Copyright © 2006-2008 Robert D. Hosken, M.Min., D.Min.
Even more closely related than latreia and leitourgia are the two Greek words pais (servanthood) and douleuo (doing bond-service), so we will examine them together here. The key verse in the New Testament that describes pais is Mat. 12:18 - "Behold, my servant (pais) whom I have chosen; my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit on him. He will proclaim justice to the nations." St. Matthew quotes this from Is. 42:1, a text identified in the Targum even before Christ's birth as Messianic, where it is rendered: "Behold my servant the Messiah...."1 So Matthew perceived Jesus the Messiah as a pais - "a boy (as often beaten with impunity), or (by analogy) a girl, and (generally) a child; specifically a slave or servant (especially a minister to a king; and by eminence to God): - child, maid (-en), (man) servant, son, young man."2
This view of a minister is one of a servant-boy, one who carries out the menial tasks of his master. Another text illustrating this kind of servant is Mat. 8:6 - "When he came into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking him, and saying, 'Lord, my servant (pais) lies in the house paralyzed, grievously tormented.'" One of the most memorable impressions of my early missionary service was when our team leader, a man responsible for many millions of dollars annually of literature production and delivery behind the Iron Curtain, would take his turn on the roster to clean the toilets in our common living quarters. This is true servant leadership!
Not all first-century Jews would have understood pais in Is. 42:1 as referring to the Messiah, because Mary used the word pais in Luke 1:54 to refer to Israel: "He has given help to Israel, his servant (pais), that he might remember mercy." Elizabeth used pais in v. 69 to refer to David: "and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant (pais) David," and Peter also used pais to refer to David: "who by the mouth of your servant (pais), David, said, 'Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?'" (Acts 4:25). Regardless of whom it refers to, it is plain that the term pais used in Is. 42:1 and quoted in Mat. 12:18 signifies a humble servant who ministers to his master, and it is certain that Matthew understood it to refer to the Messiah.
Question:
1. Did all Jews understand that the word pais in Is. 42:1 described the Messiah, or not?
(Only one of the following answers is correct.)
Yes, all awaited the Messiah, and believed he would be a pais-servant.
Not all Jews held to this opinion.
The other term for "servant" is doulos and its verb form douleuo. It is quite interesting that the centurion mentioned above referred to his servant in Mat. 8:6 as pais but in v. 9 he says, "For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and tell another, 'Come,' and he comes; and tell my servant (doulos), 'Do this,' and he does it." So here we have the two terms used as synonyms, referring to the same servant.
The word doulos means "a slave (literally or figuratively, involuntarily or voluntarily; frequently therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subserviency): - bond (-man), servant."3 It often refers to a bondservant whose master had offered him freedom, but because he loved his master so much he voluntarily bound himself to his master for the rest of his life. This is the type of servanthood that ought to characterize the ministry of every Christian. The term doulos is used 127 times, making it one of the most common Greek words in the New Testament. We will not investigate each usage, but rather look at some of the different ways it is used.
One passage that fairly drips with the word is Mat. 18:23-35, the parable of the servant who owed 10,000 talents. Here it is used nine times including four times with the prefix "sun" meaning "fellow-servant." I use this term, sundoulos, almost always above my signature in letters, "Your fellow-servant," because it signifies that we are co-slaves of the same master. The servant in this parable is good for a bad example of the term doulos, because the point of the parable is that although he didn't forgive his fellow-servant, we all must forgive one another the debts, the petty offenses and grievances that inevitably will arise, since our common Master has forgiven each of us a million times more than those petty offenses. We are indebted to Him for our very souls, and we therefore acknowledge the fact of our bond-servanthood!
Another doulos parable is found in Lk. 14:16-24, the parable of the wedding feast. Here Jesus defines the role of the doulos: three times He commands the doulos-servant to bring people in to the wedding feast. The first group of people, being caught up with their wealth and their families, make excuses, so the master tells the servant to "bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame" (v. 21). But there is still room for more, so the master commands his servant: "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled" (v. 23).
The ordinary usage of doulos in the New Testament is that of a servant or bondservant who is entrusted with his master's affairs, similar to that of a steward: Eph. 6:5; Col. 3:22; 1 Tim. 6:1 and Tit. 2:9 are just a few instances. A doulos in the first century was often given great responsibility, but the master was still in charge of strategic planning. This is an important concept for Christians in the twenty-first century to grasp: we want to plan; we want to attain success (as we ourselves define it). But a doulos of the Lord Jesus is not necessarily called on to plan or to achieve certain goals; he is called to do only what his Master has instructed him to do, leaving the "big picture" to his Master.
Question:
2. What is the difference between the words pais and doulos?
In the opening salutation of several of his letters, St. Paul takes upon himself the title doulos to show his willing subjection to his Master, the Lord Jesus Christ: Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:10; Phil. 1:1 and Tit. 1:1. James places himself in subjection as doulos to the Lord Jesus in Jam. 1:1; Peter does the same in 2 Pet. 1:1; and John does the same in Rev. 1:1. But perhaps the most striking usage of doulos is found in the beautiful words:
"Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, didn't consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (doulos), being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:5-8)
If Jesus Christ, God incarnate, our Lord and Master, took upon Himself the form of a doulos, a bondservant, so should every disciple of Christ do the same!
Question:
3. Are you ready to become a doulos-servant of Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church?
(Choose the best answer.)
Yes, right now, this very minute!
Well... not yet, I don't want to...
The attitude of servanthood runs counter to the philosophy of unbridled freedom that is prevalent today. But St. Paul explains in Rom. 6:14-22 that there is no such thing as unlimited, absolute freedom. God's grace does not imply that we can do whatever we want; rather it frees us from the bondage of sin that leads to death, to willingly become bondservants (doulos) of Christ, with the end result of our sanctification and eternal life:
"For sin will not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be! Don't you know that to whom you present yourselves as servants (doulos) to obedience, his servants (doulos) you are whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants (doulos) of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto you were delivered. Being made free from sin, you became bondservants (doulos) of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants (doulos) to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants (doulos) to righteousness for sanctification. For when you were servants (doulos) of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, being made free from sin, and having become servants (doulos) of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result of eternal life."
St. Peter echoes this idea in 1 Pet. 2:16 - "as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants (doulos) of God." So our freedom in Christ means the ability to freely choose to become bondservants of God. In reality, nobody is absolutely free, but we are able to choose whom we will serve: sin which leads to death, or God which leads to eternal life.
Question:
4. How does the word doulos relate to the concept of grace in the New Testament?
(Only one of the following answers is correct.)
God's grace frees us from the burden of sin and slavery to sin, so that we might become voluntary servants (doulos) of Christ.
Grace is an uncompensated, unearned, free gift of God to us; but the doulos-servant is servitude and slavery: this means that these terms have no relationship to each other.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Rom. 6:1 - "Let us remain in sin, so that grace may abound!" And also, Rasputin said - "The more sin, the more grace," so let us not serve, but freely sin!
Endnotes:
1. Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, (www.e-sword.net, 2004).