Anchor My Faith

Previous Lesson
Next Lesson
Author: Stephen Weller
618 words, 3 minutes read time

Servants Assigned Work

Scripture: Luke 19:11-14

With the previous lesson we finished the section about Zacchaeus. With this lesson we begin a longer section about the parable of the ten minas.

^{Lk 19:11} “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.”

“They” would not necessarily refer to the “they all grumbled” of verse 7 because by now Jesus would have spent time with Zacchaeus and may have been traveling on toward Jerusalem. “As they heard these things” would seem to point back to Luke 17:11 where we find Jesus and the disciples on their way to Jerusalem. From that point up to this point in the journey, Jesus has been telling his disciples and others many things, referred to here as “these things.”

As they were approaching Jerusalem, the disciples and maybe others who were with them “supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.” To these Jesus proceeded to tell a parable. The immediate appearance of the kingdom was probably a concern, especially among the disciples, because they were near Jerusalem, where expectations of a political messiah may have been extra high. The purpose of this parable is to show that the kingdom will not be seen in its fullness until Jesus Christ returns. The kingdom of God begins in a small way as people come to salvation through spiritual birth and continues to grow until the return of Jesus.

^{Lk 19:12} “He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. ¹³ Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’”’

The “nobleman” is Jesus the Son of God, who came to earth (“the far country”) to receive a kingdom. Jesus came as the perfect sacrifice to purchase our salvation. As people believed and were born spiritually, they were added to the kingdom. After his work on the cross was finished, Jesus returned to his Father in heaven and through the work of the Holy Spirit the kingdom continues to grow. One day in the future the nobleman will return to the “far country.”

Jesus (the nobleman) calls ten of his servants and gave them each a mina. Using a round number of ten, Jesus was showing that the parable applies to all his disciples, not just to the twelve. The mina given to each was about the wages for three months of labor. Those who are born into the kingdom of God are to use the mina to engage in business until he returns. That business is the great commission. It is our job to search for lost sheep to add to the kingdom.

“His citizens” were the Jews who hated Jesus, but they also hated those who ruled over them from Rome and may have sent a delegation to Rome protesting some of their local rulers. However, these Jews sent a delegation to arrest Jesus and convict him and place him on the cross to die.

Conclusion

The minus is given to the servants to go and engage in business and the nobleman leaves them to work. Jesus came to die to purchase our salvation and as we are born spiritually, we are added to the kingdom and given a work assignment. An evaluation is to come and will be covered in the next lesson.