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11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ 14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ 15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. ~ Luke 19:11-15
The parables of the Lord Jesus are always designed to capture us in the familiar and then move us to the unfamiliar. The desire of the Lord Jesus is always to convey spiritual truth to us. He does this by using analogies, illustrations, parables and stories. In fact, the story in today's text was very familiar to the people who heard Him that day.
In v.11 we read, "While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once."
The Lord Jesus tells this story to the curious crowd while on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. They were headed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover which was a reminder of God's deliverance from their slavery of Egypt. This annual celebration made the Jews all the more yearn for their Messiah and deliverance from the Roman rule of the day.
Once again the Jews were not on the same page with the Lord Jesus. They expected that He was going to set up His kingdom immediately. Notice, though, as is always the case with the Lord, He finds a way to correct their bad theology by telling them this story. And, with the correction, he gave them a challenge.
In v.12-13 we read, "12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’"
A man of noble birth goes away to have a higher authority than he give him a kingdom. The kingdom is going to be the very country he leaves, so he's going away to get a kingdom and that kingdom is his own country and he will come back and rule over that country.
While he's gone, he gives his servants a certain amount of money each and expects that they will do his business while he's gone and earn a respectable profit with their efforts. This was how they could demonstrate their love and respect for him and their own trustworthiness as his servants.
Many of the people in the crowd who listened to the Lord Jesus no doubt connected this story with an event in Jewish history. Herod the Great had a son named Archelaus, who had to go to Rome to have his inheritance approved. Not wanting Archelaus as their ruler, the Jews sent fifty men to argue their case before Augustus Caesar, who, as a result ratified the inheritance without giving Archelaus the title of “king.”
The Lord Jesus in this parable explained that the kingdom would not come until a future time, but that His servants were expected to be faithful to do the job assigned to them. In this parable, we see three different responses from the servants.
In v.14-15 we read, "14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ 15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it."
Those who did what was expected were rewarded. Those who did not were rejected. Those who hated him were destroyed. We are all represented in this story. We are either a true servant, a false servant or we are His enemy. There are no other categories.
The Lord Jesus first came to seek and save that which was lost. He came first as Savior. In the future He will come as King. During His first coming, He did not come to overthrow Rome to set up an earthly kingdom. He did not come to right all social and ethical wrongs. He did not come to make the world moral. He did not come to establish economic justice.
He came to do the work of salvation. He came to offer salvation to all who would realize our need, repent from our way and believe in His death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. The Lord Jesus paid the bill of God in its entirety. As a result, we are free from the need to do it all. Our identity, worth, and value, are not anchored in what we can accomplish but in what the Lord Jesus has accomplished on our behalf.
The stories of the Lord Jesus were always about this, lost sheep, lost coins, lost sons, a beggar, Lazarus, the salvation of the leper, the publican, the two blind men, and the salvation of a despised tax collector. It was always about salvation. The gospel of the Lord doesn’t just free us from what other people think about us, it frees us from what we think about ourselves.
