Serving at Christ's Command

The lesson the disciples had to learn was that their calling to follow Christ had changed their relationships. They had been used to being on their own and to making their own decisions. And they had been used to the monetary compensations for their labor. But Christ was teaching them that they had been called to a life of service, and that they had no reason to expect any kind of special commendation for doing what they had been commanded to do. He used an illustration from life to teach them the lesson of humility. They would have learn to view themselves as unprofitable servants and that even when they would accomplish some task to which they had been directed, they would do no more than what they had been given to do.