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
Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard to justify the principle of a "living wage", though generally conceding that this is not the main point of the parable. An example is John Ruskin, who quotes the parable in the title of his book "Unto This Last". Ruskin does not discuss the religious meaning of the parable but rather its social and economic implications. A somewhat different parable in Islamic faith has been recorded in Islamic Hadith: The Jews and the Christians got angry and said, ‘Why should we work more and get lesser wages?’ Allah said, ‘Have I withheld part of your right?’ They replied in the