[7] “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’?
[8] Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’?
[9] Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?
[10] So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”
- Is the purpose explicitly stated or implied?
- Is the parable responding to a question, request or complaint?
- Does the parable respond to Israel's rejection of Jesus as Messiah?
- Does the parable follow an exhortation or principle?
- Does the parable illustrate a situation?
- What remarkable details are there in the parable?
- Who are the main characters in the parable?
- What structural features of the narrative of the parable do you notice?
- What does the parable spend the most time on?
- What point does the parable conclude with?
- What is the main contrast in the parable?
- What is the central truth of the parable?
- What does this say about the Kingdom of God?
- How can we be like, or unlike, each of the characters in the parable?
- How can we be like, or unlike, Jesus' audience?
- How can we be like, or unlike, the gospel author's audience (the early church)?
- How might we change the way we live in response to the truth contained in this parable?