A Year in Luke/ActsНамуна

Gratitude is a theme in the first part of Luke 17.

The example of the slave or servant is not palatable or easy to understand for us as contemporary readers. It is important to remember that Jesus is not condoning the system that meant some were lesser than others. The whole message has been precisely the opposite. He is using this analogy to call out the people he is speaking to who did own slaves and felt they could use God in this way. The main point is this: we can never think that we have put God in our debt. If we have huge faith to uproot trees (using the analogy just before), we can never think that this means God “owes us.”