I'm gonna get us to read a parable from Jesus out of Luke 19 this morning. We've obviously heard and thought a lot about Jesus the last little while, But we come to a parable, one of the very last, according to the timeline of Luke, of Jesus, before He would go to the cross. We read the parable of the 10 minas, as the ESV writes it here. And we begin by reading from verse 11. Luke 19:11.
As they heard these things, He who is Jesus 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 off country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling 10 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 10 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 10 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 10 minas. And they said to him, lord, he has 10 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.
So far, our reading, this is the word of the Lord. As a uni student, like many of us here, I worked for minimum wage in really crummy jobs. At one point, I worked for a pet food factory, sorting out freshly delivered cow livers, kidneys, and hearts. The memory of a steaming pile of livers freshly delivered from the abattoirs burnt into my memory. Fun times.
But have you ever noticed that the level of interest in your work is often tied with how much you love and respect the one you are working for. When I was working for this particular labour hire company, I was serving faceless people who would simply call me up in the morning and tell me where and when I had to be somewhere. That work often felt tedious and difficult. But then other jobs, like the job I did in the same time for a fellow church member, that job I did with far more interest and emotional investment. Why?
Because I admired and I respected this boss. I was happy to work for him. This morning, I wanna say that this is the case when it comes to our service to the kingdom of God. As Christians, we are only willing to serve God based on the love and respect we have for Him. I wanna take this morning the opportunity to ask every one of us, do you know God?
Do you love Him? And in your love, do you serve Him? Or is this God whom you profess an intellectual concept in your mind? Is He a philosophy? Is He an entity that probably exists, but you struggle to hold on to Him as something more than a concept or a theory?
The extent to which we know God personally determines how well we are willing to serve Him. The extent to which we know God personally determines the extent to which we are willing to serve Him. We see something of that issue being discussed in this parable we've just read. When we come to Luke 19, we find ourselves very close to the crucifixion of Jesus. Up until this point, Luke has been preparing us for what is going to take place in Jerusalem over the next few days.
But if you look at verse 11, you'll notice that our passage introduces the parable by saying that Jesus begins to tell the story because He is near Jerusalem. That's a very important detail. This parable is coming to us because Jesus is near Jerusalem. It's as though Jesus is climbing up those rocky mountains around Jerusalem. And as Jesus is sort of coming over that last hill and seeing the city display there, becoming visible before Him. It's the last time that Jesus will enter Jerusalem this way.
Soon, Jesus is going to be weeping over this city. He's going to weep for a city that murders the Son of God as a criminal. Jesus will grieve and say, if you, Jerusalem, even you had only known on this day, what would bring you peace. But now, this peace is hidden from your eyes. And all of these events give meaning to the parable in its context.
What does it mean for Jesus to tell this parable in view of Jerusalem? Well, firstly, He tells us the story of a disappearing king. Verse 11 says that Jesus tells a parable because He sees Jerusalem and because His disciples supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. Then in verse 12, Jesus begins by telling a story of a certain nobleman, a king, who goes to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom. This is a king who disappears for a while to go and establish a kingdom.
Now, of course, after the events of Easter, we finally understand that Jesus is this king. But we also start discovering that the plans of God have no category for establishing the king as a political ruler. That's not the plan of God, that Jesus is a political messiah. This is what the people, however, were expecting, that Jesus was going to enter Jerusalem and He was going to establish a physical, literal, geopolitical kingdom there. That is why on Palm Sunday, they shout hosanna in the highest as Jesus rides through the streets.
They're expecting the king to have arrived to bring back their kingdom. The disciples don't yet understand what's about to take place. They don't understand the nature of the kingdom that is being established. They will soon discover that this kingdom is established, as we already read in Paul, through weakness. The things that are not.
The things that are low and despised. And so with the story of a disappearing king, Jesus is beginning to tell the disciples that there will be a long time to serve until the kingdom of God is actually fully established. In the context of the people expecting the kingdom to arrive immediately, Jesus says, wait, the king has to go to a far off country first. It's gonna take some time. What this means for us, two thousand years later, is that part of our Christian life is simply about waiting.
There is something integrally built into our faith that demands us to be patient. So why does Luke include this teaching of Jesus? Well, he is writing, remember, initially to Christians, not a few weeks after Jesus ascended. He writes to Christians forty years after the ascension. The disciples, the apostles, are starting to die.
The first generation of Christians are starting to die. And so he's writing to Christians who need the encouragement because they are becoming impatient. They are expecting Jesus to return at any moment. And so Luke is reminding them and us that Jesus said it's gonna take a while. It is a far off country that the king is going to claim.
It is an entire kingdom with rebels that must be conquered. There are many citizens to bring into this kingdom, many lands to be victorious over, and so we should be patient about His return, but filled with hope at the same time because He is returning. So firstly, we take heart that our king is busy conquering a kingdom, but He is returning, which brings us to the second point, the two most important dates for a Christian. Jesus says to His disciples, you disciples need to understand that there are actually two fixed dates between which you will live. One of them is about to take place when I will go into Jerusalem where I will be crucified, where I will rise from the dead, and I will ascend into heaven.
This is the first date, the crucifixion, the resurrection. The other date in the divine calendar, which is separated by a distance, is the return of Jesus. Those are the two dates between which we live. Jesus says, I'm calling you to be My faithful servants to use the resources I'm giving you in order that you may be fruitful for My kingdom's sake in the meantime. So as Christians, we live between these two dates, more important than the date of our birth or the date of our death.
Are these two fixed dates? So celebrating birthdays, mourning funerals is one thing, but just think about how often we as Christians think back to that one day, the Easter weekend. Every week at least, we think about the crucifixion and the resurrection. We calibrate our existence around that one event. And here, Jesus is saying, but don't forget the return of the king.
Think about that, perhaps as much as the crucifixion and the resurrection. And so as a Christian, I need to constantly be looking at the finished work in the past of Christ, and yet waiting patiently and expectantly to the day where Jesus finally ushers in the kingdom of peace, and when He comes in majesty and glory. This is what we see from this parable. The servants who lived and organised their lives around two specific events, the time that the king leaves, and the time that the king returns. Those servants that are good servants have orchestrated their lives around those two things.
They are the only two dates that matter in this story. And Jesus is saying, that is the sort of perspective that we need to have. The Christian life, therefore, is like the story of World War Two. In 1944, there was this incredible landing in Normandy called D-Day. D-Day marked the successful first invasion into German territory.
It marked the beginning of the end for the Nazi regime. And yet, it would be another full year until 1945 when VE Day comes about, victory in Europe. The Christian life is like living between D-Day and VE Day. The beginning of the end has started. Victory is at hand, and yet, it's still gonna take some time.
In Christ, the issue of the victory has been settled. He has died. He has risen for our victory. He has secured our salvation. But now we wait as Jesus, as king, is conquering the world, as He is bringing subjects into His kingdom.
And just like that year between D-Day and VE Day, there will be resistance and there will be fighting and there will be opposition. There will even be death, but the victory is all but established. But now, notice Jesus mentions who the participants are in this victory. There are a few stakeholders in this campaign, and they are called to do something. We see the soldiers who battle for the kingdom with the king's resources.
Three servants have been given certain amounts of money to invest on behalf of the king. Over the many years that the king is away on His military campaign, the servants are instructed to wisely use these resources that they have received from Him. It's helpful for us to know that a mina is not a certain type of coin that was given. It's a weight, a weight of money that was given to them, and we have rough estimates that it was about three months wages. I think it was a hundred days worth of work for a labourer.
The king gives them three months worth of wages. That is a fairly significant amount of money. The first servant comes to the king in verses 16 and 17. Like every servant, he has been given 1 mina. But over the course of the king's absence, he has received 10 minas more.
So he hands back to the king 11 minas. The one plus the 10. Now, if you are good at maths, and you do that well, I'm not, but I think I'm right. The return on investment is a thousand percent. Is that correct?
Good. Better nod. The king says to the first servant, well done, good and faithful servant. You were given one and you made 10. How am I going to reward you?
I'm going to make you a ruler of 10 cities. Wow. The next servant comes in and he has made five extra minas, which is a 500% return. Correct? Yeah.
Thanks, Tim. The king says to him, I am going to put you in charge of five cities. Now, you may not initially have thought this while reading this story, but think carefully about how generous the reward is for these two servants. Does five or 10 cities correlate to five or 10 minas? I mean, 10 minas was about five years worth of wages, but how much does a city cost?
Times that by 10. And that is what the one servant received. But now, here comes the third servant, and he gives the king back his original investment. Verse 20, Lord, here is your mina, which I have kept laid away in a handkerchief. And he pulls out this old, crusty hanky and he gives the coin back to the king.
Your majesty, he says to the king, you gave me this and now you can have it back. Now, what was the motivation for returning this original investment? Verse 21 says, the servant says to the king, I know you are a severe man. Now, it may seem as though the servant has established a well known fact about the king, that everyone knows the king is a severe man. But the Greek structure suggests that the harshness attributed to the king is far from established.
It's more likely that the harshness of the king was merely the servant's perception of the king. I thought I believed you to be a severe man, and therefore, I knew that I would just keep this coin safe, and I would give you back what you gave me. I wouldn't lose it so that I would not be punished. The fact that this was a false perception is reinforced by the response of the king. He says, I will condemn you with your own words.
The original Greek puts it in an exasperated tone. You knew, did you, that I was a severe man? It's dripping with astonishment. The king asked, why did you then not at least put my money in the bank so that you could withdraw it now and at least I would have had some interest on it? It's as though the king is saying, did you not just see the guys walking out of here with 10 cities given to them?
Five cities given to them, the money that they gave me in their pockets. Did you not see the generosity? Did you miss the grace? Your own words will condemn you, you wicked servant. Take this man's money, he says, to his attendants and give it to the guy who already has 10 cities.
Here, we find the crux, the climax and the tragedy of this story, the lesson that it is trying to teach us. And the tragedy is that this third servant, thinking he knew the king, had no idea who the king was. You thought I was a hard man, so you had no motivation to serve or love me, you poor servant. You have lost the point. You have missed the point altogether.
Friends, I'm afraid that this third servant could be wandering around in our church today. Indeed, he will be found in every church. This is the person who finds it hard to serve God because in their mind, God is a harsh master. They say to themselves, I can't be fully obedient to God because who can be? Who can serve Him?
Who can please Him? Wanna tell you, friend, if you ever catch yourself thinking that way, you don't know God. The problem with the third man is that he didn't know his master. The king gave these servants equal gifts. Each one receives one mina, and these were meant to be invested to help further the kingdom's advance.
And for some, these resources were enthusiastically used, and they were invested. But for this one, it was tragically kept safe in a hanky with a lack of enthusiasm for the kingdom, masked by a lame excuse that I think you're gonna be angry with me. This is the challenge for us hearing these words, The reason that we don't live up to the potential of our service in the kingdom, the reason we don't invest our time, our heart, our energy, The reason we don't invest our own spiritual growth is not because we can't manage our time, it's because we don't fully understand or believe that God is really as gracious as He says He is. It is the story of the prodigal son all over again.
Not so much the naughty son who goes away and comes back again, it's the son who stayed. The older boy who says to his father, when the naughty son returns, you never gave me a party. I've slaved for you all my life and this wretch comes and you kill for him the fattened calf. And the father says, my son, you've been with me all along.
You've had the fattened calf here anytime you wanted. You just never asked. You just never thought I would give it to you. You thought I was a hard man. Friend, your passion for serving God, being obedient to Him won't come from guilting yourself into doing work for Him as He is some sort of overlord to please.
Your heart will be transformed into humble and determined service when you realise how gracious He is. Reflect on that grace often enough and your heart will be transformed. And so we come to our final point. Beware of the shiny sword. From the parable, we are to understand this.
The initial investment the king has given to his servants is the gospel message. That is what Jesus is saying to His disciples. You will be given the message of the kingdom of God. You are to take it and invest it, to use it. The rewards of the 10 or the five cities are heavenly, eternal rewards.
That's how we're supposed to understand that. We will receive, in some way, a reward for our service here on earth. What those rewards are exactly, we don't know. I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be 10 cities or five cities, but there is a reward for the investment that was made in this life. Now, through this parable, Jesus is telling us and His disciples, I'm going away, and I'm leaving with you the gospel message.
I want you to take it, to promote it, to support it, to declare it to the world. Whether you are a preacher or not, you have been entrusted with the gospel. You have been entrusted with the gospel. And yet, as church members and as church leaders, what are we tempted to do? We can take the gospel, the word of God that Paul calls the sword of the Spirit, the very sword that is used to win over the kingdom, and we can take it, and we put it on a mantle over the fireplace, and we're like, wow, isn't that a pretty sword?
We put it up there, and every now and then, we'll take it down again, and we'll observe it, and we'll polish it. And we might even sharpen it, make sure that it's true. It's biblical. This sword can be used to do amazing things. And then we go and place it back on the mantle.
And we think that is a very pretty sword. But the sword is not an object to be marvelled at. It's not an ornament. It is a tool. We can so easily fall into the trap of looking at the gospel message as some sort of object, and we put it back on the mantle, and we never use it.
But the gospel of Jesus Christ is called a sword for a reason. The sword of the gospel needs to be used in the battle for the kingdom. And sometimes, we can fear that God is harsh, that it will punish us for something we do with it that could be wrong. We are afraid that it might get dirty. We are afraid that the sword might not work.
We think, surely, my friends are too hardened. Their armour is too thick for this sword. We think, well, if I'm in a battle, this sword might get nicks and scratches onto it, and then it won't be pretty anymore. But friends, the sword was never meant to simply be admired. The gospel that we have been handed was never meant to be stuck inside our hankies.
It's meant to be used. It was meant to be invested. The reason we don't pour our lives into that investment to spread the gospel is not because we don't have enough time. It's not because we don't have enough money or energy or knowledge. It's because we think our king is harsh.
We think we will make mistakes with that investment, that we really aren't the ones that should be entrusted with this message, but I'm here to tell you that God has entrusted us with it. All of us, with this one gospel. Our king isn't harsh. He is overwhelmingly gracious and He wants us to succeed. He's eagerly watching how we're going to serve Him with that resource.
So this morning, I wanna ask you, will you pray with me? Lord, show me where I may use this coin. Where can I wield this sword? Do you see how the parable finishes here at the end? The king returns.
He's finally established as the real king, and the king's enemies are, in verse 27, slaughtered before Him. They are made to bow their knee. Notice this detail, however, that the servant who made 10 receives the third servant's coin as well. That servant doesn't go away simply with 10 cities. He takes the 11 minas with him, plus the other one, twelve, in his pockets.
That money was never meant for the king. He's wealthy enough. He doesn't care about the investment and the return. He cares about the heart of the servant. He cares about the faithfulness of that servant.
No, friends. This king isn't harsh. He's incredibly generous. This is Jesus, our king. He holds all the wealth and He's willing to share it.
He is the king endlessly wealthy, the king who cannot lose. Do you think He will get upset when we attempt an evangelistic conversation and it kinda goes awkwardly? Do you think that king cares? Do you think He's upset when our money goes to a missionary in Turkey instead of Ethiopia? What is far more important is that you are willing to serve this king because you know Him to be a good and kind and gracious king, willing to lavish blessings upon His faithful servants.
This is the king we serve. And so friends, serve Him joyfully, serve Him intentionally, serve Him with the good things that you have received and keep checking your heart to determine to yourself that your service to the king is not a tedious and difficult thing. It is a pleasure. And the most rewarding thing that you will receive in this life or the next is to hear those words, well done, faithful servant. Let's pray.
Lord, this morning, hear that because You are king and because we love You as our king, we must wield the sword. Help us, Lord Jesus, in our doubt. Help us, Lord Jesus, in our complacency. Help us in our fear to have such a great, clear picture of who You are, the gracious, kind, smiling king of heaven, that we cannot help but be propelled, compelled in Your service. Father, give us a great vision for what this life means.
Help us to see our life between those two goalposts, between what You have done for us and what we will receive soon. Help us to have that perspective that it will change and reorganise all the priorities of our lives. I pray, Lord, specifically for those men that You will call into the full time ministry of the word to wield this sword as much as humanly possible, in as many contexts as is humanly possible. Lord, we pray for those whom You will call to Yourself to do this. And we pray for ourselves as we support them, as we encourage them, as we invest our energy and our finances and our time to make it possible for Your church to do this as much as possible.
Empower us, Holy Spirit, to do these things and let us see and taste already now some of the blessings of this good, noble, lofty work. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.