What Will Your Answer Be?

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)