What is a Servant

What image comes to mind when you hear the word servant?

A waiter?

A butler?

A house cleaner

If that is what you are thinking of…then you are correct if you are thinking of a servant in our modern context.

The reality is that the world “servant”…has a very specific image in mind.

Servant

Paul presents himself as a servant of the Lord Jesus.

Romanos 1:1 NIV

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—

In this verse, Paul says - I am a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul was brought up in judaism.

He was a direct descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

When Old Testament believers heard the word “servant”, their minds would go to the Old Testament.

Servants were part of the household.

They were responsible for many duties ranging from house hold cleaning to farm work.

One could say that servants were “slaves” and belonged to their master.

This may be very surprising for many of us; specially those of us that learned about the practice of slavery in the United States and around the world.

We are familiar with chattel slavery. Chattel slavery is the idea that you can buy and sell people.

Because they are your property you can do with them as you wish.

This evil / demonic idea goes against the Word of God.

Servants in the bible were to be taken care of, respected, and protected.

They could not be mistreated. Otherwise, you would be sinning against God.

In Paul’s mind, he sees himself as a servant of the Lord Jesus.

The Lord Jesus is his master…and he is a servant / a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He lives to serve his master and savior Jesus Christ.

Paul, who had a good grasp of the Old Testament was familiar with the laws regarding servants.

God revealed to Moses that servants could belong to their master for only six years.

On the seventh year, servants must be set free.

If the servant married and had children, then on the seventh year he could go free but the woman and children would remain.

One reason is that it ensured that the woman and children would be financially taken care of by remaining in the household.

However, the servant could decide to stay for life:

Éxodo 21:5–6 NIV

5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

Notice, that the servant’s decision was based on love for his master.

He loved his master, his wife, and children so much that he cannot imagine a life without them.

So, Paul is a servant to the Lord Jesus:

Voluntarily

Driven by love for the Lord Jesus

Committed completely to serving the Lord all the days of his life; because he cannot imagine a life without his savior.

Let’s pray that we may understand what it means to be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ - someone that serves the Lord Jesus motivated by love for the Savior.

Our Father, we are your servants. We realize that you are a most gracious and loving master who delights in blessing his servants. We come before you this day recognizing that everything we have and everything we are is due to your tender care for your people. Teach us how to serve you, how to live for you each and every day. That we may learn what it means to be a servant who loves their master; in Jesus name we pray, Amen.