MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Revised: 2011)
A. In Luke 19:11 27 Jesus tells a familiar parable, & for that reason I hesitate because when you talk about something familiar, people tend not to listen. They think, "I already know all about that."
I've also learned from experience that what is said is not always what is heard. And that could be a problem, too.
ILL. That reminds me of an amazing story about Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It seems that he was often bored stiff by those long receiving lines at the White House. He was convinced that people really didn't listen to what was said when they went through those lines.
So on one occasion he decided to see if people really did listen to what he said. As people went by he said the same thing to each of them. He smiled graciously, shook their hand, & then said in a very kind way, "I murdered my grandmother this morning."
Amazingly, he received responses like, "Wonderful, Mr. President," "Keep up the good work, Mr. President," "We're praying for you, Mr. President."
Finally the Bolivian Ambassador came by, & actually did listen as FDR said, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." For a moment the Ambassador was taken aback. He stood there blinking his eyes, & then responded, "Well, she must have had it coming."
So sometimes people really do listen, & I hope that you will join me this morning in considering again the Parable of the 10 Minas, or as it is called in some English translations, the Parable of the Pounds found in the 19th chapter of Luke.
B. Now please don't get this parable confused with the Parable of the Talents recorded in the gospel of Matthew. There are many similarities between the two parables, but there are also some real differences.
I'm not going to read this parable in its entirety because that would take too long, but please keep your Bibles open to this parable in Luke 19 because we'll be referring to it often.
Vs. 11 begins with, "While they were listening to this..."
Jesus had just been discussing with His disciples what had happened at the house of Zaccheus. They had heard Jesus say to Zaccheus, "Today salvation has come to this house." (Luke 19:9)
They also heard Jesus say, "The Son of Man has come to seek & to save what was lost." (Luke 19:10) And as they were listening, Jesus shifts gears & begins to tell them this parable.
C. There are two reasons given in vs. 11 for the telling of this parable which indicate that Jesus is teaching a very important lesson here.
1. First of all, in vs. 11, Luke says that Jesus told the parable "because He was near Jerusalem."
Jesus knew that as soon as He entered Jerusalem all the frenzied events of the last week of His life would begin. So before that happened, Jesus took this last opportunity to teach them a very important lesson.
2. Vs. 11 also says that Jesus told them this parable because "the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once."
D. So He tells this parable to teach them about the kingdom of God. And it is clear that in this parable the King represents Jesus, Himself.
1. First of all, Jesus teaches them that the Kingdom of God is not coming right now. There are several things that must happen first.
You see, the apostles were convinced that once they entered Jerusalem, that the wonderful kingdom they had been dreaming about would become reality. They were sure that would happen.
They had been following Jesus for 3 years. They had seen Him perform miracles. Demons yielded to Him. Diseases were cured, hungry people fed, & the dead raised. They were convinced He could do anything He wanted to do.
So it was natural for them to think that now their kingdom would begin & Jesus would be the King. But Jesus says, "Don't expect a coronation, because that is not going to happen. Instead, get ready for rejection. There is going to be a crucifixion instead of a coronation."
2. Finally, & most important of all, Jesus wants them to know what they are to do while He, the King, is gone, & before He comes back again.
E. So with that in mind, let’s look at the parable. In vs. 12, Jesus says, "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king & then to return. So he called 10 of his servants & gave them 10 minas. ‘Put this money to work,' he said, ‘until I come back.'"
Now here is where the parable of the minas is very different from the parable of the talents. In the parable of the talents, told in Matthew, Jesus said, "To one he gave 5 talents of money, to another 2 talents, & to another 1 talent." (Matthew 25:15)
We look at the Parable of the Talents & say, "This points out that we are all different. We have different gifts & different talents."
But in this parable everybody received the same thing. Each servant received one mina, which equals about 3 month's wages. Jesus emphasizes that each servant received exactly the same thing.
So what is He saying? What is Jesus teaching us? What does the mina represent? It is obviously not the same thing as the talents in the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew.
What is it that we all have that is exactly the same? How are we all similar? There are a lot of areas where we are different. But how are we all the same?
So we go through a process of elimination, checking off ways where we are not alike, until finally we eliminate almost everything. But there is one way where we are all the same. We have all received the gift of life. We didn't earn it. God just gave it to us.
We'll not all live the same length of time. We don't have the same talents. But we all have our lives as a gift from God.
PROP. Jesus is saying, "Take this gift & use it wisely. Invest the life I have given you, put it to work until I come again." And in this parable Jesus tells 3 ways of investing our life 3 different attitudes toward life.
I. WE DON'T WANT YOU TO BE OUR KING!
The first one is found in vs. 14. It says, "But his subjects hated him, & sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don't want this man to be our king.'"
A. The first attitude is, "We don't want Jesus to be our ruler. We don’t want Him interfering in our lives. We’re doing fine just the way we are. So leave us alone. Let us live the way we want to live. We don’t need Him & we don’t want Him!"
ILL. An interesting article appeared a number of years ago in the Wall Street Journal. It told of interviewing 6 executives, each being paid 6 figure salaries. That means that they made somewhere between $100,000 & $999,999 a year.
Now you are probably thinking what I thought, "If I made more than $100,000 a year, I'd be in great shape. No worries & no problems."
In the interview they were asked, "What is your greatest fear?" Each answered pretty much the same way, saying that their greatest fear was that they would not have enough. When they were asked, "How much is enough?" they always answered "a little more."
B. Circumstances in life areso uncertain aren't they? You find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, & the price of gold falls. You strike oil, & the oil market deteriorates. Your ship comes in, & it sinks in the harbor. It seems that everything in life is so uncertain.
ILL. That reminds me of a variation of a fairy tale that I heard a few years ago. According to the story a woman was strolling in the park, & a little frog came hopping up to her & said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a bank president."
She looked at the frog for a moment, then reached down, picked up the frog, put it in her pocket & then kept on walking.
Another stroller who had seen & heard everything asked her, "Lady, I'm curious. Why didn't you kiss the frog?" She answered, "Well, in today's market, a talking frog is worth a whole lot more than a bank president."
A few years ago people were envious of bank presidents, but today we would just as soon have a talking frog. You see, things of life are constantly changing.
SUM: So there are people who take their gift of life from God & say, "We'll take care of ourselves. We don't want any advice, especially spiritual advice. We'll handle this all by ourselves, so leave us alone." They don't want the king; therefore they will not be a part of His kingdom.
II. I WAS AFRAID OF YOU, SO I DIDN’T EVEN TRY.
Now skip down to vs. 20 where Jesus describes another attitude of life.
Vs. 20 says, "Another servant came & said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away 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 & 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, & reaping what I did not sow?
‘Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'"
Notice what Jesus called him. He called him a "wicked servant."
A. As we look at this man we begin to feel sorry for him. He didn't really do anything wrong, did he? He didn't embezzle the money. He wasn’t dishonest.
He just didn’t do what his master had told him to do. He didn’t put the money to work. He didn’t invest it in anything worthwhile. He just didn’t do anything with what his master had given him. And his excuse was, “I was afraid.”
Then Jesus says, "If you were really afraid of me, then why didn't you do what I told you to do?"
It seems that Jesus is saying, "You say out of one side of your mouth, ‘I took you seriously,’ but your actions say, ‘I'm not really afraid enough to make me do what you say. I am going to ignore your instructions.'"
B. But God is not going to let us get away with that. Like the king in this parable, God has given us the gift of life. In fact, Ephesians 2:10 reminds us, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
So God has made you to fulfill His purpose through your life. Do you trust God? Do you want His kingdom to grow? Are you willing to be faithful in using what God has entrusted to you?
III. I'LL DO WHAT YOU WANT ME TO DO.
Another attitude is found in vs. 16, "The first one came & said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned 10 more.' ‘Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of 10 cities.'"
"The second came & said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned 5 more.' His master answered, ‘You take charge of 5 cities.'"
A. Evidently they had no reason to expect a reward. The king had not said, "Take my mina & put it to work, & when I come back I'll pay you a percentage of the profit."
He had simply told them, "Put this money to work…until I come again." (Luke 19:13) So they invested the money & they worked, not expecting a reward. They invested because they were faithful to the king.
B. That is important, isn't it? There are people today who say, "I want to be a Christian," but the reason is because they expect favors from Jesus. They expect Him to make sure that their life is trouble free.
But these men invested simply because they were faithful to their king. God is looking for people like that. So when he came back & found what they had done, He rewarded them. One received 10 cities, & the other received 5. In this parable the reward for work well done was more work to do.
Now I am not sure how literally we ought to take that. I have wondered what the rewards will be in heaven. It probably won’t be that my robe will be nicer than yours. Or that your crown will have more jewels than mine. No, nothing like that.
Really, the only reward that I look forward to is to be with the Lord forever & ever. Just to be a part of His kingdom, & be with Him forever – that will be glory!
ILL. A familiar hymn says:
When all my labors & trials are o’er, And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
Just to be near the dear Lord I adore Will through the ages be glory for me.
O that will be glory for me, Glory for me, glory for me;
When by His grace I shall look on His face, That will be glory, be glory for me!
CONCL: On that day long ago outside of Jerusalem Jesus said, "My kingdom won't come until after the king is rejected, & leaves, & then comes back again."
But today, the only thing yet to happen is for the King to come again. And when He does, maybe very soon, He will ask, "Come tell me, what did you do with what I gave you?" How will you answer? Are you ready to answer Him?
INVITATION:
