Parable of the Master and Servant Parable of the Master and Servant The Parable of the Master and Servant is a parable told by Jesus in the New Testament, found only in Luke's Gospel (). The parable teaches that when somebody "has done what God expects, he or she is only doing his or her duty." The parable reads as follows: This parable suggests that "even the best of God's servants are still unworthy because they have only done their duty and no more." Nobody, "no matter how virtuous or hardworking, can ever put God in his or her debt." William Barclay relates the parable to
The Good Samaritan Window, Chartres Cathedral (the "dextera domini") extruding from foliage(?) apparently blessing the work and the window of the shoemakers. Panels 5-12 present the parable of the Good Samaritan; they are preceded by Christ telling the parable to two Pharisees who had asked "Who is my neighbor?" One of the Pharisees wears the "Judenhut" or "pilleus cornutus", a cone-shaped pointed hat worn by Jews in medieval Europe and some of the Islamic world. Jesus is seated with his right hand raised and his left hand holding a book, perhaps the book of the Gospels (Panel 4). The parable panels then follow: A traveler, described