The Parable of the Ten Minas
Luke 19:11-27 ·June 16, 2024· Kevin Greene
Part of: Luke
Guest preacher Kevin Greene, Associate Pastor at West End Presbyterian Church (Richmond) and member of New Creation's oversight commission.
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It really is great to be here. It's actually really moving. One thing I just want to say up front is there's people here that I've known for a long time and some of you I don't know. But I've prayed for this church before I even knew that there was going to be a church in Chester. We were always praying for churches to multiply all throughout Richmond, you know, that there could be churches everywhere and there'd be sort of churches close at hand to everybody all over the city.
And this is an answer to prayer for that. So I, you ever get kind of just struck that, you know, you pray for something and then you see with your own eyes, you're like, oh my goodness, how does that happen? Well, God's good, you know, and all the time. And I, so I just, I think I just want to start by thanking God for what I see here and also thanking Him for what we're going to hear from Him today. So, because we're the people of God, we get together, we hear the gospel each time and God's at work.
So let me pray. Father, I'm just so grateful for new creation and I see with my own eyes your faithfulness today. So I want to give you glory. Every man, woman, and child here, made in your image, you working in them, you working through them to reach Chester in ways that we don't even know how you're working. We know it's good. We know that your kingdom's advancing. We want to pray for more of it and for faith and courage to follow and trust Jesus.
Lord, we pray right now for ears to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. You have a good message for us. Good news. We pray that we'd be changed in light of it. We pray this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
So, yeah, I serve at a church in the west end of Richmond, north of here. I've been there for a long time. So, since 1996 was when I came on the staff. 93, a part of the church plant. So Jerry and I, Jerry Carter and I, were just talking about, I was kind of having a little PTSD with the guys. See, you guys set up the chairs. But, yeah, I've done some of that, too. All right, before I read today's scripture passage, and I think the way I want to do it, I don't know what your tradition is here, but I think I want to just sort of read bits of it and talk about it as we go, okay?
So, you'll be able to tell which is the word of God and which is me explaining the word of God. But, as always, when we hear the word of God, we should respond to it as God's word. And hopefully, I'll kind of keep on bringing us back to it. Okay, that's what my goal is. And so we're going to start with a little bit on how to read a parable, because we're going to read a parable from our Lord Jesus Christ. And parables are very strange. They're not like other stories.
It's not like an allegory or, you know, a moral lesson. It's like this unique thing that doesn't exist anywhere else, because it comes from the lips of Jesus. And Jesus is up to something with these parables that only he can do. I want to talk for a second about how to read a parable. So, when you read a parable, you ought to expect to be put off balance. You're not going to know which way to go. And that's normal. That means the parable, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, is doing what Jesus intended.
Right? And if you were to read, you've read enough of the Gospel of Luke to know that Jesus is putting people off balance. The things he does. The rebukes he issues. The people he heals. The grace he's demonstrating is hard for people. And so we... So, Nicky knows we're going to feel some of that disturbance today as we read this. And you're going to experience one temptation. Whenever you hear it, just like the first listeners did, every single time, you're going to read the parable and you are going to spend some effort saying, how am I the hero of this parable?
I'm looking for myself. I'm the good guy, right? And you're going to be tempted to do that. So, it's good to know that up front. I was... This morning, I was thinking about... This is, you know... I'm the preacher and I'm confessing my sins today. So, not just preaching the word. I'm talking about my need of Jesus. So, we have newsletters that come out of my church. And so we had a newsletter that was kind of like a highlights reel of the spring come out recently.
And I hadn't seen it. I had kind of given some feedback to the newsletter. I kind of made some suggestions about what should be highlighted. And I was excited to read the highlights reel because I want to see the glory of God, right? So, I open up the newsletter and I look at it. And what I do is I scan it first before I read it. And without even trying to, I'm scanning it and I get to the end of it. I'm like, you know, no mention of me in this newsletter.
Am I not the pastor? Wait a second. It was amazing to me. That was my default, right? Scanning, looking for the me. You know, instead of... I swore I was looking for the glory of God, but I was looking for the me. And I had to repent right there on the spot. That is the way that we roll. And Jesus knows that. That's why these parables work so well because we fall into his wonderful, gracious trap every time. We scan for the me. Am I the hero? Am I the hero?
So, just know that that happens up front. And we're often taught with these parables that the punchline is you should be more faithful. It is not the punchline, okay? I'm telling you that up front. You're going to hear this parable and there's some things that are going to be challenging in it, but the point that Jesus is not making is, come on, folks. Try harder. Be more faithful. The punchline of the parable is always Jesus. Always. He is trying to...
In each one of these parables, he is trying to talk about things that are very hard for us to understand. What is the kingdom like? Right? We can't see the kingdom. Is it over here? Is it over here? Does it have to do with human power or who's president or who's doing the most work? And Jesus is saying, the kingdom is not what you think it is. Also, who's the king? The king is not who you think he is. Right? We're going to see a little bit of both of those in this parable.
They get confused on the kingdom. They get confused on who is the king and what is he like and cannot trust him. And then there's also some stuff in here, too, about grace and judgment. And I'll tell you, Jesus is going to make it clear that grace and judgment doesn't work the way that we think it does either. Right?
So why did Jesus tell this parable? One of the really interesting things about this particular parable, and it doesn't happen with all the parables, is Jesus gives us a reason up front why he's even saying it, why he's teaching it. Sometimes Jesus just drops one. But this time, there's some circumstances that Jesus wants us to see. Okay? If you remember, because you've been listening to Pastor Joel and the other preachers, and you've been doing the Gospel of Luke for a while, back in Luke 9, Luke tells us that Jesus starts on the road to Jerusalem.
He sets his face towards that mission. He's been going to Jerusalem now for chapters and chapters in the book of Luke. Recently, you've heard about how Jesus heals the blind, which I'm sure you heard from the preacher, is that's a Messiah sign. Right? When sight is restored to the blind, Messiah is in town. Nobody does that but God. Right? Nobody touches the blind, and nobody can heal the blind. Right? So that's one thing. So you're starting to get these Messiah signs.
Also, you just heard last week about Zacchaeus, the tax collector, hated by everybody and messed up himself, called by Jesus, a true son of Israel, declared saved.
After the parable we're about to read, Jesus is going to ride into Jerusalem. This is the last teaching he gives before his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He weeps over Jerusalem. is what happens after that.
Luke 19, 11 says, as they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable. First of all, what are these things? Well, I think they're still sitting around the dinner table with Zacchaeus, newly minted believer in Jesus Christ, Zacchaeus, and the scandal that I'm sure is ensuing, the murmuring that I am sure is happening at Zacchaeus' house, the despised is chosen. Kind of a Luke specialty. The outcast is brought into the family. That scandalous grace.
He proceeded to tell a parable because he was near to Jerusalem. So Zacchaeus' house, the story you heard last week, that's happening in Jericho, 18 miles from that gate to get Jesus on that donkey into Jerusalem on his crucifixion week.
And because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. that's the reason why Jesus is telling this parable. Folks, coming out of the scandal of Zacchaeus' believing in Jesus and Jesus welcoming him, seeing grace, he's about to go into Jerusalem and people, the followers of Jesus says, this is the big thing that we've been waiting for. Something fantastic is about to happen but Jesus has one more teaching for them. He launches into this parable and then will go to be crucified.
Another thing you need to know to really get this parable is there is something that Jesus is doing and it's kind of akin to like a, you know, you guys know what a pop culture reference is, you know, you just sort of show that you know what's going on in the culture that you're in by referencing something that everybody knows could be a TV show, a movie. In this case, Jesus is telling a parable that a lot of scholars think, it just mirrors a public event that everybody knew about.
All right, Jesus, he is such a master storyteller, he's keying off something that everybody knows. So, verse 12, he said, therefore, a nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas. Now, a mina, that's basically like a, it's a precious metal, it's a coin, that's worth about three months' salary, wages, for your typical worker in the area. So, it's significant, you know, three months, quarter year of your income as a gift, that's a nice gift, right?
But it's not that big, you know, sometimes these parables talk about stuff like that's an immense amount of money. Jesus doesn't do that this time. So, about three months' wages, and said to them, engage in business until I come. So, the gift is supposed to be used for business, but his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying, we do not want this man to reign over us. At this point in this story, because what I'm about to tell you, the people that are listening to Jesus tell this parable would say, I know exactly what he's talking about.
Everybody knows this story. And what he's talking about is the old Hebrew kings, like the big ones, King David, King Solomon, right? The way they used to become king is God appointed them. God came and told Israel, this is your king, and everybody knew it. But the new kings in the time of Jesus were weakened and corrupt and every one of your kings could not be king because there was a Caesar in Rome. You could not be king unless Caesar said, you will be king, but you're going to be my king.
So they were puppet kings. They only did what Caesar allowed them to do, sort of figurehead kings, and Rome wanted the people to be kept sort in their place and quiet. So those old Hebrew kings didn't need somebody to go and appoint them, but in the story, the nobleman goes, he goes for his appointment, and there's a group of citizens, a delegation, that go to try to stop this. We don't want this man to reign over us. There was a ruler in the time of Jesus.
It was a man that was in place ruling the region of Judea at the time of Jesus. If you go to the book of Matthew chapter 2 verse 22, there's this story of Mary and Joseph going back to Bethlehem for the census. We read it every Christmas, and there's an interesting detail in there. It says that Mary and Joseph on their way to going back to Bethlehem for the census, they made a detour. They said, let's not go through Judea. Because Archelaus was in charge there, and they didn't trust him.
They didn't trust Archelaus, because I actually went back and I did things I never do. I read all this ancient history this week. Archelaus was famous during the time of Jesus for his unbelievably terrible leadership style and impact. Archelaus was thought to be petty, jealous, always striving. There was a time where 3,000 Jews in the lifetime of Jesus went to the temple at the Passover feast to gather and to worship God and to remember the faithfulness of Jesus and the king.
After that happened, Jews and Samaritans followed Archelaus when he was making his appeal to be called the rex, the king of the area where all these people listening to Jesus' parable lived. He goes to Caesar to make his appeal, I should be king, not just sort of like a local ruler. And a thousand Jews and Samaritans said, let's join forces. We're normally enemies. Jews hate Samaritans, Samaritans don't trust Jews, but let's join together and we're going to make our appeal to Caesar and say, no way should this guy be king.
Wherever he goes, he just creates disturbance. You shouldn't trust him and we don't. And so Caesar did not give kingship to Archelaus and eventually Archelaus was just happened in our lifetime. So the nobleman, he's bad in this story. Noblemen are terrible. The delegation, those are the good guys. So that's the way the people are hearing it and Jesus goes on. When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered the servants to whom he had given money to be called to him that he might know what they had gained by doing business.
The first came to him saying, Lord, your mina has made ten minas more. And he said to him, well done, good servant, because you have been faithful in very little, you shall have authority over ten 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 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 that has ten minas. And goes this story is not going the right way.
He has ten minas already. And then Jesus says I tell you that 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. Okay so three things I just want to say about this with the remaining time. One is Jesus is trying to say with this parable that the kingdom is not what you think it is.
First of this whole idea of they expected it to be immediate that what would happen is Jesus would enter into Jerusalem would be set up as king and finally they would have a good human king. That's what they were hoping goes away for some period of time. He is trying to say here that the kingdom and this is true for us today the kingdom is lived out in an in between time and I don't like it and you don't like it because our lives in the world are full of trouble but the kingdom is lived out in this in between time and when we have to be patient for the list and that's a little bit of a temptation for us to tell you folks what I'm dealing with right now is after I leave here I was telling some folks earlier I'm going to go from here to Henrico Doctors Hospital where my mom is in a hospital bed she's got some serious thing going on that I don't want to go into here but it's life threatening and so I don't like that it's hard I'm praying for her healing and she is sweet as can be she sure is she loves to be prayed for but it's a hard time simultaneously this past week I got my ear piece in I got my cell phone and stuff like that and I'm trying to take care of writing sermons and you know pastoral issues and stuff like that people are coming to the hospital to meet with me I go into the lounge to meet with people and go back in but I was just thinking about like my mom is sick and the pastoral issues are hard I go and I was like I am tired and she says immediately have you cried out
to God and I was like actually no it never it never occurred to me isn't that amazing in the in between time a sick mom hard pastoral issue in that in between time I become vulnerable spiritually to forces that I can't see Jesus is also exposing that we don't like to that time where we might have a back pocket way that we like to act or do or hope that just in case the kingdom is not coming quick enough we will pull it people it grow a lot of the images Jesus uses in these parables are things like investments which don't grow overnight also seeds and crops things like that he's attacking that whole God give it to me now we're all going to go get it kind of mentality Joel Nicky had this fantastic opportunity recently our dear friend Stan Morton pastor of Crown and Joy Presbyterian Church retired recently went to his retirement party and Joel I'm wondering if you noticed this too it was awesome and so this guy has served this church faithfully and he is a good friend of ours and a mentor of ours and so they did this open mic which I'm not a fan of open mics that's when the trouble starts a lot of times but this wonderful open mic where people just got up including children and just testified about the ministry of Stan and his wife Terry and it was interesting as a their love they talked about them so much so that I got up and gave a speech and I never do that and I said Stan and Terry have been like a mother and father that's that's their legacy mother and father to the church and
I noted that and I thought Lord correct me make me long to be someone who loves first and foremost someone who's a father to the church mother ministry it takes time to do that that's how the kingdom rolls the kingdom doesn't roll on a great sermon you know the king of love makes sure that his kingdom advances with the love of Christ so take your time Jesus we're waiting and make us patient you know he's also saying that the king is not who you think not only is the kingdom not what you think but the king the ancient kings all they wanted you to do is behave but this king is handing out minas to people left and right and he gives them the chance to engage in his business and so he desires the participation of the people we had a guy interesting I led folks and so we read this one story about Jephtah and Judges chapter 11 and Jephtah kind of believes God he's kind of acting like a pagan and he makes some terrible decisions and someone is killed and we just talked about as a class you know we should not be like the pagans that think we got to cut deals with God the only deal that matters happened on a I don't know if that was any good or not and a guy called me after class and said I think I just got converted and I said what do you believe that we should right but I just couldn't believe that well Jesus is trying to say this thing here that we got to abandon our old ways of thinking about the king that the king doesn't just sort of want us now that he's in charge to work for him
he has this idea of fellowship his discipleship his participation in the kingdom of God and even more importantly in this parable the heart of who the king is he takes that one mina away from that servant but that it's only because the servant didn't see him as a giver the whole point here is our God does not hold back what is required for us to participate in the kingdom of God okay folks do you ever feel like God is blocking you right we would all answer today Jesus loves me attire we get you know a bill past due and we get somebody who gossips about us and we have our own sin we're contending with and we fail we start to he not going to betray you this king is a giver he is giving out minas because he wants you to participate in his kingdom and to trust him that he will provide exactly what is needed and then finally this is the last thing I want to say that grace and judgment do not work the way that we think right they just don't these people here in this parable they think the same way that we think too is that we do the right thing we get the blessing we do the wrong thing we get the curse and the way that judgment works is work hard and be judged righteous if you notice here some in this parable are judged but they are only judged because they reject the king right they reject the gracious one they reject the one that is inviting people into the kingdom to participate the one that is not just handing out minas but cities as well and so they get judged by their own words
their own misperception of God their own bad view of who the God is this king is a giver Jesus point is that judgment is nothing like we have in mind we think often surely there is some way there is some way that when I stand before my judge when I stand before my king he's going to love what I did or hate what I did it's not how it works in the kingdom because the one telling this parable justifies the ungodly that is the heart of what he came to do there is a if the plot twist that we read in the parable is this king is not like Archelaus he's actually good and if the delegation and the servant that was hiding from the king is that those are not the heroes of the story but they're the good ones there's a second plot twist that's not covered in the parable but the parable points to it the very one telling this parable the one that justifies the ungodly is the king of the kingdom he's the rebels place Jesus can't go into that now right he has to just do it because the people wouldn't believe it if he told them he has to just accomplish it and do you see the grace of God in such a gift that we read the parable we're like I don't even know what the kingdom is now I on a cross right and not just because of the political climate but because of our rebellion against God he'll take our place and satisfy as we sung about already today divine wrath the wrath God be taken away so there's no more anger for you people there's only being brought into the kingdom to participate as members
of the family be given minas and cities and the favor of the king because of what Jesus will do Jesus is the one that he's wept over us and redeemed us he's the one that was crucified for sinners he was slaughtered not like the story or the people during archelaus time but like a passover lamb full atonement for sin sinners are given the righteousness of Jesus Christ forever and when our king comes at last it's going to be an amazing joyful day no more fear before the king trust him let's close a famous rebel the apostle Paul once said he's the chief of sinners he's the one that for a good long time he had the good and the bad king mixed up didn't he right and the Lord opened his eyes God shows his love for us in this that while we were still sinners Christ died for us since therefore we have now been justified by his blood much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath God Lord what good news that you love rebels and more so you die for rebels and more so you dress rebels in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and more so you give the privileges that belong to the king and the children of God that Jesus saves sinners and so I'm so grateful grateful today for my friends here and the good news that we enjoy that Jesus is not like an earthly king his kingdom is not like an earthly kingdom but with Jesus in charge there is grace abundant for us all the days of our life as we wait on him and one day he will bring us home at last and say good and faithful servant well done we we give
you thanks in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit