July 7, 2024

Matthew 24:45-46

⁴⁵ “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 

Jesus is coming back again. Either you believe this and hope for this, or you have no hope of being able to live a victorious Christian life. And in the middle of a very long and detailed teaching about the circumstances that will surround His return (His coming back again), Jesus gives a surprising detail that the majority of Christians have completely missed. Myself included!

I have heard quite a bit of end times teaching. And yet I have to tell you, I have never heard anyone bring out the detail that is in the original language of this passage. In fact, it actually surprised me to see it.

Jesus asks the rhetorical question about who is a “faithful and wise servant.” Of course, with a rhetorical question, He gives the answer. And every Christian ought to have the desire to be a person that Jesus is able to declare to be a faithful and wise servant.

If we were to read the following verses, it is evident that there are some servants who won’t be found faithful and wise, so the status of being a faithful and wise servant is not something that occurs automatically when we become born-again. This status actually requires our obedience to the directives of our Master, Jesus Christ.

God does not force Christians to be obedient. But only through obedience can we attain the status of a faithful and wise servant. And so a faithful and wise servant has made the choice to be faithful and wise.

It’s important to understand that this status has everything to do with our soulish realm, not our spirit realm. When we become born-again, our spirit is made perfect and we receive the status of a dear child of God, without regard to our personal performance. We are made righteous by God imputing righteousness to us.

But our status of being a faithful and wise servant is something that takes place in our soul, which is our mind, will, and emotions. We don’t instantaneously acquire this status when we become a Christian. Rather, we must develop into this status by having our minds renewed and being obedient to the Word of God.

There are three characteristics of the faithful and wise servant. First, his Master has made him “ruler over His household.” Second, the faithful and wise servant gives “them” (other people who are working in the household of the Master) “food in due season.” And third, they are blessed when the Master finds them “doing” when He returns.

Now these three characteristics are huge, and I could preach for a long time on them. But I really wanted to concentrate on the phrase where Jesus, our Master, has made the faithful and wise servant a “ruler over His household.” The Greek language tells us something amazing, which is not readily evident in English.

To be made a ruler is to set one over a thing and put that person in charge of it. The authority of this servant is quite extensive and there is no micromanaging going on here. In fact, the Master doesn’t intervene at all until the time when He returns to His household. The servant is given the authority to run the household according to the instructions of his Master, with the full authority of the Master behind him.

But here is the really amazing thing about this authority. Jesus is not using the normal word for “household.” In fact, this particular word that Jesus uses is the word that we get our English word “therapy” from. It is translated “healing” just as often as it is translated “household.” It literally means “service rendered by one to another, specifically in reference to medical service, curing, and healing.”

It would not be incorrect to translate the word “household” as a hospital!

What shocking thing does this tell me about what it takes to be a faithful and wise servant? A faithful and wise servant must be able to heal the sick. And any brand of Christianity that cannot heal the sick cannot be declared to be faithful and wise.

Those who teach that divine healing has passed away have become unfaithful and unwise servants. Those who teach that we never know if it’s God’s will to heal are teaching people that they have the option to be unfaithful and unwise servants.

It is always God’s will to heal. And our ministry of healing the sick is the evidence that our ministry is faithful and wise. The Master’s household is THE PLACE for healing.

Without healing, the Master’s servants cannot give others food in due season. Without healing, the Master cannot declare that the servants are blessed because they aren’t doing what they were commanded and authorized to do. They are not operating in the authority that they have been delegated.

Healing is not optional. It is the requirement if we want to be declared faithful and wise. Our Master gave us this authority (rulership). The popular teaching that takes away this power and expectation from the Church is much more destructive than you realize.