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The Parable of the Faithful Servant (or Parable of the Door Keeper) is a parable of Jesus found in Matthew 24:42-51, Mark 13:34-37, and Luke 12:35-48 about how it is important for the faithful to keep watch.
Contents
In Matthew, it immediately precedes the Parable of the Ten Virgins, which has a similar eschatological theme of being prepared for the day of reckoning.
Narrative
In Luke, the parable is as follows:
"Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning. Be like men watching for their lord, when he returns from the marriage feast; that, when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord will find watching when he comes. Most certainly I tell you, that he will dress himself, and make them recline, and will come and serve them. They will be blessed if he comes in the second or third watch, and finds them so. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don't expect him."
Peter said to him, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everybody?"
Interpretation
In Matthew, the parable opens with the injunction: "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come" (Matthew 24:42). In other words, "the disciple must remain prepared for his Lord's coming, remaining alert and awake at his post." Even though there may be general signs of Jesus' Second Coming, the exact time is unknown. This is a theme which has also been discussed earlier in Luke 12. The reference to a wedding banquet in Luke 12:36 suggests a heavenly banquet, and recalls the parable of the Ten Virgins, which follows this parable in Matthew.
The second part of the parable includes a caution that much will be required of the person to whom much is given. J. Dwight Pentecost writes that this parable "emphasizes that privilege brings responsibility and that responsibility entails accountability." This applies particularly to religious leaders.
Jehovah's Witnesses identify the servant, which their translation of the Bible calls the "faithful and discreet slave", with their religion's Governing Body in its role of dispensing spiritual food to followers of Christ.
Hymns
The parable is the theme for several hymns, including Philip Doddridge's "Ye Servants of the Lord," which ends: