¹ sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 9 with the encouragement that God does respond.

² tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the manager’s decision.

⁴ tn Grk “summoning.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁵ sn There is debate among commentators and scholars over the phrase one will be taken and the other left about whether one is taken for judgment or for salvation. If the imagery is patterned after the rescue of Noah from the flood and Lot from Sodom, as some suggest, the ones taken are the saved (as Noah and Lot were) andthose left behind are judged. The imagery, however, is not directly tied to theidentification of the two groups. Its primary purposein context is topicture the sudden, surprisingseparation of the righteous and the judged (i.e., condemned) at the return of the Son of Man.

⁶ tn Grk “But you are not thus.”

⁷ tn Or “the ruler.”

⁸ sn And the leader like the one who serves. Leadership was not to be a matter of privilege and special status, but of service. All social status is leveled out by these remarks. Jesus himself is the prime example of the servant-leader.