Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
All Commentaries on Ephesians 6:5 Go To Ephesians 6
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Paul instructs those virtuous servants who contribute so much to the organization and protection of the household. He does not overlook them. Though their instruction comes last, because they are last in dignity and rank, he addresses them at great length. He does not speak to them as children but in a far more advanced manner. He does not make this worldly promises to them but points directly to the world to come. He instructs them to love wisdom. In this way he raises up and soothes their wounded souls. He counsels them not to grieve that they have less status or honor than others. Their brief earthly submission is for a time only. Whatever power their masters might have remains transient and brief and subject to the vulnerabilities of the flesh. All that is carnal is fleeting. It is “in fear and trembling” and that they are learning obedience. He does not call for the same kind of reverence from the servant as from the wife, who is called to reverence her husband. Rather he heightens the expression in saying that it is “in sincerity of heart” that they are to serve, “as if serving Christ!” He is speaking concisely here. Just what are you saying, blessed Paul? Here is one who has become the brother of servants, living himself the servant life, as they live. He is their brother, facing the same limitations, contributing to the same body. His servanthood is understood in relation to the Son of God. He is not his own master. He has entered into the life of the serving Son. Out of this assumption he calls them to “be obedient to earthly masters with fear and trembling!” Why? He is in effect saying: “How much more powerful is the ministry to those who are already servants, more than to those who are free men. How much easier do they learn the life of obedience in their reverence for God.” They are not entering into a lower status but into the highest status when they learn how to yield to their neighbor, how to become meek and how to be humble. .
