The mood of fear is evoked in each of the three punishments according to Jewish biblical-era legislation (called halakhic legislation).
Reading and hearing Scripture is "imaging the real" in all of its "moods”—and letting the tone of the text bring one to the truth of the text.
1.) The first servant acts out of false knowledge (thinking he knows his master is delayed in returning), in contrast to true knowledge (knowing that he does not know).
In Alcoholics Anonymous, you will hear people demonstrate their awareness of their faulty thinking with the words “my best thinking got me here.”
That servant finds reproach, severe punishment and is assigned to a place with the unfaithful for usurping power, physically raging against others in the household, and getting drunk.
Not quite so bad is the case in verse 12:47, where the person is neither prepared for action, nor actually doing what is expected, though the person fully knows the master’s will. That servant “shall be beaten severely.”
The least bad case (verse 12:48) is found to be doing something "deserving punishment," because of not bothering to know the master’s will, wish, or desire.
2). The Good News is that Jesus confronts the anguish of these judgement scenarios with a kind of cognitive therapy of correct thinking in the same Gospel today.
E.g. There is a treasure which is not lost through death. In Luke 12:32, “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”
Key point—Human beings accumulate their own personal treasury of good deeds through Christ. Each will be rewarded immediately after life in accordance with one’s works and faith.
How does my hope in God’s kingdom dispel my fear? How can I help build God’s kingdom? How is God part of my vision for the future?
A second example of correct thinking is a constant state of preparedness, e.g. Protestant children learn this bed time prayer:
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
If I should die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
It would be better if they were taught to pray, “If I should wake before I die. "
The servants in our Gospel today were half awake. They were not tuned-in to what the Master wanted of them.
“Gird your loins” from verse 12:35 means “be prepared;” tuck your garments into your belt so you can run. Similarly, in 1 Peter 1:13 is the expression “gird up the loins of your mind.”
The Israelites where told to eat the first Passover meal ready to depart from Egypt, “with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and staff in your hand, you shall eat like those in flight.”
We are called to be vigilant and faithfully active in this life, to nurture others by our service.
I will close with a story that sums up the tone and teaching of our main Gospel text about the servants—
The story is told of a lazy boy who went with his mother and aunt on a blueberry-picking hike into the woods. The boy carried the smallest bucket or pail possible. While the others worked hard at picking berries, he lolled about, chasing a butterfly and playing hide-and-seek with a squirrel.
Soon it was approaching time to leave. In a panic, he filled his pail mostly with moss and then topped it off with a thin layer of berries, so that the pail looked full of berries. His mother and aunt commended him highly for his effort.
The next morning his mother baked some pies, and she made a special “saucer-sized” pie just for the boy. He could hardly wait for the pie to cool. Blueberry was his favorite! He could see the plump berries oozing through a slit in the crust, and his mouth watered in anticipation.
As he sunk his fork into the flaky crust, however, he found...mostly moss!
