Concerning Offenses, Faith, and Service.

  6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou rooted up, and be planted in the sea; and it would obey you.tfg.cgi?section=T#">Section "The only real power of the universe," says Godet, "is the divine will. The human will, which has discovered the secret of blending with this force of forces, is raised, in virtue of this union, to omnipotence." But our distance from omnipotence measures how far we are from attaining that desired union of will. The sycamine tree is the well-known black mulberry tree, which belongs to the same natural order as the fig-tree, and is a tree distinguished for being deeply rooted.]

  7 But who is there of you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say unto him, when he is come in from the field, Come straightway and sit down to meat;

  8 and will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?

  9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded?

  10 Even so ye also, when ye shall have done all things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do.

[In this passage, which is in the nature of a parable, Jesus teaches that duty is coextensive with ability, and explodes the doctrine that it is possible for a man to do "works of supererogation." Since in God's sight no man can even do his full duty ( Psalms 143:2 ), it is impossible that he can do more than his duty. We may be rewarded for the discharge of our duty, but the reward is of grace and not of merit. Compare Luke 12:3-48 . The theme is no doubt suggested by verse 6. When one's faith endows him with great gifts he need not consider himself as an unusually profitable servant for he can do no more than it is his duty to do. Godet denies this connection with verse 6, contending that miracles are not among "the things that are commanded" in the terms of verse 10; but miracles were commanded, and for those who could bestow it, a gift of healing was as much an obligation as a gift of alms ( Matthew 10:8 ; Acts 3:1-6 ). The paragraph is a fitting close to a discourse so much of which relates to Phariseeism.]

  8 and will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?

  9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded?

  10 Even so ye also, when ye shall have done all things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do.