Parables Of Jesus Christ

The parable of the unworthy Servants

The parable of the unworthy Servants luke 17:7 -10
"Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly,and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.'"
Jesus asks if we had a servant who had spent the day working in the fields, would we invite him to sit down, have his supper and take a good rest? Or would we not rather tell him first to prepare his master's supper and, after the master had eaten his fill, only then would the servant be able to eat and rest? Would we even express gratitude to a servant who was only doing what was expected of him?
No one in jesus's times, either an employer or a servant, would have thought of questioning what Jesus is saying. At the same time, we might remember Jesus saying that watchful servants will be welcomed by their master who will make them sit down and will wait personally on them (Luke 12:37) and that Jesus washed his disciples' feet as an example of service.This parable is a reminder of our relationship with God. I think the point Jesus is making is that God need never be grateful to us for anything we do for him. No matter how much we do for him, we can never put him in our debt. Everything we give to God (or to God through others) is simply giving back to him a small portion of what he has already given us.
God can never be in our debt. He can never be under any obligation to us. I think this is what the Pharisees thought. They felt that, because they kept the Law perfectly, God owed them salvation. We see that in the scene of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the Temple, where the Pharisee's prayer gives the impression that God should be deeply grateful, among so many negligent people, to have such a good person as him.We can do the same thing ourselves when we think that by saying certain prayers or performing certain acts God should jump to attention and do what we are telling him to do, to give us what we are asking for. Instead we can never be grateful enough to him for showing us the way to truth, love, freedom and happiness which Jesus taught us and for giving us the grace to walk his Way. With God, all our giving is only a partial giving back.
It is the arrogant "You owe me" attitude that Jesus is cautioning us against in this parable. We are servants. We will only ever be servants. We do not deserve any glory or praise for doing the very least that we were created to do, and that means serving our King with total devotion. Yet because our Master is so incredibly generous, his grace and mercy saves us.