But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?

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;

But which of you having a servant ploughing, or feeding cattle, will say to him, when he is come from the field: Immediately go, sit down to meat:

But which of you is there who, having a bondman ploughing or shepherding, when he comes in out of the field, will say, Come and lie down immediately to table?

But which of you having a servant plowing, or feeding cattle, will say to him immediately, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to eat?

But, who is he of you, having a servant ploughing or feeding, who, to him having come in out of the field, will say, Having come near, recline at meat?

But which of you who has a servant ploughing, or tending sheep, will say to him when he comes in from the farm, 'Come at once and take your place at table,'

But which of you, having a servant who is ploughing or keeping sheep, will say to him, when he comes in from the field, Come now and be seated and have a meal,

But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, would say to him, as he was returning from the field, 'Come in immediately; sit down to eat,'

Which of you, if he had a servant ploughing, or tending the sheep, would say to him, when he came in from the fields, 'Come at once and take your place at the table,'

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. [1] 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. [2] 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 services by night and by day, and yet contract no sort of mutual obligation, as if he were that man's debtor, how much more shall God have a right to demand the services of our whole life, to the utmost extent that our ability allows, and yet be in no degree indebted to us? We see then that all are held guilty of wicked arrogance who imagine that they deserve any thing from God, or that he is bound to them in any way. And yet no crime is more generally practiced than this kind of arrogance; for there is no man that would not willingly call God to account, and hence the notion of merits has prevailed in almost every age. But we must attend more closely to the statement made by Christ, that we render nothing to God beyond what he has a right to claim, but are so strongly bound to his service, that we owe him every thing that lies in our power. It consists of two clauses. First, our life, even to the very end of our course, belongs entirely to God; so that, if a person were to spend a part of it in obedience to God, he would have no right to bargain that he should rest for the remainder of the time; as a considerable number of men, after serving as soldiers for ten years, would gladly apply for a discharge. Then follows the second clause, on which we have already touched, that God is not bound to pay us hire for any of our services. Let each of us remember, that he has been created by God for the purpose of laboring, and of being vigorously employed in his work; and that not only for a limited time, but till death itself, and, what is more, that he shall not only live, but die, to God, (Romans 14:8.) With respect to merit, we must remove the difficulty by which many are perplexed; for Scripture so frequently promises a reward to our works, that they think it allows them some merit. The reply is easy. A reward is promised, not as a debt, but from the mere good pleasure of God. It is a great mistake to suppose that there is a mutual relation between Reward and Merit; for it is by his own undeserved favor, and not by the value of our works, that God is induced to reward them. By the engagements of the Law [3], I readily acknowledge, God is bound to men, if they were to discharge fully all that is required from them; but still, as this is a voluntary obligation, it remains a fixed principle, that man can demand nothing from God, as if he had merited any thing. And thus the arrogance of the flesh falls to the ground; for, granting that any man fulfilled the Law, he cannot plead that he has any claims on God, having done no more than he was bound to do. When he says that we are unprofitable servants, his meaning is, that God receives from us nothing beyond what is justly due but only collects the lawful revenues of his dominion. There are two principles, therefore, that must be maintained: first, that God naturally owes us nothing, and that all the services which we render to him are not worth a single straw; secondly, that, according to the engagements of the Law, a reward is attached to works, not on account of their value, but because God is graciously pleased to become our debtor. [4] It would evince intolerable ingratitude, if on such a ground any person should indulge in proud vaunting. The kindness and liberality which God exercises towards us are so far from giving us a right to swell with foolish confidence, that we are only laid under deeper obligations to Him. Whenever we meet with the word reward, or whenever it occurs to our recollection, let us look upon this as the crowning act of the goodness of God to us, that, though we are completely in his debt, he condescends to enter into a bargain with us. So much the more detestable is the invention of the Sophists, who have had the effrontery to forge a kind of merit, which professes to be founded on a just claim. [5] The word merit, taken by itself, was sufficiently profane and inconsistent with the standard of piety; but to intoxicate men with diabolical pride, as if they could merit any thing by a just claim, is far worse.

Footnotes

1 - "Il ne pent pas estre nostre deteur;" -- "he cannot be our debtor."

2 - "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."

3 - "Selon les conventions contenus en la Loy;" -- "according to the engagements contained in the Law."

4 - "Mais en telle sorte que Dieu se rend volontairement deteur, sans qu'il y soit tenu;" -- "but in such a manner that God voluntarily becomes our debtor, though he is under no obligation to do so."

5 - "Et d'antant plus est detestable la sophisterie des Theologiens Scho- lastiques, ou Sorbonnistes, lesquels ont ose forger leur merite, qu'ils appellent De condigno;" -- "And so much the more detestable is the sophistry of the Scholastic Theologians, or Sorbonnists, (see [14]p. 142, n. 2, of this volume,) who have dared to forge their merit, which they call De condigno." The reader will find not only the general doctrine of merit, but this particular aspect of it, fully treated by our Author in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III. ch. 15:

Having a servant - This parable appears to have been spoken with reference to the rewards which the disciples were expecting in the kingdom of the Messiah. The occasion on which it was spoken cannot be ascertained. It does not seem to have any particular connection with what goes before. It may be supposed that the disciples were somewhat impatient to have the kingdom restored to Israel Acts 1:6 - that is, that he would assume his kingly power, and that they were impatient of the "delay," and anxious to enter on "the rewards" which they expected, and which they not improbably were expecting in consequence of their devotedness to him. In answer to these expectations, Jesus spoke this parable, showing them,
1. That they should be rewarded as a servant would be provided for; but,
2. That this was not the "first" thing; that there was a proper "order" of things, and that thus the reward might be delayed, as a servant would be provided for, but at the proper time, and at the pleasure of the master; and,
3. That this reward was not to be expected as a matter of "merit," but would be given at the good pleasure of God, for they were but unprofitable servants.
By and by - This should have been translated "immediately." He would not, "as the first thing," or "as soon" as he returned from the field, direct him to eat and drink. Hungry and weary he might be, yet it would be proper for him first to attend upon his master. So the apostles were not to be "impatient" because they did not "at once" receive the reward for which they were looking.
To meat - To eat; or, rather, place thyself at the table.

Which of you, having a servant - It is never supposed that the master waits on the servant - the servant is bound to wait on his master, and to do every thing for him to the uttermost of his power: nor does the former expect thanks for it, for he is bound by his agreement to act thus, because of the stipulated reward, which is considered as being equal in value to all the service that he can perform.

(4) But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?
(4) Seeing that God may rightfully claim for himself both us and all that is ours, he cannot be indebted to us for anything, although we labour mightily until we die.

But which of you having a servant ploughing,.... In order to keep the disciples humble in the performance of such miraculous works; and that they might not imagine they could have any thing at the hands of God by merit; and to excite them to go on from one duty to another; and never think they have done, or done enough, or more than what is their duty, Christ delivers the following parable.
Which of you having a servant ploughing, or feeding cattle; or "sheep", as the Syriac and Persic versions render it; or a "ploughman", or a "shepherd", as the Ethiopic version; which are both servile works, and done in the field: not that the disciples had any such servants under them, though the words are directed to them, for they had left all, and followed Christ; nor were they brought up to husbandry, but most of them in the fishing trade; Christ only puts this for instance, and supposes such a case:
will say unto him by and by; or straightway, immediately, directly,
when he is come from the field; and has done ploughing, and feeding his cattle, sheep, or cows, or whatever they are; as soon as ever he comes home; or "first", as the Persic version; the first thing he shall say to him, upon his return from thence,
go; to the other side of the room, and to the table there ready spread, and furnished; or "go up", as the Arabic and Ethiopic versions render it; go up to the upper room where they used to dine or sup; see Luke 22:12 or "come in", as the Persic version renders it; and which some learned men observe, is the sense of the Greek word here used; come into the house,
and sit down to meat? or fall, and lie down on the couch, as was the custom in those countries at eating.

say unto him by and by--The "by and by" (or rather "directly") should be joined not to the saying but the going: "Go directly." The connection here is: "But when your faith has been so increased as both to avoid and forgive offenses, and do things impossible to all but faith, be not puffed up as though you had laid the Lord under any obligations to you."

Who is there of you? This parable is drawn from the Eastern usages where the same servant who works in the field often serves at the table.
Gird thyself. The loose flowing garments needed to be girded up by the belt when one was serving.
We are unprofitable servants. Our Master owes us no thanks when we serve him faithfully, for we have only done our duty. The heavenly reward to the faithful is of grace, not of debt (Romans 11:6).

But which of you - But is it not meet that you should first obey, and then triumph? Though still with a deep sense of your utter unprofitableness.