Luke 19:11-27 — Parable of the Talents! ...Right?

READ THIS: Luke 19:11-27

11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ 

14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ 15 “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 they had gained with it. 

16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’ 17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ 

18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’ 19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’ 

20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 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.’ 

22 “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? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’ 24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ 

25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ 

26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 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.’”

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

First things first, this is NOT the parable of the talents. That's in Matthew 25. This is Luke 19. A talent is worth a whole lot more money than a mina, (60 minas=1 talent). And this parable is told with a different purpose than the talents story...Look at verse 11! Jesus told this parable so that people wouldn't think that the Kingdom of God would appear "at once." If you thought Jesus was the King, and He arrived on the scene, wouldn't you think the Kingdom of God was about to come into full force immediately, all in one blow, as He's standing there? 

Well, we talked recently about the difference between the Kingdom of God and the second coming of Jesus (see here), but Jesus wants to make it clear that even though there are moments where His Kingdom has come, it's not all the way here yet. There is work to be done. 

Jesus came to us and gave us each the Holy Spirit when He left. When He comes back in the days of the Son of Man, we will get to show what we did with His Spirit. We can either go and lead others to accepting Jesus and His Spirit, or we can hide and say that we couldn't do anything because "no matter what, God wouldn't be pleased, anyway." The third option is we can never be around to accept His Spirit in the first place, like those who weren't given a mina and claimed that they didn't want the master to be their king anyhow. 

If we accept Jesus as our King, then we will put ourselves to work using the Spirit He gives us! We can't just assume that His Kingdom has come, so our work is done. That's not the case! We participate in bringing His Kingdom about every day!

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. How does this parable make you see Jesus in a different light? Do you think it's harsh?

 

2. If you left someone a task to do while you were away, how would you feel if it didn't get done? (Like if you asked your neighbor to feed your dog for two weeks, but when you came home the neighbor hadn't done that a single time?)

TRY THIS:

When no one is watching, do a chore that you've been asked to do before. Think about how it would make that person feel since you did the chore versus if you never do the chore, ever!