LUKE 19:11-27

Luke 19:11-27

Herod the Great ruled Palestine from 37 BC until his death in 4 BC. On an earlier trip to Rome, he was unexpectantly named king of Judea by the Roman senate. Meaning, he was king of the Jews, even though he wasn’t a Jew. Now, while Herod was a masterful builder, he was also ruthless. On his deathbed in Jericho, he called for Jewish dignitaries – nobility and priests to Jericho. He left instructions they were to be killed when he died so there would be mourning at his death. Thankfully, his successors didn’t carry out the command. He’s also the Herod who ordered the death of the infant boys under the age of two in Bethlehem, seeking to kill the one born king of the Jews.

Well, at his death, he divided his kingdom between a sister, Salome, and three of his sons – Archelaus, Antipas and Philip. Herod Antipas is the one we read about most in the NT – he was the tetrarch of Galilee. But Archelaus received over half the kingdom, which included Judea, Idumea, and Samaria. In fact, he wanted to receive the title of king like his father. So, this noble traveled to Rome, as his father had, to ask Caesar Augustus to grant him the title.

The only problem was, Josephus tells us Archelaus had recently sent troops into Jerusalem to quell a riot right before the Passover, and three thousand Jews were killed – bodies thrown into the Temple. He even canceled the Passover that year. Not a good way to start your reign. So, when he made his appeal to Caesar in Rome, to his surprise, some fifty Jews made the trip to oppose him, along with thousands of Jews living in Rome. Don’t give him the title; we don’t even want him to rule over us. Augustus decided to grant him the title ethnarch and give him time to prove himself worthy of a kingship. Upon returning to Palestine, of course, he slaughtered those Jews who opposed him. Oh, he never received the title king – in fact, he only ruled for ten years until he was banished by Rome for his cruelty. It was then Judea became a Roman province with governors to rule over this political hotspot. Pontius Pilate was the fifth such Roman governor.

But, everyone knew the story of Archelaus – his desire to be king, his trip to Rome to receive a kingship, and his return without the title. Why that little history lesson this morning? See if it sounds familiar, Luke 19:11-27.

This is a difficult parable – on of the most difficult of all. Clearly, it has some familiarity. Those listening would have immediately perked up, thinking of Herod Archelaus. Meaning, what we have is a familiar earthly story Jesus used to teach some important lessons. Understand, it’s a comparison, but also a contrast. It is a challenging text. Here’s the outline:

I. The Setting (11)
II. The Nobleman’s Departing Instructions (12-13)
III. The Citizen’s Hatred (14)
IV. The Nobleman’s Faithful Slaves (15-19)
V. The Nobleman’s Evil Slave (20-26)
VI. The Nobleman’s Rebellious Citizens (27)

Let me tell you at the outset, this story is depicting the soon departure of Jesus to receive the kingdom He earned, His eventual return to reward His faithful subjects, and do away with those who rebel against Him. It is like Archelaus, but enormously different.

Let’s start with the setting in verse 11 to see why Jesus told the parable. Notice, while they were listening to these things. Jesus had just spent time in Jericho – on the way in, healing Bartimeus of blindness, and then hanging out with this notorious sinner named Zaccheus. Both these outsiders become insiders – followers of Jesus. Salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.

And it seems they now continue the 17-mile journey to Jerusalem. Next will be the triumphal entry. But on the way, He tells them this parable – found only in Luke. Matthew and Mark both proceed from the healing of Bartimeus to the triumphal entry. But in Luke, we have this parable. Now, there’s a similar one is Matthew chapter 25 – we know it as the parable of the talents. But while they are similar, they are not the same – different context, different measures of money, different amounts, different number of slaves – two different parables telling similar but different truths.

Now, we read He tells this story as they were nearing Jerusalem – only hours away – and the disciples supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. Now think about it – many had hung out with Jesus for a few years by now. They had seen His amazing miracles; heard His amazing teaching. Many were convinced that He was indeed the Messiah. And they were right. And the expectation was the Messiah would show up and make all things right. They were right about that too – they just didn’t know how.

You see, they were nearing Jerusalem to set up the kingdom. They expected the Messiah, when He came, to deal with their enemies. And let’s face it, they’d had them for centuries – the Egyptians, Philistines, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Seleucids, and now the Romans. They couldn’t catch a break. And it’s continued, hasn’t it – all the way to the present day. They knew the OT prophecies said the Messiah would show up, Israel would be restored, He would stand on the Mount of Olives which would split in two, and He would annihilate their enemies. But all that is to be His second coming – the one Luke references in verses 15ff.

He had another purpose for His first coming. Yes, an enemy to be destroyed. He had told them what awaited Him when they got to Jerusalem – but they didn’t get it. They were busy arguing about who was the greatest, who would sit on His left and right in the kingdom. Even after the resurrection, on the Mount of Olives at the ascension, they asked Him, is it now Lord? Is it time? “Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

So, Jesus launched into this parable to tell them the fullness of the kingdom – what they expected was not yet. Yes, the kingdom was present in the person of Jesus and all who would receive Him as Lord and Savior. But that is the already part of the kingdom; it was not yet here in its fullness. That awaits His second coming. That’s what this parable is telling us – among other things.

You see, that brings us to our second point – the Nobleman’s Departing Instructions. Again, Jesus is the nobleman departing. He says in verse 12, the nobleman went to a distant country. After the cross – the death, burial and resurrection for sinners, having completed the work, He would depart, ascend to heaven and receive the kingdom due Him. Remember Philippians 2,

5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus has now completed the work, ascended to the Father, and received the kingdom. He sits enthroned in heaven’s glories. And He will come back to claim His own. To set up His kingdom, I believe an earthly kingdom. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess Jesus is Lord. But, those who do not do so now willingly, will do so. We’ll get to a very difficult verse 27. So, this parable is describing Jesus’ return to heaven, and the time between the first and second comings in which we live. And so, the instructions to the slaves are our instructions. This has definitive application to us.

Before He leaves, the nobleman called ten of his slaves – remember, Luke uses the word doulos, slave. Back in chapter 12, He told us basically the same truth – He, the master, is going away to a wedding feast, and expects His slaves to be ready upon His return. In chapter 17, we serve the master, and simply say, we have done that which is expected of us. Yes, we are children of God, but we are not ashamed to be called His slaves. He is the Master, we are not our own, we’re bought with a price – the price of His shed blood. We’ve been redeemed from the slave market of sin to be glorious sons and daughters of the living God, slaves of the Lord.

He calls ten to him and gives them ten minas – one for each. This is the only place this word appears in the NT. A mina was equivalent to 100 denarii or drachma, or 100 days wages for the common laborer. In other words – he gives them 3-4 months’ worth of money. It’s nothing to sneeze at, but it’s not an enormous amount of money like the talent in Matthew 25. A talent was a fortune – think of the mina as a few thousand dollars.

Each one received a mina, and the master, the nobleman told them to do business – put it to work until I come back. Notice, there were not varying amounts given to each slave as in the parable of the talents. There, the emphasis was on the different gifting we receive, but we are expected to be found faithful when He returns. Here, the emphasis is not so much on gifting and abilities – they all received the same amount. The emphasis seems to be on faithfulness. Put it work, be busy until the nobleman returns.

What is it the master has given us to be busy with, to do the work of the kingdom. In a word, it is the gospel and all its benefits. Put the gospel to work – in your own life, in the lives of your family. Put it to work in your spiritual growth; in your discipleship; in your service at the church; in your workplace and school; in your neighborhoods; with your friends and with your acquaintances. The gospel should impact every area of your life. Don’t sit on it, don’t hide it, don’t tuck it away. We’ll see what happens if you do. While the Master is away, we work, we serve, we live gospel-centered lives.

Now interestingly, in verse 14, we find some of the citizens of that nobleman’s kingdom, meaning under his authority, hated him and sent a delegation after him, when he went to receive the kingdom to say, “We don’t want this man to reign over us.” That’s interesting. Jesus has departed, and how many people since and today say, we don’t want Him to reign over us. Understand, this planet, this universe is all the work of His hands. He is the builder, He is the owner, He is the ruler, the Master, the Sovereign. He does reign over all the work of His hands.

And yet we find people all over the world, all over our community who say, I don’t want this man to reign over me. I don’t recognize Him as my sovereign, my King, my ruler, my master. I will do as I please. And they rebel against His authority and right to rule. They are rebellious citizens, and we find what happens to them.

Which brings us to the nobleman’s return in verses 15 through the end of the parable, really. You see, when He returns, there will be a day of reckoning. Yes, an accounting for the citizens’ rebellion. An accounting of his slaves’ performance. What have you done – how have you put what I gave you to work? How have you been faithful? We don’t go through all ten slaves – the first three are simply representative of the rest. Starting with the first two faithful slaves.

He ordered that these slaves, to whom he’d given the mina, be called to him so he might know what business they had done. To give an account. The first one comes in, “Master, your mina has made ten minas more.” Wow – that was a tenfold, a thousand percent increase. I’d say this slave had been busy and faithful with what the master had given him. Notice how he humbly said, your mina has made ten minas more. I’m not sure we should make too much of that – but he said, your mina. He was simply a steward giving an account. And it was the mina which did the work. This is an understanding of the work of the gospel. It isn’t we who produce the effects of the gospel. The Spirit-inspired gospel does the work. But we have responsibility in the work.

So, the master says to him, well done, good slave – don’t miss that word good. Because you have been faithful [there’s the emphasis] in a very little thing, you are to be given authority over ten cities. Wow. You see, his faithfulness in the little things resulted in greater responsibility. We saw that back in chapter 16, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much.” In other words, this slave proved he could be trusted with more.

But ten cities? What kind of reward is that? That’s enormous. And we remember, our God is a gracious and generous God. His rewards are beyond our imagination. Eye has not seen nor has ear heard all that God has prepared for those who love Him. Listen, this is a difficult passage. But this is the encouragement to the faithful believer. Jesus holds out reward to those who serve faithfully and well. In Matthew 25, it was well done, good and faithful servant. Don’t you want to be found faithful and hear those words? Don’t you want reward? There’s nothing wrong with that. Jesus told us to lay up treasures in heaven. Don’t live for the here and now – live for the abundance that waits. Yes, reward awaits when the King returns.

So also, verse 18, the second came in and said in the same humble way, “Your mina, master, has made five minas.” And the master said to him, you are to be over five cities. It seems the reward is commensurate with the level of faithful productivity. Strive to be good and faithful, working diligently for the King and His kingdom, and you will be rewarded. Now, I don’t know to make of the cities. Some suggest this speaks of sitting with Jesus on His throne in the kingdom to come, ruling with Him. Are these literal cities? I don’t know – I just know the reward is great. Are you laying up wealth for a great retirement? That’s great. But don’t ignore the greater life to come.

Which brings us to the third slave and our next, troubling point in verses 20-26. Let’s look at what this slave said, and how the master responded as we try to figure out what it means. The third slave came in and said, “Master, here’s your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief.” In other words, he didn’t put it to work – he did not obey the master. He simply wrapped it up in a cloth used as a bandana to keep the sun off your head or neck. Most suggest he probably stuck it in a drawer somewhere – not the safest place. Then, you typically buried anything of value for safekeeping.

He tucked it away and likely forgot about it. Went about his own life, his own concerns, his own money. No interest in working for the master. Here it is – I didn’t do anything with it, but here it is. But then he goes on to give an excuse. He actually blames the master for his own indifference, inactivity, ineptness, unproductivity. “for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.” This is your fault – you’re too demanding. He accused the master of being too hard at best, and dishonest at worst.

Now, I suggested this is a parable of comparison and contrast. You see, that may have been true for Archelaus – cruel and exacting – was that true of this master? This nobleman? This is Jesus. Look how he responded to the slaves who were good stewards of what they were given. Who performed in ways expected and commanded. The master had said – put the mina to work – do business until I receive my kingdom and return. This wasn’t a request, a suggestion, this was a command. He was a slave – the master had every right to command the slaves to be busy.

But this slave? We don’t know what he did. Did he work for the master? Nope. He hid what was given him and did nothing. He likely worked for himself, but he had nothing to show for the master’s investment in him. So how did the nobleman, now king, respond? He said to the slave, “By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave.” Again, the word is evil or wicked. That’s important for understanding the parable, and the consequences of this man’s inaction.
I will judge you by your own words. You knew that I am an exacting man? Taking up what I did not lay down, reaping what I did not sow? That’s what you said. Then why didn’t you at least put the mina in the bank, so that when I came back, I would receive it with at least a little interest? You could have at least done that, but you did nothing.

And he said to the bystanders – the other slaves, those watching the proceedings – take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten. That’s interesting – just a little observation – but he said take the mina from him and give it to the one who seems to still have the ten. Not sure what to make of that, but it seems to betray the accusation this slave had made against the king.

The bystanders respond, but, he already has ten minas. To which the king responded with a principle we’ve already seen, “I tell you that to everyone who has, [because they’ve worked for the kingdom], more shall be given.” We saw that with the other two slaves, right? The one with ten minas received ten cities, the one with five received five cities. They will receive more – more reward, more responsibilities by which to serve the king.

But what of this one – the one who does not have, who has not served? Even what he has shall be taken away. This poses a challenging question. Obviously, the slaves in the parable belong to the king. When the king – when Jesus comes back, there will be an accounting. Those who have served faithfully and well will receive reward. But what about those who don’t? Are they slaves or not? Are they saved or not. Are they Christians, or not? We need to explore this – because maybe your eternity hangs on it.

I’ll tell you my commentaries are divided. Some suggest, yes, he’s a Christian – there’s just no reward. There’s no evidence in the text he receives the judgment of those in verse 27. No reward – that’s his judgment. They point to 1 Corinthians 3 which says our works will be judged by fire – wood, hay stubble will burn up leaving nothing; gold, silver, precious stones will remain to be rewarded. But, he will be saved, but so as by fire. 2 Corinthians 5 – we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to recompensed for what we have done – good or bad – worthless.

The others suggest he is not a Christian. For several reasons. First, look at the way he talked to the king – there is excuse and even accusation. There is no love there. There is no humble submission to his lordship. And further, we know faith without works is dead. Can that kind of fruitless faith save a man, James asks. Further, in the similar parable in Matthew 25, the one who produced nothing not only had his talent taken away, but he was thrown out where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth – a description of the destruction and agonies of hell. For me, a deciding factor is how the king addresses this slave. You wicked, evil slave. Would Jesus refer to one of His own with those words? No, I don’t think the man is a Christian. He proved it by his fruit – actually, his fruitlessness.

I think this is a picture of the person who names the name of Jesus. Who maybe even does some good things – some “Christian” things, but there is no real corresponding fruit. There is no love for Jesus. There is no evidence of salvation. He continues to live for himself, keeping his “salvation” buried in the back of a drawer – safe and sound. An insurance policy. A get out of hell free card. It’s the one who sees Jesus as Savior but never submits to Him as Lord. Who does nothing with the gospel and its benefits. This fits the context of Luke’s gospel when he contrasts the Pharisee and tax collector in the Temple; when contrasts the rich young ruler and with the tax collector named Zaccheus. Further, John says in 1 John, there are three necessary requirements to prove the reality of saving faith: 1) that you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, God in the flesh; 2) that you obey His commands; and 3) that you love the brothers and sisters. That you love the church – other followers of Jesus Christ. Again, my commentaries are divided. My desire as a pastor is to sound the warning I think this parable loudly proclaims.

Which brings us to verse 27 and our conclusion. This is a most difficult verse, and yet it is a truth proclaimed all over the Bible. All people are sinners, living in rebellion against our King and His sovereign right to rule us. We rebelled in the Garden, and we’ve been rebelling ever since. But the amazing thing is, God still loved us, and sent His Son to do something about our rebellion. By simple faith in the work of the cross and His resurrection – dying for our sins, raised for our justification – submitting to His Lordship and right to reign over us, we can be saved.

But we know the vast majority of people refuse His kindness and goodness. Even though His kindness leads to repentance, they deny Him and continue to live in sin. They are on the broad road that leads to destruction, and many there are that find it. It’s a broad path and a wide gate. And there is a coming day of accounting. Verse 27, and those citizens who have denied His kingdom and right to rule over their lives will be severely judged. Slaughtered. It’s all over the Bible, but let me read two passages:

Matthew 22:
1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,
2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.
3 “And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.
4 “Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’
5 “But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business,
6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.
7 “But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

It seems clear that those who refuse His invitation to a wedding feast – His wedding feast at the end of time – will be severely judged. Finally, Revelation 19. We studied Revelation before Luke – we know how the story ends for those remain in rebellion:

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.
13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron [you can bow now to His Lordship and right to rule, or do it later, but you will do it]; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.
16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

The King is coming back. He’s completed the work. He’s been crowned with glory and honor. He’s received the kingdom. There is a coming day of reckoning. His faithful disciples will be rewarded. Those who have rebelled and remain in rebellion will be severely judged. Salvation has been accomplished, and comes to those who believe and surrender to His Lordship. My brothers and sisters – live for Christ. The rewards are worth it.