Of Lost
Coins and Harsh Judgments
[Luke
chapter 19, verses 11-27]
To view
this in any browser, click
here! :-)
When
we last paused our studies of the writings of the apostle Luke, we
were in chapter 19 of Luke's gospel at the 10th
verse. In the first portion of chapter 19 Luke relates the story of
Zacchaeus, who was the biggest crook in town and who, upon
encountering our Lord and Savior found himself hosting Him for
dinner, and probably an overnight stay as well. Zacchaeus went from
being thoroughly despised to having an audience with the Messiah, our
Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, in the span of just a minute or so. How
did this occur? It was because Zacchaeus repented of his sins before
the Lord and then made restitution to anyone he had cheated. So here
we have repentance combined with following through, even if it's
nothing more than issuing some major apologies (nope, no halfhearted
ones, we all have to really mean it). This is how repentance is done,
people, these are the guidelines we are to be following. First comes
repentance, followed by genuine sorrow, then we put our words and
intentions into action. With this in mind, let's begin part 2 of Luke
chapter 19 starting at verse 11.
“While
they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable,
because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought the Kingdom of
God was going to appear at once. He said, 'A man of noble birth went
to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to
return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.
'Put this money to work', he said, 'until I come back'. But the
servants hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't
want this man to be our king.' He was made king, however, and
returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the
money, in order to find out what he had gained with it. The first one
came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.' 'Well done, my
good servant!', his master replied. 'Because you have been
trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.' The
second came and said, 'Sir, your mina has gained five more.' His
master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.' “ (Luke 19,
verses 11-19)
First
of all, a 'mina' is equivalent to roughly 3 months wages in US
dollars. Also called a “talent” in the King James version,
whereas this quote is from the NIV Bible, my New Living Translation
calls it “10 pounds of silver”, the point being that nobody today
knows exactly how much this was, but suffice it to say it was a
substantial sum. Notice the backdrop for this passage in verse 11.
Jesus, the Twelve, and the large crowd that followed after them were
following him to Jerusalem because they thought that – since he was
the Messiah and they were all sure of that by now – he was going to
establish his Kingdom upon his arrival. In reality, he was walking
towards his crucifixion and death, and Jesus was the only one who
understood that. He was also talking about himself in this parable.
Jesus is the man born of nobility who would go away on a long
journey, meaning, after he met his fate in Jerusalem on Passover, he
would rise from the dead on the morning of the third day. Shortly
thereafter, he would be taken up to heaven and would not return for a
very long time.
This
is exactly what Christianity faces today – Jesus has been gone for
nearly 2,000 years, and it's been a long wait, let's face it. But
that's because this has been a test – a very long, arduous test.
But, as Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24, “He
who stands firm to the end shall be saved.”
The 'money' in this parable symbolizes the good news of the Gospel,
something that has more value than any amount of money could possibly
buy! In the same way that the nobleman consigned ten 'minas' (or 10
pounds of silver each in the NLT Bible) to the 10 servants, Jesus
gives all his followers a generous portion of the Holy Spirit to live
inside them, dwelling there like the perfect roommate for each of us.
But when Jesus returns he will be expecting us to have been faithful
and productive to the best of our abilities. Those who faithfully
discharge their duties as servants of the Risen Savior will be
rewarded accordingly. Those who fail to do so, on the other hand,
will be dealt with severely, as we will see in part 2 of today's
study, beginning at verse 20.
“Then
another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept
away hidden in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are
a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you
did not sow.' His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own
words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man,
taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow?
Then why did you not put my money on deposit, so that when I came
back, I could have collected it with interest?' Then he said to those
standing by, 'Take his mina away and give it to the one who has ten
minas.' 'Sir', they replied, 'he already has ten!' He replied, 'I
tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the
one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. But those
enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them – bring
them here and kill them in front of me.'” (Luke 19, verses 20-27)
The
third servant, who evidently had only received one 'mina' for an
unspecified reason, did nothing whatsoever with what he had been
entrusted with. The master got zero results from this third servant
despite his expectations. This servant feared his master and found
him difficult to work for. He didn't invest his 'mina' out of fear of
failure and the consequences if he did fail. So he took the easy way
out, or the safe way if you like, making only a minimal effort to do
only what was required and nothing more. This earned the servant the
harshest possible rebuke short of physical punishment – at least
for then. He would get his due later, as we shall see. So why, you're
probably wondering, did the master in Jesus' story give that single
'mina' to the servant who had ten? Because that servant had been the
most productive of them all, so it was to the master's benefit that
the servant received more.
“...
to everyone who
has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even
what he has will be taken away...”.
Use faithfully what the Lord has given you and he will reward you
with more. But as for the lazy, the fearful and those who are idle,
whatever they have will be taken away from them and given to someone
who isn't the least bit timid about using whatever talent the Lord
has given them to the best of their abilities. This reminds me of a
lady who went to the same church I did quite some time ago. I played
keyboards there with the band, as I have done with nearly every
church I've been a member of. This lady's husband was one of the
guitar players and the lead vocalist. She had a beautiful singing
voice, but she refused to sing with the band, pleading 'stage fright'
and shyness as the reasons why. But there was more to it than that.
This lady simply didn't want to serve. She was content to just sit in
the background, soaking up the service and the preaching while
contributing nothing. Her husband gave freely of his musical talent
every Sunday – we were not paid – but she would not. She was like
the servant with the single 'mina', keeping her talent, which was
considerable, all to herself. I don't know if she ever repented of
that or not, but I hope for her sake she did.
“But
those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them –
bring them here and kill them in front of me.”
Remember, these 'enemies' were the remaining servants who had been
entrusted with all those pounds of silver. It goes without saying
none of them did anything with their 'minas' either. I mean, since
they sent a delegation to the place of the nobleman's coronation
requesting that he not be made king, this gentleman knew of that and
had spent the entire return trip plotting his revenge! In much the
same way, there are many today who don't want to make Jesus Christ
their Lord and Savior, and who scoff at the very idea of anyone
besides themselves being in charge of their lives. They self-identify
as atheists or agnostics, as being non-religious, mistaking religion
for faith in Christ. But whereas religion is adherence to dogma,
tradition and laws, faith in Christ is Spiritual in nature,
transcending books, laws and traditions. This is the 'spiritual
capital' God has given each of us to work with. Moreover, if we don't
spend it in a way that is pleasing to him, God reserves the right to
seize that 'spiritual capital' and give it to one who deserves it.
And, He will be forceful about it as well, of that we can all be
sure!
There
is one final detail that bears examination, and that is the 2nd
part of verse 27. This was the ultimate punishment for eight out of
the original ten servants. Only two of them gave their master a good
return on his investment. The other eight squandered their
opportunity, and for all the wrong reasons, and it ultimately cost
them all everything right down to their very lives. The nobleman had
all eight, including the one who returned the solitary coin, put to
death. Plus, he had them killed right in front of him. The nobleman
was so incensed at their behavior, especially the part about the
delegation the servants had sent behind his back, that he wanted to
watch them all die. Remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man
from chapter 16? The rich man called out to Lazarus from the fires of
hell, asking for a cup of water to cool his tongue. But Lazarus saw
the rich man in hell and took no pity on him. Lazarus stood there and
watched the formerly rich man burn, and it must have felt good to
him. In the same way, those in heaven, beginning with Christ on
downward, will be able to see the fires of hell and those suffering
therein. So it will be with all those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus
as Lord and Savior. And next week we'll move on to part 3 of Luke
chapter 19.
No comments:
Post a Comment