Last week, we looked at our mandate to do business, the business of God till Jesus returns. From parable of Jesus about the 10 minas two things are quite clear:
1. Jesus is coming back;
2. And we are to do His business till He does return.
And what business is that? We are to do business with the what He has entrusted every Christian with, the Gospel, the good news about Jesus, that through Him, His shed blood on the Cross, our sins can be forgiven and we can have life eternal with Him. The Scriptures are full of that mandate. The Gospel was not entrusted to the angels, but to His people, the church.
Acts 1:8 (NKJV) … you shall be witnesses to Me …
Mark 16:15 (NKJV) And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
2 Timothy 4:2 (NKJV) Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
And the list continues.
Last week we talked about this parable of Jesus about the nobleman went away to receive the Kingdom and return as King. There we looked at two groups of people, the nobleman’s servants and those that rejected the nobleman as their king. This morning we will deal with the outcome of these two groups. We will begin with the 10 minas given to the ten servants.
Luke 19:13 (NKJV) So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’
The command of Jesus is clear. We are to be about His business. And this were we pick up today. The King returns and all must give an account.
Luke 19:15–27
ILL. In 2009 Delta Airlines was in the process of buying Northwest Airlines and was actively working the merger. The merger was causing great concerns among the pilots of NWA in how they will fit into the Delta system. Two NWA pilots on a flight on October 21st of that year , they were busy researching job conditions and scheduling rules brought about by Northwest’s recent purchase by Delta Airlines. They wanted to know how their job situations were changing. While that is understandable, but that was not their assigned task. Their airplane flew for 91 minutes out of contact with the ground and overshot their destination city by 150 miles and subsequently after landing the FAA revoked their pilot licenses. Airline pilots must direct their aircraft safely from Point A to Point B. However, these pilots had their personal laptops on in the cockpit. They took their eye off their primary responsibility and gave their attention to something of lesser importance. Keeping the most important thing a priority is important for everyone, not just airline pilots.[1]
As Christians, we can be very much like those NWA pilots. We busy ourselves with “good” things (good in our eyes and even good in the eyes of the world, but not necessarily good in the eyes of God.) We forget that we live for the Lord. We forget the tasks that He gives us to do. And we forget that the King is coming and we forget that all must give an account of our lives. This is where we left off last week.
Luke 19:15 (NKJV) “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
So what has his servants done with the minas they have been entrusted? Did they obey the returning King and done business with the mina as they were commanded to do? We will find there are two groups, those who have obeyed and those who did not.
Luke 19:16 (NKJV) Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’
Wow! That was 1,000 percent gain. This servant was busy. But is that possible? Why not? Look closely at the verse. There is an important point we need not miss. The servant did not take credit for the gain. He said, “your mina has earned.” The wording is important. The servant did not earn 10 more, the mina itself did the earning. We have been entrusted with the message of the Gospel. The power is in the message. Paul said:
Romans 1:16a (NKJV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes
1 Thessalonians 1:5a (NKJV) For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power
We worry about our ability to share the Gospel. Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 said he did not come with excellent speech, but in fear and trembling. His speech was not with persuasive words. The power was in the message.
This servant with the minas was merely faithful to do as he was commanded. And look at His reward:
Luke 19:17 (NKJV) And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’
For His faithfulness, he was rewarded with 10 cities. Cities, do not compare with the few thousands of dollars by our standards. The reward completely outclassed the results. So is our reward in heaven for our faithfulness. The returning King also said “Well done, good servant.” To hear that from my Lord and Master is great reward all to itself.
The second servant was similar.
Luke 19:18–19 (NKJV) 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ 19 Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’
This servant likewise credited his success to the mina. He was faithful in doing what he was commanded. And His reward was proportionally similar. The five cities rewarded completely outclass the 5 minas earned.
But now comes another of the servants. The scriptures do not tell us about the other 7 servants, so we will not concern ourselves with them.
Luke 19:20–21 (NKJV) “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. 21 For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’
This servant was clearly disobedient. The returning King told him to do business with the mina. In the Greek, the word means to trade, to put the money to work. But this servant did not do so. This disobedient servant’s words says much about this servant. The reader of the parable knows that his assessment of the Master is untrue. Look at how generous the Master was with the first two servants. He lavishly rewarded them.
This man was actually blaming the master for his failure. If the Master wasn’t so hard, he would not have been afraid. The servant sees the master as a harsh taskmaster who will take away all. The master takes and never gives. This is clearly slanderous.
The truth is the Master gives us all, and equip us to do His will. Jesus gave us His all, and only ask for faithfulness and trust in return. Considering what Jesus has done for us, and if we do anything in return, it would be a mere pittance in comparison.
This servant obviously did not know his Master. That fact that this servant disobeyed tells us he wasn’t really expecting the Master to return. If the Master never returned, there would be no accounting for what was done with the mina He was given.
He may have been on the payroll, he may have identified with the master, he may have spoken the words of loyalty to the Master, but his action tells us the Master was not really his Master. Look at the response of the master:
Luke 19:22–23 (NKJV) And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’
The returning King condemned the disobedient servant by his own words. He could have put the money in the bank and let it collect interest. Look at what the king called the servant, “you wicked servant.” Other translations have “evil servant.” The Greek has a sense of being morally evil, of sinfulness. The King did not call the servant wicked or evil because he did bad things, He called him wick or evil because he did nothing. He was disobedient.
I have no doubt this servant was busy, busy doing his own thing, but not busy doing what the master commanded him to do. He was like those NWA pilots. They were busy, but doing nothing at the task they were charged with doing. This servant claimed to know the King, but the scripture tells us otherwise.
1 John 2:3–4 (NKJV) Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
This servant did not know the King. If he knew the King he would have been obedient. So the King says:
Luke 19:24–26 (NKJV) “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ 25 (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) 26 ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
Looking at this verse from a business point of view, it makes sense to take funds from one who is unprofitable to give it to one who will be profitable. This disobedient servant failed to even try, now has less than nothing. The one that was faithful will be rewarded with more, and more success. We are tested by what we are given. If we are faithful in the small things, we can be trusted in large things. The reverse is also true.
Luke 16:10 (NKJV) He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
In this story, the wicked or evil servant lost all, including what little he had. Many commentators debate the final status of this servant. The parable does not say. But in the similar parable found in Matthew 25, the demise of the servant who did nothing was clear.
Matthew 25:30 (NKJV) And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
To the Master, this wicked servant may be counted as those who openly rejected Him as King. This is not a matter of loosing one’s salvation, but rather a case can be made for whether he had any faith in the Master to start with. He was never truly save. The Master was never his Master. He only pretended to the King’s servant. I have to wonder, how many are pretend Christians? They say all the right words, but have none of the fruit. Jesus tells us that by their fruits we will know them. (Matthew 7:20). Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 7:
Matthew 7:21–23 (NKJV) 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
There are many "so called Christians" who do good in their eyes but fail to do what Jesus clearly calls them to do. They do not know Jesus, and in these verse, Jesus says He does not know them.
Then the King deals with those who openly rejected Him.
Luke 19:27 (NKJV) But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’ ”
That fate of those who reject Jesus is the same, it is not pleasant to talk about and in today’s culture, it is politically incorrect to say, but those who reject Jesus, will be eternally condemned and experience everlasting torment in hell.
The Gospel, the good news about saving blood of Jesus, shed for us and for all who will except it. What will we do about it?
If we have truly accepted this Gospel, it will have a profound impact on our lives and we will bear fruit to that end. We have been given this Gospel to give to others.
It is by grace we have been save, not of works. But the works we do demonstrate the salvation we have been graciously given. Paul tells us to:
Philippians 2:12b (NKJV) ... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling
What are we doing with the Gospel and how do we live it out every day?
Philip Ryken, in his commentary, suggests ways to put the gospel to work in our lives:
We do it by growing in our own Christian lives through repentance, prayer, and daily dependence on the Holy Spirit. We do it by trusting God to meet our needs and guide our decisions. We also put the gospel to work by serving people in need, showing the love and mercy of Christ to people who are lonely, sick, homeless, grieving, and afraid. Then we put the gospel to work by loving our families with the love of Jesus and sharing our faith with our friends. And we put the gospel to work by making a personal investment in missionary work: praying, giving, sending, and going to the nations with the good news about Jesus Christ. [2]
So how are we doing in investing the Gospel? Our call is to be faithful. The power is in the message.
[1] Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell, “Ignoring Their Responsibility to Fly the Plane,” in 300 Illustrations for Preachers, ed. Elliot Ritzema (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015). And see www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-10-29-delta-ceo-pilots_N.htm.
[2] www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-parable-of-the-ten-minas-freddy-fritz-sermon-on-parable-of-10-minas-195560?ref=SermonSerps
