and disciplined, and not discourteous, disrespectful, or distressed either.
The noun ¡§heart¡¨ appears twice in verse 5 and 6, ¡§sincerity of heart¡¨ and ¡§doing the will of God from your heart.¡¨ The noun sincerity is translated as simplicity (Rom 12:8), liberality (2 Cor 8:2), bountifulness (2 Cor 9:11) and singleness (Eph 6:5). It can mean one (singleness) and plenty (bountifulness).
The choice of eye-service is fantastic because ¡§service¡¨ is derived from the same word as ¡§servants.¡¨ It means bondage or slave to the eyes, not in contrast to the heart. Eye includes sight, status or stimulus. Men-pleaser, on the other hand, it could go both ways. It could be a way to encourage servants not to do too hard to overstate their loyalty, kowtow to them or curry their favor.
Your Reward is in Heaven
8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
¡§Work,¡¨ as Henry Drummond said on the death of his friend John Ewing, of Melbourne, ¡§is given man, not only, nor so much, perhaps, because the world needs it, but because the workmen need it. Men make work; but work makes men. An office is not merely a place for making money; it is a place for making men. A workshop is not a place for making machinery only; it is a place for making souls, for filling in the working virtues of one¡¦s life; for turning out honest, modest and good-natured men.¡¨ (More Toasts, Gertrude Stein)
Here Paul cleverly inserts ¡§slave or free¡¨ into the verse. This part, while intended for servants ¡V slave or free servants, had implications for masters and owners who are free, too; therefore masters are not excluded.
The verb ¡§reward¡¨ in verse 8 is ¡§receive¡¨ in KJV. It has a connotation of to tend, i.e. take care of, but it is not about cash or compensation but comfort and compassion. Nor is it about money, but mercy. It is not about pay or promotion but His provision and praise. The motivation for service is not gain, gift or goodwill from one¡¦s master but the Lord who is our master, maker and mediator, as well as Savior, Shepherd and Servant of all. Our main purposes in life is not to be happy, make money and live long, but to love, glorify and serve the Lord.
Our quality of service must be good (v 8), genuine and generous. Good means trustworthy, praiseworthy and noteworthy, in contrast to mediocre, inferior, substandard. The word ¡§that¡¨ (hoti) is a fact, not reason (gar). It is not a motivation or a mindset as much as a certainty and a confidence.
Your Restrain is for Sure
9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
One of the best bosses in the world is Bob Thompson who sold his road-paving company for $422m. What do you do with the money? He share $128m (23.2%) from the sale to his 550 employees. He and his wife made all his 80 senior managers millionaires overnight.
One of them, Russ Stafford, described how he and his wife opened his letter. ¡§Russ,¡¨ she told him. ¡§I think the commas are in the wrong place.¡¨ The Thompsons have given hourly paid workers $2,000 for each year of service, and salaried ones have received checks or annuity certificates which they could cash when they reached 55 or 60 - in lieu of a pension. Even their taxes were paid.
¡§For 40 years, we've asked the people to go out and perform as good or better than our competition, and they've done that,¡¨ says Thompson. ¡§Whether everybody does it or not, it is the right thing for us to have done, and these folks have earned it. And they deserve it.¡¨ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/boss-creates-550-instant-millionaires-1119243.html
The verb ¡§treat¡¨ or ¡§do¡¨ in Greek is an imperative in the present tense, which means ongoing and not once, continuing and never ceasing, and in this case, active and not passive. Do in the imperative is always in the active voice, never passive.
There are two ¡§how-to¡¨ participles or methods, of which the first is ¡§forbearing¡¨ in KJV but missing in NIV, which is translated as loose (Acts 16:26) or leave (Heb 13:5). It means letting go, losing, lacking threat and not lengthening, lessening or lightening threat. Threaten is a noun in Greek and not a verb. A threat could be physical, emotional or verbal, in the form of command, censure or coercion.
The second participle is knowing (not ¡§know¡¨ in NIV) that your Master is in heaven. Paul contrasted two things with verses 5 and 9, your masters (v 5) with your master (v 9); your masters according to the flesh (v 5) and your Master also is in heave (v 9).
Conclusion: Are you unhappy, unfulfilled, unproductive, unmotivated, unpleasant as a servant? Consider yourself a servant of Christ (Col 4:12), a servant of the church (Rom 16:1) and servant to all (1 Cor 9:19). In Christ you are no longer a slave or a servant, but a son of the King, a steward in His Kingdom, and a sharer in His kingship.
