Today's Gospel in Art - The dishonest servant eating and drinking with drunkards

Beware of Luxury by Jan Steen 1663 © Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 26th August 2021 - Matthew 24:42-51

Jesus said to his disciples: 'Stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

'What sort of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master's arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the dishonest servant who says to himself, "My master is taking his time," and sets about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.'

Reflection on the Painting

So much to look at in today's painting by Jan Steen from 1663. It almost looks like a scene from a theatre setting. The yellow-clad lady in the centre is depicted as a 'loose-living' girl, revealing much of her chest; a drunken man has one foot on her lap. The lady of the house, on the left, is asleep. As she is asleep all sorts of trouble goes on around her: the dog is on the table eating meat pie; one of her children is taking something from the treasure cabinet on the wall; her boy is trying to smoke the pipe; the youngest child, sitting in his/her highchair, is playing carelessly with a necklace of pearls (and may throw the pearls before the swine who has just walked into the room); the floor is covered with empty jugs and food; the young drunken man on the right is poking fun at the nun on his left; the Quaker (identified with a duck on his back) is prompting people to read pious texts to try to rectify the situation… As Jan Steen sometimes worked in a pub to make ends meet, he would have been all too familiar with such scenes.

Jesus talks in our reading today about dishonest servants 'eating and drinking with drunkards', pointing out that such servants just live for the moment but are not vigilant for the future, like the people depicted in our painting. To live without vigilance invites trouble. The reading starts with a warning that a thief does not send a notification of the hour when he will break into the house. His principal weapon in his evil plan is the element of surprise. The people depicted in our painting are just so oblivious to anything bad that may happen around them. A lack of vigilance made them complacent and overly self-satisfied…

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/910
Christian Art - https:/www.christian.art