The foolish and unfaithful servant – he is also a servant. He's a believer, but his heart is hardened, because of neglect of intimacy. He's unconcerned about the master coming back. “He says in his heart, my master delays his coming”. Putting it like this: oh Jesus, I don't know when He's going to return, probably not in my lifetime, so don't worry about it, let's just enjoy life. It's a casual attitude, of having no respect for what the coming of the Lord will involve - so he's just living casually, he's living at ease. He has a neglect of love for his master. If he loved his master, he would feel very concerned, to be diligent in serving his master's cause, and serving his master's people.
It also tells us about this attitude that showed up towards the servants - he began to beat the fellow servants, which means to mistreat fellow Christians, to speak ill of them, to treat them badly. Every time you see someone mistreating another Christian, they are increasingly disqualifying themselves from the First Resurrection - so don't get caught in the injustice of it. Keep focussed on what the consequences are, and how we should keep a good heart. His attitudes towards the fellow servants were destructive, and his lifestyle is entangled with ungodly people. He's eating and drinking with the drunkards. In other words, there's no commitment to live a godly life, to be sensitive to the Lord, build intimacy.
He's totally unaware of the spiritual timing, and when the Lord returns, he's caught out. It says there “be cut in two” - that means painful discipline; “weeping and gnashing of teeth” refers to grief, and then anger at his loss. So in other words, he's been in the house, he was called to this great thing. It happens that he's disqualified, and lost the opportunities he had, so the result is weeping - deep sorrow, that forever I've missed my opportunity, I chose the wrong things; and gnashing of teeth speaks of anger, deep frustration and anger, that I can't do anything about this.
We see there that Jesus reveals what it means to be an overcomer, who inherits the First Resurrection - faithfully fulfil your assignment, with loving service to people, especially the people of God.
The second thing is another parable - the Parable of the Banquet. Here is a second qualification: loving people with no hidden agenda; faithful service, loving service, and loving people with no agenda. In Luke 14:12 it's talking about the banquet, and there's a whole group of pharisees, and they've gathered all their friends together, and they've got a big banquet going on; and Jesus observed how they were all fighting for position, and being top of the table, all that kind of stuff. It was a highly competitive group.
He said: “then He also said to him who invited Him (so His discussion is to the host): When you give a dinner or a supper, don't ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, rich neighbours, because they'll invite you back and you'll be repaid.”
What He's saying is: “Don't just give out, where you hope to get something back...” Sound familiar? We saw that last week. He said “…but rather, when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you”. Our generosity should have no hidden strings attached; that when we give, our giving is with no expectation of return from the person who we blessed - that we should not just give where we hope to get something back. It's this whole thing that I do something, so I can get something back mentality. He says: “when you do it, this is what you should do - give to the people that cannot repay you”, and He says: “you will be blessed”, and He says: “you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just”.
Now what resurrection is He referring to? Well, He's talking about payment, He's talking about reward, so He can't be talking about the Second Resurrection. He's talking about the First Resurrection. He's talking to the host of the banquet and confronting the fact that, in spite of the big banquet, and the apparent generosity of the man, it's all riddled with wrong motivations, of cultivating mates, paying them back - you know, you give me a meal, I give you a meal back; or, I give you a meal, and now you owe me one back - all that kind of thing. Basically, it was all given to those who could pay him back, because all of them had a selfish agenda. Jesus then reveals what it is to be an overcomer who inherits the First Resurrection - we must show the quality of unconditional love, that gives no thought to receiving a return. Simple.