Accountable Stewardship Series

Introduction

Herod ruled over Judea in the decades leading up to the birth of Christ. He was the same ruler (Mt. 2) ruler who killed hundreds of babies in response to the visit of the magi. As he was nearing the end of his life, he divided his kingdom between a couple of his sons. Around 4BC, he gave the region of Judea and Samaria to his son Archelaus.

Mike McKinley notes:

Herod’s bequeathals were ultimately subject to Roman approval, so Archelaus went off to Rome to have Caesar Augustus approve his appointment.

Before he left, however, there was a riot in the temple at Passover and Archelaus had over 3,000 Jews slaughtered. The Jews of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas had not much cared for Herod the Great and his murderous ways …, and they were even less thrilled about the idea of being ruled by his son. So they dispatched a delegation of 50 men to Rome to appeal to Caesar for a different king. They lost their appeal; Archelaus became king … and his palace was in Jericho, the town that Jesus had just walked through

…on his way to Jerusalem. Archelaus was ultimately deposed after just a few years and exiled by Roman authorities because of his brutal ways, but his memory still lingered in the region.

Open your bibles to Luke 19. We’ll be considering verses 11-27.

For some time now, Jesus has been headed to Jerusalem and He seemed to sense that there was an attitude of anticipation among his followers and detractors about the coming of the Kingdom of God and what that would entail.

Last week, Armal helped us to see the ways that Jesus interacted with the outcasts and the ways that those outcasts could see Jesus for who he was. Jesus concluded the encounter with Zacchaeus by stating:

Luke 19:10 ESV

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The purpose of His ministry was to usher in the Kingdom of God - but not at that time in ways that met the expectations of some around Him. But rather His ministry is to seek and save the outcast, the downtrodden, the weak, the humble, the lost, those who are dead in sin. Now they are headed up the steep climb to Jerusalem and there is hope among his followers that Jesus would take His rightful place on the throne.

In order to temper their expectations, Jesus tells them this parable:

Luke 19:11–27 ESV

As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’ ”

If we could boil this down to a big idea, it might be that: