The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-03-14

own Joy anu his grabeIul appreciation or
the faithfulness and loyalty of his house.
hold. This scene may not have been
often paralleled in actual life,-although
we are told it was sometimes enacted
among the Roman nobility; but it is
surely not an inconceivable scene in a
household where the servants are
treated as in a real sense members of
the family.
If he shall come IN the second arotch,
and If IN the third, and find them so,
blessed are those SERVANTS. That is, il
he shall come during the three hours
before midnight, or during the three
hours following, at time most unex-
pected, and shall find his servants faith
full to the trust he has reposed in them,
those servants will rise in his esteem.
If the master of the house had kno,cn
IN achat hour the thief aUds coming he
aUoatld haze a0atched and not haze left
has house to be broken through. Jesus
would have his disciples always pre-.
pared for trial. AS the uncertainty in
regard to the time of the burglars COM
ing lulls the householder into false Sc
curity, so they are to beware of the dan
ger of spiritual lassitude and indiffer-
ence. Be ye also ready; for IN an hour
that ye think not the Son of man COM
eth. This coming of the Son of Man"
is represented under oriental imagery
Matt. "a: 29-31; %: 81 as great polit-
ical upheaval, when those in highest re.
ligious authority would be overthrown,
the heavenly powers would be brought
low. While he did not himself profess
TO know the exact day when the great
crisis was to come,-that being knowl-
edge which the Father had reserved
from all Mark 10: 32),-he saw unmis.
taxable signs that it could not be de-
layed beyond the then present genera
ton.
2. Blessed are all the Alert
vs.. 41-46.
Peters question, Lord, speaEest thou
this parable Mato as, or even unto all?
is natural one for the impulsive apostle
to ask. Jesus has compared the watch.
ing which he requires, first to the watch
ing of the servants of nobleman for
their lords return from his marriage
celebration, and second to the watching
for burglar at night. Peter asked es-
sentially whether they, the apostles,
were like servants watching for the re-
turn Of their happy master, or they were
like the householder who needed to be
on guard against burglar. Did Jesus
compare himself to bridegroom or to
burglar? Or did Jesus speak in gen.
eralities?
Jesus does not at once and directly
reply to Peters question; but he incul-
Gates the duty of watchfulness, or un-
finching fidelity, so clearly that none
can escape the application of his lesson.
He pictures the head servant of a
household who had been appointed the
representative head of his masters
household in his masters absence. The
trusted servant who is vigilant in his
duty; who 10 humane toward the other
servants, and careful that they are duly
fed and clothed by prompt and full pay
ment of their wages; whose administra-
ton of his masters estate thrives alike
in itself and in the profit it yields to the
owner, this servant shall be appreciated
and honored by his master. Blessed is
that servant aohom has lord arhen he
cometh shall find so doing.
The master who knows that his serv-
ant in continued trials proves himself
faithful to his responsibilities, gives to
him a constantly enlarging trust. He
aciH set him over all that he hath.
But If that seroant shall sag, N.Y. mas
ter deloyeth has coming.-if he shall i'm
agine that he will not, for an indefinite
period, be required to render an account.
and shall begin to beat has felloao-
servants and to eat and drink and be
drunken.-if he assumes for selfish and
| tyrannical ends an unwarranted author
! ity over his fellow servants. while he
gives himself to self-indulgence,-the
| lord of that servant shall come IN a
dag achen he eGpecteth it not. and in an
| hour lUhen he knoi0eth not. and shall cut
him asunder and shall appoint has por-
tion aoith the unfaithfut, He will, be-
cause of his cruelty to those under him,
and his self indulgence, be held by JUS
tice as having guilt like that which tbe
Jewish law punished when it cut or
sawed mans body in twain; he will
have false pretences exposed. and he
will be revealed to all as the hypocrite
he is. He SHALL as Matthew adds, when
the feast is in process which celebrates
the return of the householder to his
home, be among those left out in the
night cold, whose employment will be
weeping for their forfeited privileges, and
crashing of teeth for what they will
falsely think to be their betrayal to their
master.
Jesus warned his disciples not to think
OF the day of account-rendering as in
the indefinite future.
He taught that justice is ever present
and unacceptable, and requires always
the faithful performance of the duty