share your master’s joy

In the Gospel According to Matthew 25:14–30 (NABRE), Jesus tells a parable about servants who are given charge of a portion of their master’s wealth during his absence. Two invest prudently while one doesn’t. To the two with whom the master is satisfied, he promises increased responsibility and invites them to “share their master’s joy.”

It’s worth considering this reward in a bit more detail. A literal translation of the Greek text here has something like “enter into your master’s joy.” While the rendition of “share your master’s joy” does a fine job capturing the spirit of what’s happening, the image portrayed by the literal rendition is interesting. The master’s joy is depicted as a place that has been cut off from his servants. They are then only allowed entry when they prove themselves. It also depicts this joy of the master as yet another of his possessions to be shared with his servants at his discretion. They don’t seem to have their own joy, and they’re not given joy of their own as a reward but rather a share in their master’s joy.

This arrangement is odd within the context of this parable but perhaps not so odd when considering what the parable is attempting to convey. As servants of God, the joy we possess truly is not our own, and when we realize that instead we’re granted a share of God’s joy when we are good servants, that changes our focus and effort. We’re working not to make ourselves happy but to please God, and in the process, we will find joy surpassing any we could know by our own efforts.

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