Scripture Readings: Isaiah 11:1-4; Luke 19:11-27 (text)
March 1, 2015 • Download this sermon (PDF)
Pasig Covenant Reformed Church • Trinity Covenant Reformed Church
Introduction
Congregation of Christ: Our parable today is related to our parable last Lord’s Day about a master and his servant, a dutiful servant whom Jesus calls an “unworthy” or “unprofitable” servant. The parable in our text in Luke 19:11-27, often called The Parable of the Ten Minas, is similar in some details to the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. Both of these parables are very familiar with Christians, and have been used in so many teachings not related to Christianity, such as wise investing and financial success.
What are some of the similarities between these two parables? Both tell of a certain man who entrusts money to his servants before leaving on a long journey. In both, the first two servants were commended for their faithful stewardship, while the third was condemned for his laziness.
What about the differences? First, the number of servants differ: three in the Parable of the Talents, ten in the Parable of the Minas. The amount of money entrusted are also different: eight “talents” in Matthew, and ten minas in Luke. A “talent” (Grk talanton) is a measure of money, not “a special ability to do something well,” as in Pilipinas Got Talent show. In the Old Testament, a “talent” is a measure of weight, about 75 lbs or 35 kgs. For example, the Queen of Sheba gave a gift of 120 talents of gold to King Solomon, which today will be valued at $175 million! (1 Kgs 10:10). In the first-century Graeco-Roman world, a talent is equivalent to 20 years’ wages of an ordinary laborer. In the Philippines today, a talent would be about 2.4 million pesos! In Luke, a mina given to each servant is a silver coin that amounts to a laborer’s three months’ pay, or about 40,000 pesos.[ref]Only in the King James Version is the parable called The Parable of the Ten Pounds, since the 1611 English translators thought it best to use their own currency, the pound sterling.[/ref] So the amounts in Luke are quite small compared to those in Matthew.
Moreover, the amounts given in Matthew are five, two and one talent to each servant, while each of the ten servants in Luke is given the same amount: one mina. In the Parable of the Talents, the master does not tell the servants what to do with the talents. It is only implied that they were to make a profit from the talents while he was away. In the Parable of the Minas however, the nobleman tells the servants, “Engage in business until I come.”
The last variation is that in Luke, the master is called a “nobleman,” while in Matthew, he is called a “man” and a “master.” In Greek, the word for a nobleman is eugenes, which literally means “of good origin or birth,” one who was born with a high status. This nobleman “went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom,” since he is of royal birth.
Our text this afternoon is about this nobleman who became king, his servants and his citizens: (1) The Purpose of His Journey; (2) His Servants’ Duties During His Journey; and (3) He Judges His Servants and Citizens at His Return.
The Purpose of His Journey
Jesus tells the story of a nobleman who went into a far country “to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.” A historical background would help in understanding why Jesus used this illustration. In the Roman empire, it was customary for men in high government positions to lobby the king for higher office, such as the governorship.
At the time of Jesus’ birth about 4 B.C., Herod the Great was the king over Judea, Samaria and Idumea. Shortly after Jesus’ birth, Herod the Great died, and his son Archelaus became king over Judea. As his father Herod slaughtered babies in Bethlehem to keep his kingship, so Archelaus massacred 3,000 Jews to suppress a rebellion against him. Because of this, the Jews and Samaritans sent a delegation to Rome to ask for his removal. Archelaus then traveled to Rome to defend himself from the complaints, but Caesar Augustus removed him and exiled him to Gaul in 6 A.D. In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus, Joseph took his family from Egypt straight to Nazareth, which was outside of Archelaus’ authority, because he feared for their lives (Matt 2:22).[ref]H. W. Boehner, HEROD. In Geoffrey W. Bromiley, gen. ed., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 694.[/ref]
Against this backdrop, the disciples and the Jews listening to Jesus must have recalled these events about 30 years before Jesus’ earthly ministry. But there is a twist in Jesus’ parable that is different from Archelaus’ story, as we shall see later.
At the beginning of the parable in verse 11, Jesus states its main purpose: “because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.” As early as Luke 9:51, Jesus started making his way from Galilee to Jerusalem, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” The days of his death, resurrection and ascension into heaven were drawing near.
Chapter 19 begins with the story of the conversion of Zaccheus the tax collector in Jericho, which was only 34 kilometers (21 miles) from Jerusalem. So he was getting close to the city of David. All of the signs and wonders that Jesus had performed during his three years of ministry followed him far and wide. Many people thought that he was Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
But the expectation of the Jews is for the Messiah, the Christ, who was to come, to deliver them from the Roman oppressors, and restore the kingdom of David in Jerusalem. As early as when Jesus was calling the Twelve, Nathanael declared after Jesus showed him a miraculous sign, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49). Both “Son of God” and “King of Israel” are messianic designations (Psa 2:7; Zeph 3:15). This is why when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people shouted acclamations fit only for the Messiah, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38). Then, even before Jesus ascended into heaven, his disciples were still asking him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).
Before he ascended into heaven, Christ also told his disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18). Therefore, after his resurrection and in his ascension into heaven, his Father made him King over all heaven and earth. This is why he sits at his Father’s right hand on his heavenly throne. Daniel’s vision tells us about Christ’s ascension and reign from heaven,
Behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him (Dan 7:13-14).
Christ did not only ascend into heaven, “into a far country,” to receive a kingdom. He also promised to return in the same way as he ascended (Acts 1:11). When the Jews mistakenly believed “that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately,” Jesus explained to them that the kingdom, as they conceived of it as an earthly kingdom, was not coming soon. Yes, he inaugurated the kingdom of God during his earthly ministry (Luke 17:20-21), but the completion of the kingdom will come only when the King returns from heaven.
But since the nobleman-king is gone into a far country, and will not return immediately, what are his servants going to do while they wait?
His Servants’ Duties During His Journey
Here in Luke 19 (but not in Matthew 25), Jesus says that the nobleman put his servants to work while he was on his long journey. He gave each of them a mina and commanded them, “Engage in business until I come.” They are to make themselves busy in using the money given to them to do business or trade to make a lawful profit. Jesus frequently uses business transactions to teach, like the parables of the Shrewd Manager, the Sower, and the Wicked Tenants, Caesar’s coin, and laborers’ wages. Doing good business is not evil, as long as it is just and lawful in the eyes of God and man.
So, whether the servants make a profit or loss is not important. The nobleman-king is testing their obedience, faithfulness and devotion to their master. They understand that the money was not theirs, but given to them for their stewardship. And even if they made a profit out of their investments, it was still the nobleman’s prerogative to reward them or not.
Jesus is teaching us here that we are not to speculate and argue when he would be returning, or looking for “signs of the times,” or events in Israel, as many do today. Rather, we are to be “doing God’s business,” and always expecting his return. Every Christian is given spiritual gifts for his own sanctification and for the building up of the church. Whether we have been given much or less is not important, for the gifts are given “to each according to his ability” (Matt 25:15; see also 1 Cor 12:11; Eph 4:7).
A few men are given the gift of preaching and teaching as pastors and elders, and others serving as deacons. Women in particular have the gift to teach children and other women, to serve those in need, to give counsel to young women, and to be hospitable to visitors and strangers. These are not menial or unimportant in the life of the church. What was the duty of deacons in the early church? They were ordained “to serve tables,” so deacons were actually “waiters”! (Acts 6:2) Peter even classifies all Christians’ duties into two: speaking and serving:
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies””in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ (1 Pet 4:10-11).
Just like the nobleman’s servants, all of us are stewards of God’s spiritual gifts to us, so that everything will be done decently and in order for God’s glory. Let no one boast that he or she has more important gift. Let no one despise himself or herself or others for serving tables or cleaning up and rearranging after the worship service.
Let no one boast of tithing or giving generously, and let no one feel guilty or embarrassed because he cannot give as much. When we think of monetary gifts, giving must be done cheerfully, from the heart, without compulsion. If we have been given a good-paying job, give generously. God gave us jobs for three things: first, to provide for ourselves and our families; second, to support the work of the church in preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth; and third, to help our needy brothers and sisters in Christ (Gal 6:10). A Christian is commanded to do “honest work with his own hands.” But for what? “So that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Eph 4:28). Paul instructs us to work hard in order to “help the weak” because “It is more blessed to give than to receive”™” (Acts 20:35).
By using our hard-earned money in helping the church spread the gospel and provide for the needy, we are storing treasures in heaven, not on earth. If your priorities are your possessions and gadgets, they are your treasures on earth, but they are worthless in heaven. You yourselves will be of no value to God, if all the treasures you laid up on earth were only for your own enjoyment without any regard for the glory of God.
But God has not given us only spiritual and financial gifts. He has also given us his good news of salvation in Christ in his Word. We are to be good stewards of his Word as well, faithfully and boldly proclaiming the truths taught in it. This is why we are to read, study and meditate on his Word as we wait for his appearing. This is why Paul says, “that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge… as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:5-7). Jude urges us “to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered [or entrusted] to the saints” (Jude 1:3).
He Judges His Servants and Citizens at His Return
All of us are all familiar with the way things turned out for the servants when the nobleman returned as king. In the Parable of the Talents, the first two were commended by the master, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt 25:21, 23). In the Parable of the Minas, the first two were also commended and rewarded in the same way, “Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities” (Luke 19:17, 19). In both parables, the faithful servants were rewarded, not with money or goods, but with more stewardship, responsibility and joy in communion with the master. Furthermore, the rewards are given when the master returns, which means that these rewards are in the future, when Christ returns from heaven.
But the unfaithful, “wicked and slothful” servants were condemned in the most severe terms. In the Parable of the Talents, the condemnation was being cast into the outer darkness where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 25:30). This is often a picture of torment in hell (Matt 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51). In the Parable of the Minas, the king commanded that the one mina be taken away from the “wicked servant.” Everything that unbelievers have in this world will be stripped away in eternal punishment. But we who persevere in faithfulness and devotion to God and our Savior Jesus Christ will be rewarded with so much more stewardship and joy in our eternal Sabbath rest.
The different twist in Luke’s parable is the addition of another group of characters: the “enemies” in the kingdom who “hated” the king. Like the Jews during the reign of Archelaus, these enemies sent a delegation to the emperor saying they did not want him as king. Jesus was not merely referring to the hated Archelaus, but more importantly, to his own rejection by the Jews. The Pharisees, scribes and chief elders of Israel hated him and rejected him. That same crowd of jubilant Jews who acclaimed him at his “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem also rejected him and finally crucified him later.
But Christ the King would have his complete vengeance at his return. Wicked and lazy servants in his own household would be condemned. His enemies who hated him would also be judged. Both kinds of unbelievers will be cast into the outer darkness, and will be “slaughtered” before his very eyes. This word “slaughtered” alludes to 1 Samuel 15:33, where Samuel “hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD in Gilgal” with his sword. This is a horrible punishment, figuratively portraying the eternal torment and destruction of God’s enemies.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Let this most dreadful ending to our parable today spur us on to use our spiritual and financial gifts to tell the good news of Christ to our unbelieving family and friends. To build up the church. To love God and neighbor for the glory of God. wWhile there is still time, while it is not yet too late. Because when our King returns from his long journey, the time of salvation will come to an end, “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb 9:27).
And while we wait for our blessed hope, our King’s return, how are we to live? Paul says we are to “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Tit 2:11-13). Peter says that in view of the day of the Lord, we are to be “in lives of holiness and godliness” (1 Pet 3:11).
Our Lord Jesus Christ also commanded us to hunger and thirst for righteousness. This hunger and thirst will only be satisfied with the partaking of his body and blood in the Holy Communion. When Christ our King returns, there will be a final great and joyful wedding feast, where he himself will serve us “rich food” and “well-aged wine” (Isa 25:6). He has promised us, “I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt 26:29). Taste and see that the Lord is good while we wait for his return.